LGBTQ Pride festival sees turnout of over 150,000 despite ban on Seoul Plaza use

Volunteers carry a huge rainbow flag during a parade as part of the Seoul Queer Culture Festival in Euljiro, a major avenue in downtown Seoul, Saturday. Yonhap

A record-high turnout of over 150,000 participants gathered at the heart of Seoul’s downtown Euljiro area, Saturday, as the 25th Seoul Queer Culture Festival (SQCF) was held to celebrate the identity and diversity of sexual minorities.

The annual LGBTQ festival could not take place at its usual location of Seoul Plaza for the second consecutive year as the request to use the venue were rejected by the city government.

Under the slogan “Yes Queer,” the event, which started in 2000 with some 50 participants, now saw tens of thousands of those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer or questioning (LGBTQ) and their allies in attendance.

A participant waves a rainbow flag during the 25th Seoul Queer Culture Festival in Seoul, Saturday. Yonhap

Bumped from the city square yet undeterred by the ban and social opposition, the celebration filled the avenues between Jonggak and Euljiro 1(il)-ga stations with booths and participants wearing rainbow banners and decorations.

Several advocacy organizations – including religious groups, foreign embassies, global corporatiosn and university and high school student groups – in solidarity with LGBTQ people and their rights, ran a total of 61 booths.

Conservative Christians denounce the Seoul Queer Culture Festival across the street from Seoul City Hall, Saturday. Yonhap

At 4:30 p.m., the three-kilometer Pride parade began. Some 43,000 participants, more than last year’s 35,000, marched through the city center, dancing and chanting for equal rights for sexual minorities.

Notably, the first among the eight parade trucks, operated by Marriage for All, a civic group advocating marriage equality, and Amnesty International, spoke up for gay marriage.

“Hello everyone! We came out to the street to call for gay marriage. We (sexual minorities) are meant for each other, yet we cannot get married. If you allow us to get married at a time like this with the plummeting birthrate, we will adopt kids, have kids, and do our best to love each other and become patriots,” shouted singer-songwriter Lee Lang, 38, into a microphone from the top of the truck.

Participants march through the city center during the Seoul Queer Culture Festival in Seoul, Saturday. Yonhap

The dancing crowd behind the truck cheered and joyously chanted, “Marriage Equality, right now!” Several pedestrians and people sitting in coffee shops along the course waved and clapped along to the music — with some even joining the march — to show their solidarity.

Meanwhile, a group of conservative Christians held another rally across the street from City Hall, in opposition to the event, calling themselves the “holy sea wall,” as they did last year. No clashes or injuries were reported during the event.

Korea, which does not recognize civil same-sex partnerships, saw its first-ever same-sex marriage legislation by a cross-party group of minority lawmakers in May last year.

Korea often confronts political debates over homosexuality during elections. The latest general elections from April resulted in the 22nd Assembly that grants no seats to lawmakers approving of sexual minorities.

Amid such a social atmosphere, the Seoul Metropoliatn Government, led by conservative Mayor Oh Se-hoon, denied permission to SQCF organizers to gather at Seoul Plaza, where the event has taken place since 2015, for the second year running, citing a scheduling conflict.

The city government instead held an outdoor event themed around books at its plaza. Last year, it prioritized a youth concert by the Christian Television System (CTS) Culture Foundation, citing its youth-friendly nature.

“The square should be open and available to the public, but it’s now only hosting city-led events. This makes us question why the square exists in the first place,” said Yang Sun-woo, chairperson of the SQCF organizing committee, explaining the square was already fully booked by the municipality from April to October earlier this year.

Yang said the group will continue to register for the use of the city square again next year.

“The festival will always go on, somewhere in the city center,” she said.