{"id":2201049,"date":"2023-05-17T19:12:44","date_gmt":"2023-05-17T10:12:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/?p=2201049"},"modified":"2023-05-18T17:22:57","modified_gmt":"2023-05-18T08:22:57","slug":"pride-denied-seouls-venue-rejection-draws-international-criticism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/05\/pride-denied-seouls-venue-rejection-draws-international-criticism\/","title":{"rendered":"Pride denied: Seoul’s venue rejection draws international criticism"},"content":{"rendered":"
In a decision that has drawn international scrutiny, the Seoul city government has denied the Seoul Queer Culture Festival (SQCF) \u2014 the country\u2019s largest annual LGBTQ rights event \u2014 the right to host festivities at a plaza in front of the city hall building, a location it has hosted events at for the past <\/span>eight years<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Instead, the city will allow the Christian Television Service (CTS), an evangelical group, to host a religious youth concert in the plaza the same day the Pride festival was scheduled.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Seoul <\/span>justified<\/span><\/a> its decision by stating it was made by a committee of residents after the two groups scheduled events for the same time and space. The committee apparently failed to reach a compromise on the date.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Many have questioned whether the decision was made impartially. Critics point to the potential for subjective interpretation in the city <\/span>ordinance<\/span><\/a> that Seoul used as its legal basis. Specifically, they highlight the ambiguity in determining what might constitute a more suitable event for the \u201cpublic interest.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Former New Zealand diplomat Philip Turner, the first ambassador to the ROK who began his tenure with a same-sex spouse, urged the Seoul government to devise a constructive resolution.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMy partner and I attended the events every year from 2018 to 2022,\u201d Turner recalled. \u201cWe joined in the march through the city \u2014 twice in pouring rain \u2014 went on stage to address large crowds and mixed with excited local participants, most of them young.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe were not alone,\u201d he recalled, describing the parades as initially confronting and \u201ceven scary\u201d to increasingly more opponents and \u201cpositive\u201d in later years. \u201cIt is, therefore, very disappointing to hear that the organizers have been denied permission to hold the event in the plaza this year.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Echoing Turner\u2019s sentiments, British Ambassador to the ROK Colin Crooks, who made a speech at last year\u2019s parade, told <\/span>Korea Pro<\/span><\/i> that \u201cdemocratic societies like Korea and the U.K. are built on the idea that all citizens are entitled to freedom of assembly and speech.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that Seoul Queer Culture Festival and the Pride parade have taken place almost every year since 2000 is an important example of those rights being exercised,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Maria Castillo-Fernandez, the European Union\u2019s ambassador to South Korea, concurred: \u201cDiversity is to be celebrated. Diverse society is a strong society,\u201d she told <\/span>Korea Pro<\/span><\/i>. \u201cIt is important that the ROK, as a global leader in so many areas, supports and is seen to support marginalized groups in society.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Musicians performing on the stage of the 2022 Seoul Queer Culture Festival on July 15, 2022 | Image: Seoul Queer Culture Festival<\/a><\/p>\n CONTROVERSIES<\/b><\/p>\n The \u201cYouth Healing Concert\u201d is set for July 1 and is a Christian music festival intended to help young adults recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the organizers. CTS asserts that they held the event annually before the pandemic.<\/span><\/p>\n In response to <\/span>allegations<\/span><\/a> by local media of the CTS\u2019 potential involvement in the city\u2019s decision-making process, the organizer told <\/span>Korea Pro<\/span><\/i> that their selected date was merely an attempt to \u201cavoid rain\u201d and the resumption of school in August.<\/span><\/p>\n However, these circumstances have fueled skepticism among advocacy groups. According to the organizers of the Pride parade, anti-LGBTQ groups in South Korea have been working for months to prevent this year\u2019s event.<\/span><\/p>\n In one notable instance, just days after the SQCF submitted its plaza usage application on April 3, a Christian media outlet <\/span>published<\/span><\/a> an editorial urging Seoul to reject the \u201cobscene\u201d festival\u2019s use of the plaza. Following this, Lee Sung-bae, a ruling People Power Party (PPP) member of the Seoul City Council, reportedly <\/span>congratulated<\/span><\/a> CTS for securing the location for their Christian youth concert.<\/span><\/p>\n However, this occurred a full month before the city government made its formal decision. Lee did not respond to a request for comment from <\/span>Korea Pro<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n The debate was further stoked by revelations of the committee meeting <\/span>discussions<\/span><\/a> regarding the choice of group for the plaza use. These discussions were found to be filled with homophobic remarks and presumptions about sexual orientation.<\/span><\/p>\n One panel member was recorded expressing their opposition to homosexuality, stating: \u201cThis underground culture used to be only active in a small community in maybe Itaewon, but gradually spread throughout the city.” Itaewon is a neighborhood in central Seoul home to many immigrants and nightlife venues.<\/span><\/p>\n The panel member continued by rejecting the event\u2019s characterization as a festival, arguing that such a culture for sexual minorities is “educationally harmful to our children, who should receive proper education about sex and build an appropriate perception of sexual culture.”<\/span><\/p>\n The festival organizer told <\/span>Korea Pro<\/span><\/i> that the decision might indicate that \u201cproper procedures based on the city ordinance were not carried out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The Seoul city government cited Article 6 of its <\/span>ordinance<\/span><\/a> on the Seoul plaza usage as justification for its decision. The ordinance stipulates that the mayor may reject plaza usage if an event is \u201cagainst the objectives of [Seoul] having created the plaza.\u201d Further, when there are multiple requests, the committee may favor one over the other.<\/span><\/p>\n However, while the ordinance does prohibit discrimination based on gender, political ideology or religion, it also allows the city to prioritize events that serve the \u201cpublic interest,\u201d are related to \u201cculture and art,\u201d or those \u201crelated to children or young adults,\u201d if there is an overlap of requests. The exact standard applied in this decision, favoring CTS over the Pride event, remains unclear.<\/span><\/p>\n This controversy comes on the heels of a <\/span>landmark ruling<\/span><\/a> by the Seoul High Court in favor of a same-sex couple demanding the same spousal coverage from the state health insurance program as heterosexual couples, which Amnesty International\u2019s annual human rights report recently <\/span>noted<\/span><\/a> as a major improvement in South Korea.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n However, despite this progress, the LGBTQ community in South Korea has voiced increasing concerns about rising homophobic sentiment since President Yoon Suk-yeol\u2019s inauguration.<\/span><\/p>\n Evidence of this sentiment includes the comments of Yoon\u2019s then-presidential secretary Kim Sung-hui, who <\/span>likened<\/span><\/a> homosexuality to a treatable mental illness, akin to a \u201csmoking habit.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s not the first time South Korea has rejected the Pride festival. In 2015, the police <\/span>halted<\/span><\/a> SCQF organizers from marching in the streets of Seoul and <\/span>Daegu<\/span><\/a>, a decision later <\/span>overturned<\/span><\/a> in court.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n A rainbow handkerchief wrapped around a participant’s wrist during the 2022 Seoul Queer Culture Festival on July 15, 2022 | Image: Seoul Queer Culture Festival<\/p>\n THE WORLD IS WATCHING<\/b><\/p>\n