by MICHELLE WOO
Waving rainbow flags and holding signs that proclaimed “Love Conquers Hate,” thousands marched through the streets of Sinchon, Seoul, this past weekend during the annual Korea Queer Festival. The event, which took place despite disapproval from city officials, faced disruption by protestors who chanted that gays had no place in the country and displayed posters with messages such as, “Homosexuality is not love.” Some laid down in the streets, stopping floats from moving. According to one account, the demonstrations brought the parade to a halt for five hours.
“To put it simply, today was a kind of battle between extremist Christians and LGBT attendees of said pride,” a student told Gay Star News.
Apparently, a radical Christian group promoted the demonstration as a “healing/mourning concert” for the Sewol ferry disaster.
Violent protestors were dragged away by the police, according to an Italian tourist, who took this video of the incident.
The U.S. Embassy had a booth at the festival, which a group called Korean Citizens’ Alliance for a Healthy Society protested against. In a statement, the organization said, “The United States is causing many problems as it pursues pro-gay policies like the recent expansion of same-sex marriage legalization, but is it now trying to expand homosexuality in not just the United States, but Korea, too?”
Despite the disruptions, it looked like attendees still had a fun time standing up (and partying) for respect and tolerance. “The size and amount of support at this event would’ve been unheard of just a few years ago, so progress has been made,” write Reddit user UseHerMane. This community fought for their parade and they marched their way just a bit closer to equality.”
Check out these photos and see many more here.
