Another striking difference I’ve observed between United States and Korea is the acceptance of the LGBT community.
I never heard the term LGBT before I came to the United States.
The widespread effort to provide a safe environment for the LGBT community in America, and especially on campus, was an eye-opening and humiliating experience for me.
In November 2015, Transgender Awareness Week was held to educate UNC students of the dangers that transgender people face. Never have I thought there were groups of people so marginalized to commit suicide or even be killed by others for being who they are.
This year, Carolina Advocating for Gender Equality is petitioning for the implementation of gender-neutral bathrooms in local businesses.
You don’t see this in my country. Not yet.
LGBT is still a taboo topic in Korea. Occasionally, movies and TV shows featured gay characters, but the LGBT community in its entirety has never been the subject of major national conversations.
Sure, gender equality is a prevalent social problem, but “gender” is strictly limited to male and female. There is only one openly gay celebrity, and you rarely see individuals coming out. I still remember the hushed rumors about a fellow classmate back in middle school.
Korean society, in my opinion, hasn’t even set its first step into promoting gender equality for people of all identities.
Fortunately, the topic was brought forth to online conversations a few months ago.
In December 2015, a web drama called “Lily Fever” featured the romance between two young girls in their early twenties. A few episodes into the show, a scene of the two girls kissing was published online. A screen capture of the scene and various articles commenting on the “shocking” imagery dappled the first page of Korea’s biggest search engine, Naver.
This clip was rated R, and you needed special authorization through the website to watch the film. Some of the comments on the clip were ugly, and I’d rather not translate them. A person even condemned Naver for not censoring this content.
At the same time, more voiced their support for openness and acceptance for LGBT identities.
I hope the fight for equality and protection regardless of gender identification will spread globally to reach all of the LGBT population worldwide.
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