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

Contents:

• HERE’S HOW A K-POP GROUP REACTED WHEN A MEMBER CAME OUT TO THEM AS GAY
• IN THE MP WORLD OF K-POP, ’S HARD FOR STARS TO BE GAY
• “NO ONE ELSE WANTED TO BE OPENLY GAY. SO I STOOD UP.” K-POP STAR HOLLAND EXPLAS WHY HE HAD TO COME OUT
• K-POP STAR HOLLAND IS FG A PATH AS AN OPENLY GAY IDOL
• K-POP STAR HOLLAND IS FG A PATH AS AN OPENLY GAY IDOL
• K-POP STAR HOLLAND IS FG A PATH AS AN OPENLY GAY IDOL
• K-POP STAR HOLLAND IS FG A PATH AS AN OPENLY GAY IDOL
• ARE K-POP STARS "SO GAY"?

HERE’S HOW A K-POP GROUP REACTED WHEN A MEMBER CAME OUT TO THEM AS GAY

In recent years, we’ve seen micians talk openly about their gay inty and same-sex relatnships.

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

Fans may openly embrace a gay Elton John, Melissa Etheridge or Ricky Mart now, but over the past 50 years or more ’s been a stggle for most queer artists to live their liv openly and whout shame and persecutn.

His theatril scream-sgg, macho stage prence, and all-around badassery (bt showsed on inic rerds like 1980’s Brish Steel and 1982’s Screamg for Vengeance) prompted many fans to ll him “Metal God:” a tradnally mascule trope Halford boldly upend Febary 1998, when he me out as gay an MTV News terview. As the earlit show of queer solidary om a proment metal mician, Halford’s admissn proved val rhapg the public perceptn of heavy metal, repostg an earspltg, heteronormative boys’ club as a safe space where headbangers of all typ uld be themselv, sheltered the flailg arms of not jt a benevolent (and openly gay) God, but the scene wr large.

” The fact that he did all while beg pletely open about his sexualy – llg himself “rock’s tt fairy” – is astoundg and, for a brief, shg moment 1974, Jobriath beme the most visible gay man popular mic.

“NO ONE ELSE WANTED TO BE OPENLY GAY. SO I STOOD UP.” K-POP STAR HOLLAND EXPLAS WHY HE HAD TO COME OUT

While the “Queen of Dis” is a tle most monly btowed upon Donna Summer, also appli to Sylvter, who was a fixture of the dis scene and an in of the gay liberatn movement that spawned out of San Francis.

The tle track even clus the lyric: “Tell her that I’m happy, tell her that I’m gay. It wasn’t until after hostg var episos of the show for a uple years – which all centered on LGBT issu – that she spoke openly about her partner of over two s and the stggl of beg gay the mic dtry.

K-POP STAR HOLLAND IS FG A PATH AS AN OPENLY GAY IDOL

“I thk the rerd dtry – by and large what’s left of – is still totally homophobic, ” she said, notg that she me out her twenti and never went to “lengths” to nceal . Brish punk rocker Tom Robson achieved chart succs wh h songs “2-4-6-8 Motorway”, “Up Agast the Wall” and “Don’t Take No for an Answer, ” but he’ll always be immortalized for his sgalong prott anthem, “Glad to be Gay.

K-POP STAR HOLLAND IS FG A PATH AS AN OPENLY GAY IDOL

” Origally wrten for a 1976 London gay pri march, the song was nearly banned by the BBC 1978 – although DJ John Peel fied the stricture.

Swappg out punk moralist clichés for LGBT issu, the them unrlg the group’s mic give voice to both fury and hope for gay punks. Though HOLLAND may currently be the only openly gay K-Pop idol, he’s not the only idol the entire K-Pop dtry who’s a part of the LGBT+ muny. A former idol and a former traee, who both still have nnectns to famo idols, revealed how a group reacted when one of the members me out as gay to their group.

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.

K-POP STAR HOLLAND IS FG A PATH AS AN OPENLY GAY IDOL

“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.

K-POP STAR HOLLAND IS FG A PATH AS AN OPENLY GAY IDOL

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. 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.

ARE K-POP STARS "SO GAY"?

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. I asked this to my gay iend Larry and he said ’s bee the femy that kpop idols give off help him feel more fortable wh his own femy which is why he idoliz not only most ggs but also sgers like Lizzo and Ariana gran.

But she didn’t anticipate how difficult would be to be openly gay the K-pop world until she started teractg wh people om other fan groups.

”Sofia is one of many LGBT fans wh ncerns about homophobia the onle K-pop muny.