Participating in the 13th Korea Queer Culture Festival’s Parade
By Lee Chung-yeol
Published: June 4, 2012
Translated by Marilyn Hook
Though I had never been there before, it was not hard to
find Eulji-Hanbit Square. Lively music and cheerful footsteps of others led me
to the place where the festival was being held.
The 13th Queer Culture Festival was held from
May 26th to June 2nd. The Queer Parade took place at EuljjiHanbit Square on
Cheongye 2 ga on the last day. © Korean Public Interest Lawyers’ Group,
Gong-Gam
As I got closer to the source of the music, my heart was pounding. I had doubts about how the Queer Culture Festival would be accepted by Korea, with its still-conservative culture and uniform lifestyle ideals.
Around the time that U.S. President Barak Obama, in an
interview with ABC, said, “It is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I
think that same-sex couples should be able to get married,” the first
public-service advertisements discouraging discrimination against same-sex
couples appeared in the Seoul metropolitan area.
Immediately, conservative Christians and conservative organizations
strongly criticized Mayor Park Won-soon, saying, “He supports same-sex
relationships.” Conservative media outlets reported, “A shocking thing has
happened,” also making a great fuss about the ads. The ads’ message - “A world
in which difference doesn’t become discrimination! Some Seoul citizens are
sexual minorities” - is a truth that some do not want to acknowledge.
Up ahead, around the corner to the right, lies the Queer
Culture Festival. Though I’ve long been interested in it, I’ve never gone
because the opportunity never arose – but now I’m going to participate in the Queer Parade!
“We support a variety
of loves, a variety of families, a variety of existences”
It was the first Saturday of June 2012. The day was hot, and
EuljiHanbit Square felt cramped – because of how many people had come to the
Queer Culture Festival this year, and the heat of their enthusiasm. The
colorful stage was exciting, and though the celebratory show had some clumsy
parts, it was endearing. Here and there, people cheered and waved rainbow flags
representing sexual minorities’ rights and diversity.
Badges, pretty accessories, and face-painting that
commemorated the festival, as well as various forms of entertainmentwere
available. Also, I was glad to see again the “No One from Normal Family
Admitted” exhibition, which had been exhibited in a gallery in Daehangno.
Participants in the Queer Culture Festival
made and brought signs with messages representing rights for sexual minorities.
© Korean Public Interest Lawyers’ Group, Gong-Gam
Signs, made by participants and displaying messages in
support of sexual minorities’ rights, could be seen everywhere. One that said,
“We support a variety of loves, a variety of families, a variety of
existences,” stood out. Gonggam [Sympathy], Korean Public Interest Lawyers’
Group, protested the Constitutional Court’s recent ruling that Military Penal
Code Article 92, Section 5, which says, “Persons who commit gyegan [lit. “committing adultery with a
chicken”] (a term demeaning sexual
activity between men) or other molestation, shall be sentenced to no more than 2
years imprisonment.” is constitutional, and criticized Korean society for
viewing homosexuals as “unconstitutional.”
There were also disabled women participating and carrying
placards reading, “We reject the sexual oppression of disabled women.” The
message “Guarantee nondiscriminatory sexual rights and sexual citizenship!” hit
home with me.To one side, the “Drive for a Million Signatures to Resolve the
Ssangyong Motors Layoffs” and fund-raising for the same were taking place. It
seemed that the Queer Culture Festival was now not just a festival for sexual
minorities, but had grown into one in which other human rights that had been
oppressed and suppressed were revived.
When I looked around for a place that sold drinks in order
to relieve my thirst, among the booths of Korean Womenlink, Gyeol: University
Network for a Society Without Discrimination, the gay rights organization
Between Friends, and the New Progressive Party, I noticed a church tent. It was
the Christian Alliance for a World Without Discrimination.
I couldn’t help but be glad to see them saying, “God also
made queers,” and taking initiative to express views different from those of
conservative Christian groups that oppress homosexuals. The sight of a person
who appeared to be a minister smiling warmly while watching the festival
performance was also memorable.
Diversity, a joy not
just clamored for but directly experienced
The Queer Culture Festival was a joyful place
in which gender, age, race, disability, etc. - criteria that are becoming
strict touchstones in Korean society - were shattered and diversity was
respected. © Lee Chung-yeol
The Queer Culture Festival was a festival of diversity, in a
real sense of the word. In that place, all the criteria that become strict
touchstones in Korean society like gender, age, race, nationality, disability,
and education, collapsed. Foreigners enjoyed the festival with everyone else,
and participated actively.
Where else in Korean society can such a diverse group gather
and enjoy themselves together? The clear
distinctions between men and women’s clothes, expressions, behavior, and way of
speaking, that we have learned since childhood - these people were so free that
they made them look meaningless, and I, as a woman who has many typical “feminine”
qualities felt freed at the sight.
Finally, the parade which would go from Cheonggye 1-ga to
3-ga began. A car displaying the banner of the Queer Culture Festival, with its
attractive image of various colors of paint splashing and mixing, was at the
head. People carrying rainbow flags and rainbow umbrellas followed behind, and
others danced joyfully on top of vehicles that were each decorated differently.
Many of the people following or watching the parade danced
or sang along, and an excited few even climbed up on the cars and danced in
earnest.
Same-sex couples held hands tightly as they marched. Holding
the hand of the person you like while walking – natural for heterosexual
couples, and the target of glares when same-sex couples do it. Who made this
norm, and by what right? The truth is that though no one can take
responsibility for these uniform and clearly demarcated norms, many people just
go along with them as though they were their own beliefs, and this made me sad.
Then, I saw teenage couples proudly expressing their
affection as they participated in the parade. Though it was an unfamiliar
sight, the way they were engrossed in each other was beautiful. I saw an
opposite-sex couple holding a sign that read, “I, [name], am a friend of sexual
minorities.” There were quite a few people who were well over 50 years old, and
seeing them moving their shoulders to today’s trendy pop music was strange but
enjoyable.
To me, as someone who had clamored for “diversity” but
really had almost never experienced the sight of a diverse group of people
having fun and mingling with each other, the 13th Queer Culture Festival was a
good energizer. A much larger number of people than I had expected
participated, and I enjoyed it twice as much. I look forward to next year’s
14th Queer Culture Festival taking place on the stage at Seoul Plaza, and to
the Queer Parade occupying the center of Jongno.
*Original article:
No comments:
Post a Comment