Tag: Queer Culture Festival

Another example of Seoul slowly getting back to normal:

 Sexual minorities in South Korea held an annual festival in downtown Seoul on Saturday after a pandemic-driven two-year hiatus, with Christian and other conservative groups opposing the high-profile event.

The 23rd Seoul Queer Culture Festival took place at Seoul Plaza, bringing together members of the LGBTQ community — lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer persons — as well as their supporters and human rights activists.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It is that time of year again when the Christian groups come out to protest the Korea Queer Culture Festival in Seoul:

Queer Culture Festival image via Wikipedia.

A conservative Christian nongovernmental organization protested the 17th Korean Queer Culture Festival to be held today and condemned Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for supporting sexual and gender minority rights in front of Seoul City Hall on Friday.

“Homosexuality out! Park Won-soon out! Ban Ki-moon out!” a pastor from the Jesus Foundation shouted on a stage at Seoul Plaza. “Antidiscrimination law out! Islam out!”

A flier in front of a tent erected by the foundation read, “Homosexuality is a sin that challenges the order God has created!”

The Jesus Foundation has been conducting protests of the annual gay pride parade in front of Seoul City Hall for over 400 days and collecting signatures on a petition to propose an anti-gay marriage bill. The foundation stepped up its demonstration a day before the opening of the biggest festival in the nation to advocate the rights of the so-called LGBTAIQ, or lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, asexual, intersex and queer, community.

The size of the festival has grown from only 50 people in 2000 to 30,000 in 2015. Some 65,000 are expected to participate in today’s parade, and a police force of about 2,000 will be dispatched to oversee the event.

The event will be held from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Seoul Plaza.   [Joong Ang Ilbo]

As usual these protesters always produce some funny quotes:

The foundation denounced Park and Ban for their active support of gay people. “Homosexuals in Korea enjoy the most privileges in the entire world; they are like VIPs,” Rhim said, despite the fact that gay marriage is still not recognized in Korea.

You can read more at the link, but I wonder what VIP privileges Mr. Rhim is referring to?