Gay rights under threat

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

Opinion

Wed, November 29, 2023 | 10:50

Editorial

Gay rights under threat

Posted : 2023-06-20 16:40

Updated : 2023-06-20 16:40

Sexual minorities are born, not made, so, treat them as such

An unprecedented scene occurred in Daegu last Saturday.

Municipal employees clashed with police officers in the southeastern city, the capital of Korean conservatives.

At the direction of Mayor Hong Joon-pyo, Daegu officials tried to block the Daegu Queer Culture Festival (DQCF), the annual LGBTQ pride parade. In a rare role reversal, police protected the rally to ensure its smooth finish.

The mayor said the event was OK, but the participants' "illegal occupation" of roads and streets was not. He was lying. A march must be on the boulevards, not the plazas and sidewalks. The prosecutor-turned-politician knew laws on assembly permits it, but pretended not to.

Conservative politicians have not hidden their disdain for queer festivals or LGBTQ people. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon also disapproved of similar events using Seoul Plaza. "Personally, I can't agree with homosexuality," he said. However, personal preference is one thing, and fulfilling one's duty as an elected official should be another.

Hong, a prosecutor-turned-politician, attempted to thwart the festival, defying laws and twisting the rules to suit his position. The court rejected two injunctions from Christian groups to ban the Daegu event. "Assemblies are the only forum where politically disadvantaged or minority groups can express their views," it said. "It is difficult to see restrictions on property rights and business freedom outweigh those on freedom of expression."

Hong's administrative slogan is "Powerful Daegu" to make the metropolis a vibrant and international city. It explains why the conservative mayor supported building a mosque despite residents' opposition. His respect for Muslims' rights in the predominantly Christian city was a pleasant surprise. So, it is doubly regretful that Hong failed to show similar tolerance toward people with different sexual orientations and gender identities. A city cannot remain powerful, let alone global, unless it is diverse and colorful, like the rainbow colors of LGBTQ.

However, Hong's contrasting moves on the two human rights issues reflect his political calculation. He must have thought that winning support from young male voters and conservatives would more than offset possible losses from women and some Christians. It seems as if Hong learned from another prosecutor-turned-politician. President Yoon Suk Yeol has won the top job with such a splitting strategy. Hong's administration is undemocratic and inhumane due to political greed.

Admittedly, conservatives hating LGBTQ is a global phenomenon. In the U.S., too, red states lead the discrimination against transgender people. In Africa, where many nations remain under dictatorial rulers, sexual minorities are punishable by law. In an extreme case, Uganda recently enacted a law that can sentence some gays and lesbians to death despite global outcries. However, they are exceptions, not norms.

Hosting global events like the G7 summits or Olympics has enabled Japan to shed its discriminatory layers one by one. Taiwan is one of 34 countries, and the first in Asia, which legalized same-sex marriage.

Some Koreans, encouraged by the country's rising economic and military power, want it to become a member of the G8. Media commentators call this a "psychological G8" phenomenon.

Nonsense!

A country ― where the mayor of its capital city disapproves of disabled people's rights to demonstrate in subways, the head of a state human rights agency denying compensation for victims of wartime massacres, prosecutors raiding labor unions and media outlets and the elected officials of metropolises openly expressing their hatred of LGBTQ ― can be a wealthy nation, but not an advanced one.

Officials like Hong and Oh claim the "majority's right" not to see what they dislike. Sounds reasonable enough. However, the majority's right to use roads and streets freely can never be equated to the minority's right to expose their presence to the world, defying all difficulties.

By nature, humans don't like people different from them. As people grow up, they learn to live with different groups. Coexistence is a sign of maturity.

There's nothing wrong with being different, and LGBTQ is not made but born.