Tension grows ahead of queer festival

Anti-gay protesters clash with riot police in Incheon ahead of a queer festival, Sept. 8, 2018. Strong protest from conservative groups disrupted last year's event. / Yonhap

By Kim Jae-heun

The Incheon Queer Culture Festival is set to open for the second consecutive year after the previous festival foundered due to frequent disruptions by Christian protesters.

According to the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency, Friday, the festival will begin at a public square near Bupyeong Station on Line 1 at 11 a.m.

The event organizer said the second Incheon Queer Culture Festival is expected to attract some 500 people who will participate in its main event of a 1.7-kilometer parade from Bupyeong Station to Bupyeong Market Station.

The festival first began in Seoul in 2000 and has since spread to other parts of the nation, where advocates call for the rights and dignity of LGBTQ people.

However, it remains to be seen if the event will be disturbed by possible violent protests from conservative civic and Christian groups as happened last year.

Last year, the organizers were supposed to hold the inaugural queer festival in the port city, west of Seoul, but it was disrupted by strong opposition from conservative protesters.

More than 1,000 people, tripled the number of queer culture festival participants, shouted slogans and held signs, and and some physically blockaded the parade by laying on the ground in its path.

The Christian Council of Incheon said it will hold a rally against the festival nearby Bupyeong Station and the group estimates some 2,000 people to participate in their protest.

The national association of parents for students will also stage a protest with their 200 members near Bupyeong Station.

To prevent a possible reoccurrence of violence, police said they plan to deploy around 3,000 officers at the site.

They will also separate the queer festival participants from the Christian and conservative protests with 300 metal fence parts that stand 1.5 meters in length and 1.2 meters in height.

Over 160 traffic cops will escort the parade after the main event and continue to keep the two groups separated.

“The hosts of the queer festival have also registered the rally with police, so we have the duty to protect them by law. As we maintain a neutral stance, the police will control the venue for both the queer festival and its opposition rallies to end peacefully,” an Incheon police agency official said.