Seoul, South Korea
CNN
—
For years, South Korea’s largest annual LGBTQ delight celebration has been held in the identical grassy sq. in central Seoul, which fills up with performers and joyful members decked out in rainbow costumes.
However this yr, the Seoul Queer Tradition Pageant (SQCF) has been turned away from the venue, which can as a substitute be used for a Christian youth live performance – to the dismay of pageant organizers who name it an act of discrimination.
“We’re offended on the Seoul Metropolitan Authorities that’s making an attempt to push out sexual minorities and fill the plaza with discrimination and hatred,” stated an announcement from Rainbow Motion Towards Sexual-Minority Discrimination of Korea, one of many nation’s largest LGBTQ activist teams, which has helped set up the occasion.
Organizers for each the pageant and the Christian live performance utilized to make use of the Seoul Plaza venue from June 30 to July 1, the Seoul Metropolitan Authorities stated in an announcement Thursday. Since each teams refused to vary their dates, the federal government left the choice to a civic committee, which selected on Wednesday to grant the venue to the live performance, held by the CTS Cultural Basis.
The muse is linked with the Christian broadcaster CTS, which has vocally opposed homosexuality and the delight pageant, based on Reuters.
In making its determination, the civic committee prioritized occasions associated to kids or youngsters, or people who produce other worth within the “public curiosity,” town authorities assertion stated.
However SQCF organizers and supporters have accused the committee of discrimination, pointing to comparable difficulties securing the house in earlier years.
“Regardless of submitting (requests) to make use of Seoul Plaza with all the necessities met, we’ve got skilled discriminatory remedy yearly, comparable to solely being allowed to carry the occasion for a shorter interval than the requested dates, and constantly being referred to the (civic committee) on account of biased, discriminatory and subjective excuses comparable to ‘nationwide sentiment,’” SQCF stated final week.
It claimed the Christian live performance can be used as an area to unfold “hatred” towards LGBTQ teams, and that “the aim of the live performance is to interrupt the Queer Tradition Pageant and to stop sexual minorities from revealing themselves.”
A consultant for the CTS Cultural Basis advised Reuters the timing of the live performance was not geared toward blocking the delight pageant. CNN has reached out to the group for remark.
The pageant has been held at Seoul Plaza yearly since 2015, besides through the pandemic. SQCF stated it should nonetheless happen this yr, although it’s unclear the place.
Homophobia is rife in South Korea, the place there is no such thing as a complete anti-discrimination legal guidelines to guard LGBTQ folks. In comparison with close by democracies like Japan and Taiwan, the nation is much less accepting of same-sex {couples}.
The stress between South Korea’s LGBTQ group and their conservative, usually Christian critics is clearly displayed at every delight pageant, the place each teams present up.
Ultimately yr’s SQCF pageant, opponents and non secular teams gathered outdoors the venue, displaying protest messages on banners and shouting anti-LGBTQ slogans by means of loudspeakers. Cops patrolled the world, holding the 2 teams aside.
A 2017 ballot by the Korean Society of Regulation and Coverage on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identification (SOGI) discovered that 92.6% of LGBTQ Koreans surveyed had been afraid of turning into targets of hate crimes, and 49.3% had skilled “psychological trauma,” comparable to stress and melancholy, after encountering “expressions of disgust.”
