K-pop: Why 's hard for stars to be gay South Korea | CNN

Contents:

• IN THE MP WORLD OF K-POP, ’S HARD FOR STARS TO BE GAY
• KPOP IDOLS AREN'T THE GAY KGS AND QUEENS YOU THK THEY ARE
• ARE THERE REALLY A LOT OF GAY IDOLS? CRAYON POP’S WAY & BLANC7’S SHWOO REVEAL THEIR EXPERIENCE
• THIS 1ST GENERATN IDOL GROUP DISBAND BEE OF GAY INTER-RELATNS?

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

Holland is not the first known LGBT K-pop idol, but you n say that this new generatn of K-pop, he's one of the first idols who admted that he's gay. He ially me out as gay 2015, and upon g Korea, his iends told him to keep his sexualy secret - but he's proud of his inty, makg him the first Korean artist who is openly gay. However, durg an terview, she nfsed she is gay, g her to be kicked out om her agency.

There are reasons why there aren’t a lot of openly gay idols. Two sirs nfirmed that gay idols are more mon than expected. | For their Dark Sis Of K-Pop segment, former Blady member Co and traee-turned-lyricist Ga Maeng were asked how Korean pani view same-sex relatnships and gay idols.

KPOP IDOLS AREN'T THE GAY KGS AND QUEENS YOU THK THEY ARE

Dpe idols not talkg about their sexualy, there are que a few who are gay. In a society where celebri receive backlash for g out as gay, mak sense why K-Pop idols who are part of the LGBT muny want to protect themselv. What is like to be gay South Korea?

Homophobia is still rife South Korea, where very few mastream mic stars have e out as gay. There, homosexual sex is not banned, but is illegal the ary, where almost all men mt plete a stt of pulsory nscriptn.

ARE THERE REALLY A LOT OF GAY IDOLS? CRAYON POP’S WAY & BLANC7’S SHWOO REVEAL THEIR EXPERIENCE

“It’s kd of sad, ” said Jungm Kwon, an amic who wrote a book lled “Straight Korean Female Fans and Their Gay Fantasi. “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. South Korea’s rerd labels are happy to let fans fantasize about idols beg gay. But they don’t want gay idols be open about their sexualy.

THIS 1ST GENERATN IDOL GROUP DISBAND BEE OF GAY INTER-RELATNS?

But when me time to but, the label was agast him butg as a gay idol. “It’s a shame that’s the lim they n go when to showg homosexual teractn – n only be portrayed as funny. 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.

Holland thks thgs are changg: more artists appear to be ditg that they are alli of the gay muny. 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. But ultimately, experts believe a time when gay stars are accepted mastream K-pop uld still be some way off.