Tag: transgenders

This guy just needs to take a trip to some cities in the U.S. where he will be championed for cross dressing and going into a women’s bathroom. In fact he will probably be asked to do drag queen story hour at a local library as well:

A man in his 30s, dressed as a woman and entered the women’s bathroom at dawn, was caught.

The Gwangju Police Station in Gyeonggi Province announced on the 16th that it is investigating A on charges of violating the Special Act on the Punishment of Sexual Violence Crimes (infringement of multiple use places for sexual purposes).

A wearing a skirt and lipstick is suspected of entering an outdoor women’s bathroom in Songjeong-dong, Gwangju, around 3 a.m. that day.

Maeil Kyeongchae

You can read more at the link.

This whole situation makes me wonder if the only reason Byun enlisted was to be activist like this:

South Korea’s first transgender soldier on Wednesday pleaded to be allowed to continue to serve after the military decided to discharge her. 

Byun Hee-soo, an Army staff sergeant in her 20s, voluntarily enlisted as a man in 2017 and underwent sex reassignment surgery in November last year. A military panel decided not to allow the noncommissioned officer to stay in the Army. 

Right after the decision was announced, Byun came out in public and held an emotional press conference before TV cameras, requesting equal treatment for sexual minorities and the right to complete the military service.

“I hope that sexual minorities in the military can carry out their duties without discrimination and I want to set a good precedent in this kind of case and want to add power to make that happen,” she said while wearing a military uniform.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It will be interesting to see what the ROK military does with this case:

Will South Korea accept a transgender person in the military? 

The Army is examining a “keep or drop” case involving a petty officer who underwent sex-change surgery in Thailand last year while on leave. 

The officer ― who is also seeking to change his legal gender to “female” ― is recuperating from the surgery, hoping to stay in the military.

The Army is planning to hold a meeting next week to decide on the case. If the decision is to keep “him,” he will become the first transgender person in uniform. This could have a far-reaching impact on a society facing heated conflicts over LGBT and gender-based discrimination. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Via a reader tip comes this article about South Korea’s growing drag queen culture:

Hurricane Kimchi takes the stage at an underground bar in Seoul, dancing agilely to Wonder Girls’ 2008 K-pop hit “Nobody.”

Dressed in high heels, a fluffy white wig and a tight gold sequin dress — an homage to the song’s video — he commands a fervent crowd that cheers, sings along and throws money at his feet. At one point, an audience member runs up to shove a 10,000-won bill (around $9) inside his belt.

Drag queens remain a rare sight in South Korea. But Hurricane Kimchi’s alter-ego, LGBTQ activist Heezy Yang, is out to change perceptions in a country with traditionally conservative views on gender and sexuality.

The activist’s work ranges from writing a novel about his experience of coming out, to taking part in a mock gay wedding ceremony in Seoul’s metro. He is also the founder of the Seoul Drag Parade, an annual event that hopes to “encourage both queer and non-queer people to use drag to find their identity (and) express their true feelings, thoughts and style,” according to its website.

Then there are the weekday drag shows he organizes in Itaewon, a diverse international neighborhood that has become the capital’s main gay district and is known as “homo hill” to the LGBTQ community and locals.

CNN

You can read more at the link, but I can remember many years ago when the transgender folks used to hang out up in the TDC Ville trying to hook up with drunk soldiers.

So much for all the mandatory transgender training the US military has been going through as President Trump has now reinstated the transgender servicemember ban:

President Trump announced on Wednesday morning that the U.S. military would not “accept or allow” any transgender service members.

In a series of tweets, the commander in chief argued that too much is at stake in the military’s current operations for it to be “burdened” by the medical costs of transgender people or the “disruption” he says transgender service members would cause.  [Yahoo News]

You can read more at the link, but I really think this whole policy would have been less controversial if it did not include free sex change and hormone treatment for new recruits.  Additionally controversy only increased when it was announced that transgenders that chose not to undergo the surgery would be allowed to shower with the sex they identify with.

With the end of the don’t ask don’t tell policy I predicted it would be a lot to do about nothing which is what happened.  Gay servicemembers were not demanding special treatment, just the ability to serve openly.  If transgenders were just told they can serve openly and must have any surgeries completed prior to joining the military I think there would have been much less push back on this policy that led to President Trump overturning it.