Encouraging News

[+ quoththeraven]

A South Korean psychologist has been expelled from a professional organization for using conversion therapy and treating homosexuality as a mental illness.

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[Walker1]

Good.

[Cooper]

The movie, Boy Erased, shows the horrors of gay conversion theory.

[+ quoththeraven]

It's particularly surprising because even though South Korean attitudes toward homosexuality have undergone change, it's still generally more homophobic than the US, in part because of the importance of family and family lines. Four out of five presidential candidates opposed same sex marriage and the normalization of homosexuality, including the otherwise liberal eventual victor Moon Jae In. Approximately a third of South Koreans are Christians, who tend to be conservative on this issue. Furthermore, although homosexual acts aren't and haven't been illegal, they are if you are in the military, which is mandatory for all able-bodied men.

[+ Gar1eth]

It's particularly surprising because even though South Korean attitudes toward homosexuality have undergone change, it's still generally more homophobic than the US, in part because of the importance of family and family lines. Four out of five presidential candidates opposed same sex marriage and the normalization of homosexuality, including the otherwise liberal eventual victor Moon Jae In. Approximately a third of South Koreans are Christians, who tend to be conservative on this issue. Furthermore, although homosexual acts aren't and haven't been illegal, they are if you are in the military, which is mandatory for all able-bodied men.

 

Do I rememveg reading that there been some problems trying to hold Pride Parades in Korea?

 

Gman

[+ quoththeraven]

Do I rememveg reading that there been some problems trying to hold Pride Parades in Korea?

 

Gman

Religious groups have come out en masse, or threatened to, in order to block the parade as something that is unseemly for the public, particularly children.

 

The worst that might happen is pushing and shoving and shouting slogans (not name calling). Using violence would cause the protesters to lose all credibility. South Koreans are experienced protesters, but they also believe in orderly, non-violent protest, to the point where removable decals were used at the massive protests against the corruption of the Park Gyeun-hye administration to make cleanup easier.

[+ quoththeraven]

Religious groups have come out en masse, or threatened to, in order to block the parade as something that is unseemly for the public, particularly children.

 

The worst that might happen is pushing and shoving and shouting slogans (not name calling). Using violence would cause the protesters to lose all credibility. South Koreans are experienced protesters, but they also believe in orderly, non-violent protest, to the point where removable decals were used at the massive protests against the corruption of the Park Gyeun-hye administration to make cleanup easier.

I found something about the Pride Parade @Gar1eth mentioned in a thread about the upcoming 20th Seoul Pride Parade (part of the Seoul Queer Culture Festival). The parade that was blocked took place in Incheon, which is in greater Seoul. (Incheon is where the airport serving Seoul is located.) This is the police clearing the area by pushing back on the protesters:

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This is what is perceived as violent opposition to the parade, which looks to me like a protester resisting being moved:

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Given that the Seoul Queer Culture Festival, which I believe is the oldest, is in its 20th year and keeps growing, that Incheon and Busan, South Korea's 2nd largest city, which is hours away from Seoul on the southeast coast, both have their own festivals, which haven't stopped despite protests and that the police actually and actively defend the right of those attending the festivals to be within the permitted areas even though liberal President Moon Jae-in is against recognizing same-sex marriage and considers homosexuality bad for society, I'm not particularly worried about South Korea's Pride Parades.

 

Intransigence isn't likely to win the religious groups sympathy. Order is as valued as traditional families, and if a group has a valid permit, blocking them isn't likely to gain sympathy from the general public, who are more likely to think "Don't like it, don't look and don't give the groups you oppose more publicity."

[+ quoththeraven]

The parade portion of the 20th annual Seoul Queer Culture Festival took place on June 2nd at 4 pm KST (June 1st here in the US; South Korea is a day ahead of us). The parade, which previously always been held in July, followed a more prominent route than before and was met by the usual loud and disruptive counterprotests by Christian groups, whose attempts to get the parade and festival depermitted lost in court. Buddhist monks draped in rainbow flags handed out lotus-shaped fans to participants. (Even though Buddhism has no specific prohibition on same-sex relationships, historically they have been considered unnatural, presumably because they aren't procreative and don't follow traditional family relationships.)

 

https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/seoul-queer-culture-festival-kicks-off-in-south-korea/

 

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[+ quoththeraven]

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