Seoul's queer parade ready to roll, unfazed by nearby protests

Participants draped in rainbow flags symbolizing the LGBTQ community browse booths at the Seoul Queer Culture Festival in Jung District, central Seoul, June 1, 2024. Korea Times file

LGBTQ advocacy groups and conservative Christian organizations are set to stage opposing rallies in central Seoul on Saturday, highlighting deepening social divides over gender and minority rights.

The organizing committee of the Seoul Queer Culture Festival — the country’s largest annual LGBTQ event since its launch in 2000 — will begin setting up stages and booths across Jung and Jongno districts in central Seoul starting at 11 a.m.

A parade, now a hallmark of the event, is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m., starting from Exit 5 of Jonggak Station. The route will pass by Myeongdong Cathedral and Seoul Plaza before concluding near Euljiro 1-ga Station. Organizers have informed police they expect around 30,000 participants.

Meanwhile, the Christian coalition Holy Breakwater of Unified Christian Rally plans to hold a counter-rally starting at 1 p.m. in front of the Seoul Metropolitan Council building, about 600 meters from the festival site. The group, which opposes the enactment of an anti-discrimination law, also plans to march to Sungnyemun Gate and expects a crowd of 30,000.

In a country where a significant portion of the population holds conservative views toward the LGBTQ community, the festival has long faced numerous obstacles. Although the Seoul Queer Culture Festival had been held in Seoul Plaza since the mid-2010s, it has not been allowed there for the past two years.

In 2023, a city panel responsible for managing permits for public squares denied the festival’s request to use Seoul Plaza, citing the priority of a Christian cultural foundation’s event, which was approved instead despite both groups applying for permits on the same day. A similar request was turned down last year, when the space was allocated to a book festival.

In March, Arthouse Momo — an independent cinema on the Ewha Womans University campus — declined to rent its space for the Korea Queer Film Festival, citing complaints that the event “goes against the university’s founding Christian values.” The venue had hosted the festival the previous year.

The organizing committee strongly condemned the decision.

“It demonstrates structural repression against freedom of expression, cultural and artistic activities, and the very existence of social minorities,” said Shim Hyo-jin, chairperson of the Korea Queer Film Festival, during a press conference last month in Seoul.