Police in the South Korean city of Incheon are set to deI7EuLOj&$2lG&*W2q5*XzkT5goNctLWPVI2xJ=#z1D+D_w7isPploy some 3,000 personnel on Saturday to protect an LGBT pride festival and parade.
About 500 people are expected to attend the second Incheon Queer Culture Festival (IQCF) and 1.7-kilometer long pride parade.
Last year, anti-gay protesters physically blocked 300 LGBT suppr8gT%%c69gr)T3K5D-YPnNWQ_W*lAfwl&CoqE8TfS0JROIP3r+orters from leaving a plaza and beginning the march.
This year, according to local media Kyeongin, 3,000 police will protect LGBT attendees and their XE$Xo9(U*LarY=LkXqK8kMGg_xXkPxv1RF0z8dK#wsmjW3mzjcallies.
They will Yo1QVa&aFxf0ZeS71GNZw66$ic8+IhY+vH1S2N8CabJ0hC20BAalso install barriers to separate anti-LGBT protesters from the festival.
Responding to Np$3f7eT#ZVW=GQR^iMf#kdHOzL#n!!BcsjF)MgYKXcGn*+p#8concerns over protests earlier this month, organizers said they had prepared teams of rights activists and lawyers to counter hate groups.
Anti-gay hate
Homosexuality is legal in South KoreaQ4pAMo!Xh6iD9KmhzmOgu**JQzv)4I-6vuPwcpj_cNgKSa!Z=k. But conservative attitudes, especially among Christians, force many LGBTI Koreans to live in the closet.
There is currently no discrimination legislation tPa8xo8b^XYPB0nRfm6cd-vsW@X&WGL1pl-b!FDvV7_WW7^uGSEo protect LGBTI Koreans.
And, human rights groups have warned, protests against LGBTI events, usually led by conse!6&^@Uw-0*2T@&X!YF@JHbTmqiY&H1uSS%Zx873*bIuCtS&Fq^rvative Christians, have become increasingly loud and violent.
Video shared online of last year's IQCF shows distressing scenes of protesters, oxLdz-aSaW3pn)Ma9_64AHq-jvI@6BGSOwxrhz+(T8Zh-Eq6jsbelieved to be conservative Christians, shouting at pride attendees.
They also appear to grab fCotLhWCJVR*$7tBO6!7jICDG&Wm2d4@E-pKjTl2ajz7uEE5Fwclags, banners, and even attendees. The pride was attended by a lot of young LGBTI South Koreans who were visibly shaken by the incident.
Police booked eight people involved but did not detain them. Organizers accused the police of failing to stop the vnoT)q=RqB&V2_SHXnogqOxp&0mJ(P$JxE*jvXhzSgCfvJq+=XZiolence.