Kim Gyu-jin, a 28-year-old office worker in South Korea, recently received her company’s od$sFyHBthmGxes1KMSk(rkwlQ$+j3_kbfX^1$axO^Wt-MKZ4rRfficial 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 is becomingwhQ9@pLYmumJ!yhotGBfKVwm_epigfUYd1i@WlEy4wnE@LkNW6 less accepting of LGBT people.

Kim shared details of her beach !sbK9g209!NHuX$nHRBr73YDf1FX3KA4qO-wgqctr_B6CnisJXwedding and what her colleagues’ acceptance meant to her on her personal blog.

“I consulted with my team leader and sent an-)OJH#ZRdVI_3E2CUrCmNppK(nwbq%sFwsl66I$cDMCRYB%b*3 e-mail to the HR team”, she explained. “I was nervous.”

But, thek3Pjv2DpDWc#6zEguJedBYkg07&MJF(-#6cDYWchBdn*Lo(pN- reply she received was “happy marriage”. She said the only official documented needed was a wedding invitation.

The pair of46G%0oC=rMZoc0lGfSi3CVHRG6np0ESq+lczCtF9%yYGgCU!b$ficially married in New York. She said she chose the USA as they do not require citizenship or resident permits.

The certificate is, however, “useless” in SouthZRX3ZlR=)#-ivrjVkP_N&#CjgmIz+(i+i#p+Eo3&vc+ZT@IUgi Korea, she explains. The country does not permit same-sex marriage or recognize foreign unions.

Kim also explained how movedX391!!CD0cCDp@3b(WlQ2uw*zQ=tgPdHgVGNwN$xAZzYJP_tRb she was other people’s acceptance. 

She has been out at work for the last two years and dreams of being an LGBT CEO like Apple’s Tim Cook. “I want to give LGBT people visibility and influence societyg9yMw2_fhan7j@QQfQ#v2unPuf++fg@ENqvMIHKPd5(8&4LN*)”, she wrote.

Homosexuality is legal in South Korea. But conservative attitudes, especially among Christians, force many LGBTIAAa^(ZWtTJ@aoU%O6XgUkejnfzME4lqt*wCpqcHt^6FWnZPeno Koreans to live in the closet.

A 2017 Korean Ga%vJ7W+Usi&TFnY6oYM2W@Z18Igjf*XjA091(thIibSIM^@ llup Daily Opinion poll reported 66% of 19-29 year-olds supported same-sex marriage, but 76% of those over 60 opposed it.

There is currently no discrimination legislation to protect LGBTI Koreans. Protests against LGBTI events, usually led by conservative Chrijg@Ao7!lxkfi1-s37F0M-K-!#+XJurFufkNZwABsb%K*zL-JCnstians, have become increasingly loud and violent.

WwO^Y)UaugIxW7KsTvG$hV2UGN!Mm*NE$P-&j#KJ3i+3QK+3Ezehat’s more, South Korea has ignored calls from international rights groups to end its anti-gay law for soldiers in the military.

In 2017, the law made headlines after it emerged a senior general used gay dating apps to ensnare soldiers. His so-called ‘gay witch hunt’ reportedly reveaizkG^bT25zEeyF(C+wSzkKI=9Wz#sSQ14xE27CqDen=Pz9Wth#led 50 soldiers.

(Photos: Kim Gyu-jin's Naver blog)

Yi-min lives alone with her son, as her husband works away from home. She meets Tinting at a wedding, a girl she once had some history with back in highschool. Back in the days, Yi-min denied their relationship out of fear of living as a lesbian woman, but meeting Tingting again reignites something in her, a possibility to escape her dull married life. Now that Taiwan has leagalised same-sex marrige, can Yi-min find the courage to admit her feelings? With the future of a child in her hands and under the pressure of her husband, her family-in-law and her own family, will she follow through with this new chapter in her life?