Hundreds of thousands of South Koreans have called for an upcoming Pride Parade in the nation’s capital to be banned.
More 210,000 people have signed an online petition hosted at the President of Korea’s website. The petitioners say the gay pride parade that is scheduled to occur this weekend in an ‘abomination”.
It will the nineteenth outing for the three day long Seoul Queer Culture Festival that takes place in Seoul Plaza. The final event of the festival is a pride parade.
The petition argues that it is not appropriate to hold the event in the plaza, a place which is of historical importance to all Korean people.
“We do not want to see their abominable events in a square where we should be able to rest and relax”, the petition says. “Every year, queer-themed events such as street performances, drinking and smoking are called ‘cultural festivals’, but they are just occasions filled with illegal acts and hypocrisy.
“Homosexuals and normal people should not engage in such perverse and obscene events in a plaza that is meant to be a space for citizens to relax”, the petition reads. “True human rights are not indulgences”.
In previous years the festival has had to resort to court action to get permission to go ahead, but last year’s festival drew record crowd.
Homosexuality is not illegal in Korea but the countries LGBTI population face stigma and social isolation in the conservative country.
The country’s President Moon Jae-In publicly voiced his opposition to gay people and said that homosexuality could undermine the performance of the countries military.
All Koreans are required to complete compulsory national service and in recent years military police have been increasingly proactive in attempting to identify military personnel who are gay.
The Seoul Queer Culture Festival begins today and runs until Sunday.
OIP Staff, Second Image: Love-locks at Seoul Tower
