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| A man protests against the Korea Queer Festival at Seoul Plaza, Tuesday. His poster says, "All parents are against Queer Festival." / Yonhap |
By Kim Se-jeong
Christian groups on Wednesday continued to rally against the Korea Queer Festival for sexual minorities, which started a day earlier, in downtown Seoul.
The festival's opening ceremony took place at Seoul Plaza in front of City Hall on Tuesday. Almost 150 people participated in the ceremony, including international guests.
Demonstrators arrived at the venue 12 hours earlier on Tuesday to surround the venue, calling on sexual minorities to repent for their "sins" and to cancel the festival. They also criticized the Seoul Metropolitan Government for granting festival organizers use of the venue for the opening.
The ceremony went off peacefully. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency dispatched almost 1,000 riot police as a precaution.
There could still be trouble as several events are scheduled until June 28, the last day of the festival.
A private party is scheduled for June 13 in Itaewon, followed by a prayer session for sexual minorities at a Seoul temple on June 17, film screenings on June 18-21 and a symposium on same-sex marriage at the National Assembly on June 20.
The festival organizers also plan a street parade near City Hall on June 28, but it could be cancelled because the police turned down their request earlier this month. The police cited potential traffic congestion as a reason, but the organizers believe the decision was heavily influenced by Christian protesters. The organizers said they are still working to make the parade a reality.
This year marks the 16th year for the Queer Festival in Korea. Previously, it took place in Sinchon in western Seoul and Daegu.
Christians are one of the largest religious groups in Korea and have strongly opposed the granting of any sort of rights to sexual minorities.
They recently opposed the Seoul Metropolitan Government's move to recognize sexual minorities in its Charter of Human Rights for Citizens. Facing strong opposition from Christians, Mayor Park Won-soon dropped that effort.
The Constitution Court is currently reviewing whether Seoul's decision violated the constitutional rights of sexual minorities after a local rights group filed a petition in March.
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