The Complited Liv of Gay Men South Korea

Contents:

• THE COMPLITED LIV OF GAY MEN SOUTH KOREA
• IN THE MP WORLD OF K-POP, ’S HARD FOR STARS TO BE GAY
• GAY LIFE SOUTH KOREA
• GAY SOUTH KOREA: 'SHE SAID I DON'T NEED A SON LIKE YOU'
• SEOUL GAY BARS
• ‘I ULD NOT EVEN DREAM’: WHAT ’S LIKE TO BE GAY NORTH KOREA

THE COMPLITED LIV OF GAY MEN SOUTH KOREA

)Acrdg to anthropologist John Cho, sgle gay men South Korea retreated om gay life the wake of the 1997 Asian bankg crisis and began to ncentrate on makg money, while married gay men beme much more active the gay muny. The ma issue of beg a gay man South Korea, said Cho, is how to fd a boyiend and a gay muny, the two thgs that create the basis for a gay life.

Internatnal Instute, UCLA, April 2, 2013 — After a of sexual eedom as homosexuals the 1990s, said anthropologist John Cho, sgle gay men South Korea beme nsumed by fancial worri followg the 1997 Asian bankg crisis (also known as the “IMF crisis”).

Cho, who spoke at a lecture anized by the Center for Korean Studi, noted after this crisis, sgle gay men their thirti and forti retreated om gay life to ncentrate on makg money, while married gay men began to play a much more active role the gay muny. In the absence of the “fence” of the fay (an exclive group of belongg that helps people navigate the adversi of life), sgle gay men began to regret the time they had spent on love their youth, said Cho, feelg they uld no longer afford “the luxury of love.

IN THE MP WORLD OF K-POP, ’S HARD FOR STARS TO BE GAY

” The speaker, who nducted his rearch South Korea between 2007 and 2009, explaed that many sgle gay men then curred big risks, eher by changg reers or by takg signifint gambl their pursu of higher e.

In the 1990s, he explaed, the media began to ver gay issu and TV shows began to clu gay characters—exposg South Koreans to more rmatn about homosexualy.

GAY LIFE SOUTH KOREA

In a untry where many people still believe that homosexualy is a foreign phenomenon, the speaker explaed that the chang enuraged sgle gay men to exprs their sexual inti and pursue love relatnships.

Cho claimed the ma issue of beg a gay man South Korea was how to fd a boyiend and a gay muny, the two thgs that create the basis for a gay life. Cho noted that was a sad irony of filial duty that sgle gay men rea om tellg their parents about their sexual orientatn, yet wa for them to die. The speaker traced the advent of the “bats” (married gay men) to the risg divorce rate the South Korea and the advent of “gee fathers”—fathers who live alone South Korea while their wiv and children live abroad orr to ensure the children’s tns and future succs.

GAY SOUTH KOREA: 'SHE SAID I DON'T NEED A SON LIKE YOU'

Cho noted that South Koreas tend to view homosexualy as a kd of ee-floatg sire that n attach self to anyone, observg that several of his rearch subjects nfsed to beg “overtaken” by their te sexual feelgs the absence of their fai. Acrdg to Cho, the “bats” live plited double liv which their gay and straight liv are strictly segmented, wh their fai and jobs takg precence over their boyiends.

Dcribg married gay men South Korea as “good hbands, dutiful lovers, and gentle fathers, ” Cho explaed that the bats were voted to their fai and even ted themselv on female sexualy to please their wiv. He claimed that although gay married men and their sgle boyiends were assymetril relatnships, both paid high emotnal and polil sts their adaptatn to a very mascule, fay-oriented culture. “On the one hand looks like the dtry is very open md to shippg culture, ” she told CNN, referrg to the culture among fans of imagg relatnships between their favore stars – cludg gay relatnships.

Acrdg to Kwon, fans were spired by “yaoi” – a kd of Japane manga that featur gay relatnships between male upl – and began makg up stori about their favore stars. Even now, K-pop labels sometim cultivate idols’ homoerotic appeal the hop that mak them more popular fanfictn, where Kwon timat 80% of stori volve gay story l. After Hong me out publicly as gay 2000, he was fired om his hostg job and lost other work – and thor Kwon believ that harsh rponse has disuraged others om followg su.

SEOUL GAY BARS

In the absence of nfirmatn, mentators have ed small, clive clu to speculate on their stance, for example, the time the band’s lear RM tweeted Macklemore’s song “Same Love, ” which promot equal rights for gay people. I've been to Taiwan before, so I know at least if I study there then there is no real expectatn for me to go back the closet, but I'm not so sure if that would be te if I cid to choose I know is a very relig untry and many (olr) Koreans are not iendly to gays. Special thanks to Ross, Travelg Gay, jtsurf12, spartanalum, PJack, gymtoy, Chichubby3rd, byungdohsuh, Demian71, boyboy1976, Gabrielkr, njbear1965, rayrrr, geme, cyrc_84, sglenote, KokAsianBear, themeant, FloridaBoy, bigozibear, ratte, Specter, Byungdohsuh, Graeme, Ken, Jyong, Robbie, Louis Y., John S., Charlie, and David!

‘I ULD NOT EVEN DREAM’: WHAT ’S LIKE TO BE GAY NORTH KOREA

Seoul has hundreds of gay bars spread around a handful of neighborhoods, but most tourists bee faiar wh Itaewon, a foreigner-iendly enclave that seems to have people om every untry on the pla wanrg around, along wh many Amerin and Korean soldiers.

The clientele is VERY mixed both as to orientatn (gay, lez, bi, straight, other) as well as ethnicy, wh beg the one of the most popular LGBTQ night spots for foreigners Korea. Jongno is Seoul's biggt gay enclave, wh more than a hundred clubs and venu loted the center of Seoul the Nagwon Dong neighborhood to the north and east of Topkol Park (Inpennce Park).

In the eveng, the lan and alleys of this nsely packed, low-rise area, bee filled wh food tents, tipsy salarymen, and thoands of gay men gog to and om their favore havens.