Not a luxury: How inclusive insurance provides stability for LGBTQ lives

Members of the PRISM branch pose in front of their booth at the 26th Seoul Queer Culture Festival in Seoul, Saturday. Courtesy of PRISM branch

Worried about your insurance after a legal gender change? Want to leave life insurance to your partner? Taking medication for depression or ADHD?

Although insurance plays a vital role in financial security, these complex and deeply personal questions can make navigating the sector overwhelming for members of the LGBTQ+ community.

"Insurance requires sharing sensitive health and personal information, yet many people in the LGBTQ+ community said they had no safe space to seek advice in these situations," Park Ju-hyun, an insurer who participated in Seoul Queer Culture Festival (SQCF) on Saturday, told The Korea Times.

"Yet if you don’t have family or a social safety net, private systems like insurance can help fill that gap," Park added. "Insurance isn’t a luxury. It's even more essential for people like us."

Park is the team leader of PRISM, a branch office affiliated with a domestic insurance company that aims to promote inclusive financial support. The branch's eight employees set up a booth at the SQCF in downtown Seoul. Park declined to identify the company’s name for this article, citing concerns over potential public backlash.

There are several reasons why sexual minorities often find themselves excluded from the insurance industry, according to the branch members.

First, many queer people face income instability, which can make it difficult to commit to fixed monthly expenses like insurance services.

Second, having a meaningful conversation about insurance often means disclosing one’s queer identity — something many are hesitant to do if they’re unsure whether an agent is safe or supportive.

Participants of the 26th Seoul Queer Parade march through downtown Seoul, Saturday. Yonhap

For example, while same-sex partners are still not recognized as legal heirs under Korean inheritance laws, insurance policies can provide a workaround. Since last year, many insurance companies have changed their regulations to allow even non-family members, such as a domestic partner sharing the same address, to be named as beneficiaries in life insurance payouts.

"Imagine saying, 'I want to designate this person as the beneficiary,' and the agent might ask who is this person to you," Park said. "People wonder: Will this agent understand why I want to insure my partner? Will they judge me?"

The challenge extends to sharing sensitive medical information. When customers apply for insurance, companies access applicants' medical records. For transgender clients, these may include diagnostic codes specific to medical services related to gender-affirming care, which many agents may not fully understand.

"There are so many things you just have to go through — hospitals, paperwork, every single conversation — and all of it had already left me exhausted," said a transgender client who received a consultation at the PRISM branch. "But now, I feel like I’ve made some basic preparations. And the fact that those preparations affirm my existence, that’s been a real source of comfort."

The team said its top priority is making sure insurance coverage becomes real protection when it matters most.

More than 1,000 people visited the PRISM team's booth at SQCF. Over 300 also joined the team's booth at the Daejeon Queer Culture Festival the week before.

"The most common words I heard on the site were 'Thank you,' 'I support you,' 'You’ve got this' and 'You’re amazing,'" said Song Jun-ho, an associate manager of the branch. "They are remarkably rare when directed at providers of financial services. This highlights how cold and stigmatizing past financial experiences have often been."