Queer festival draws mixed opinion
By Lee Kyung-min
Public opinion remains mixed over the Seoul Queer Culture Festival (SQCF), with views clashing on whether to tolerate the public display of some rally participants wearing revealing costumes. About 50,000 people participated in the yearly rally in support of equal rights protection for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people near Seoul Plaza, Saturday, met by around 20,000 anti-gay protesters just across the street.
Participants of this year's festival held a sign that read “We are here. We are everywhere. We proudly stand here at the square.” They called for equality, adding they will continue efforts to elevate the country's human rights standards by abolishing discrimination. “It is undeniable that many people still outwardly express hatred against homosexuality as well as other social minorities,” a leader of the event was quoted as saying.
“The concept on which such antipathy is based _ some people feeling entitled to be in a position of judgment, and a far smaller group of others being subject to their standards _ is precisely what we seek to abolish. Only then will society shine with a rainbow, by which we should be governed, a rule that values and respects the differences of others.”
The 19th event was attended by 105 organizations including human rights groups, 13 embassies, companies and university clubs that support sexual minorities. Newly appointed U.S. Ambassador Harry Harris greeted attendees at his embassy's booth.
Meanwhile, across the street, anti-gay protesters in front of Deoksu Palace carried U.S. flags.
Some religious groups say their religion teaches love and understanding, while calling persecution of or discrimination against any particular group an incorrect interpretation of the words of religious figures. “Discrimination on the basis of outward appearance is only a shallow attempt that fails to recognize the true beauty of a person. Persecuting any particular group, I believe, is against the teaching of God,” one of the rally participants said.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the first government agency to participate in the event two years in a row, said it would increase efforts to tackle the spread of misinformation about false associations between homosexuality and HIV/AIDS. While established and reputable data thus far identifies “unprotected sex” as the cause of infection, far-right Christian groups use the false claim as the primary basis for opposing sexual minorities, who they claim require treatment to be “cured” from the “disease.”
Some anti-gay rally participants held signs that read “We will wait. We love you. Come back to us,” compassionate sentences that festival attendees say are designed to only reinforce and justify their persecution of them. The group said society should eliminate promiscuous and depraved sexual activities, an agenda it said the minority group pursues. “Attempts to normalize or even glorify a sexually deviant act of a sexual minority should be eradicated,” the group said.
It said, “We respect homosexual people as individuals, but we will not tolerate their moves to raise controversy in the name of their freedom and rights protection.”
But people at the festival say this lacks logic as the statement implies they are willing to respect them as long as they stay invisible, the very notion they struggle against every day.
Organizers of the SQCF said those who wear revealing costumes are only a small portion of the total rally participants.