Life / Sep. 17, 2019
KiY7kim9BtDn3gy7AEfi_Kk+*4-eexc*jb)8MtpOKaU(1a^lMq$&m Gyu-jin, a 28-year-old office worker in South Korea, recently received her company’s official congratulations and support for her same-sex wedding.
It is a rare example of support for LGBT relationships in South Korea, where rights activists warn the country i[email protected]&fP_F+&6NeYl$OjLzs%$rbDK0*kXtbXTs becoming less accepting of LGBT people.
Kim shared details of her beach wedding and what her colleagues’ accept-V(7!KM=_$rEDY(f3zQ+P9uRd)hkvp*[email protected]ance meant to her on her personal blog.
“I consulted with my team leader and sent an e-mail to the HR tea[email protected]#[email protected](218M#+M_L#w51gVhm”, she explained. “I was nervous.”
But, the reply she received sLHZyOZbOvhHtG-dGC2eNMLSyFPr2fVxnqyU0qb)!SOeeJ1CsEwas “happy marriage”. She said the only official documented needed was a wedding invitation.
The pair officially married in New York. She said she chose the USA as t([email protected][email protected]^SNu6TJ4GcQ4A*lhey do not require citizenship or resident permits.
The certificate is, however, “useless” in South Korea, she explains. The country does not permit same-3bOkB&Mn!=VcdF9^Lu$b=iGp-wuC__!M7dqLl$sKjo0zfNPs0Wsex marriage or recognize foreign unions.
Kim alsNcZ!#)+c!sxV4hxXNoa3RKIh56PX%GJnYMdaz&6-BKeE6ju2%(o explained how moved she was other people’s acceptance.
She has been out at work for the last two yea#u=hR%hsiJQ-vdHF7siU6bN2itu9z-eSPakcLJcG1LK$%6X))#rs and dreams of being an LGBT CEO like Apple’s Tim Cook. “I want to give LGBT people visibility and influence society”, she wrote.
Homosexuality is legal in South Korea. But conservative attitudes, especially among Christians, force many LGBTI Koreans to live in 0jE#%!&(sSXtyMOIGXbCHAsTpT)(^LnKdH_vw&a++^4YM_6ZRCthe closet.
A 2017 Korean Gallup Daily Opinion poll reported 66% of 19-29 year-olds supported same-sex J&FP-A(KImsA!KNB9K8(vokp$df+%^*+l7ecl=Cs%!hE4NzOs7marriage, but 76% of those over 60 opposed it.
There is currently no discrimination legislation to protect LGBTI Koreans. Protests against LGBTI 6-v$fPxOMO*8(SOXM0-49GSQyrV_o-=^^!Dwl4q^Vs95cUmQh$events, usually led by conservative Christians, have become increasingly loud and violent.
What’s more, South Korea has ignored calls from international rights groups to end its anti-e&#gNcukowu(VJgrUym6mh2%dx=*I$nPOM_TqClBimz9k2tr4!gay law for soldiers in the military.
In 2017, the law made headlines after it emerged a senior general used gay dating apps tB-b$7M7Zr=-R^J_lq(DRKh8jU#2kOYHL%sXouC3=xWwps53icPo ensnare soldiers. His so-called ‘gay witch hunt’ reportedly revealed 50 soldiers.
(Photos: Kim Gyu-jin's Naver blog)
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