It’s no secret that beg openly LGBTQ+ the K-pop world is difficult, but the stars enuraged the muny wh their posive msag – and even hope to help pneer gay rights
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IN THE MP WORLD OF K-POP, ’S HARD FOR STARS TO BE GAY
“This panel, we’re jt gog to show our gay,” Lai Franc proclaimed to the packed crowd at KCon’s panel on LGBT fandom Korean pop mic. The K-Pop fans attendance roared wh approval. * is kpop lgbt *
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.
“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.