Hiexpat Korea

Homosexuality is still considered as a taboo in Korea. For sure, it is not as open as other Western countries. The one Korean gay celebrity that people mostly have heard of would be Hong Seok-cheon. After revealing his homosexuality, he had gone through a tough time in terms of his career as a celebrity. Fortunately, he was able to overcome the hardships regardless of what happened. He was still very successful after he opened up restaurants and bars especially in Itaewon.

According to South Korea’s constitution, it is not clearly stated about same-sex unions. It is neither legal nor illegal in South Korea. Looking at it from a social and societal point of view, it would be closer to illegal in my opinion. As you can probably guess, gay community is pretty hidden in Korea and it is not something that is comfortably talked about among Koreans. The gays in Korea are scared that people will find out for many reasons. First of all, it is not most likely accepted by the family. That is, it would be views as something that would bring a big shame to the family. Not to mention that they would have to worry about losing their jobs, careers, friends, etc.

Surprisingly, when you enter a certain area in Itaewon, you won’t even be able to tell if you are in Korea or not. It is a whole another world that exists in a small neighborhood of Seoul. You can also find dating websites just for homosexual, bisexual, transgendered, etc. Despite the conservative culture towards homosexuality in Korea, there is an annual event for celebrating homosexuality called Korea Queer Culture Festival organized by Rateen.

Many Koreans sometimes don’t even realize that gays exist in their country. Homosexuality in South Korea is still looked down upon and considered as something abnormal. Do you blame its culture or do you think just of them as people ignorant? Where do you stand?

Living

Tags: gay, gay celebrity, gay parade, gays, homosexuality, korea, south korea