LGBT activists in Korea cry foul after Seoul allows Christians to use city plaza for youth concert

Pride and its South Korean exponents suffered a crushing loss in the battle between vice and virtue last week. This year, instead of "queer culture," Christ will be celebrated in the city's downtown.

The Asian nation's largest annual LGBT festival has been held in front of Seoul City Hall since 2015, except during the pandemic when such gatherings were prohibited.

Although Yang Sun-woo, the Seoul Queer Culture Festival's chief organizer, and other LGBT activists presumed their claim to the plaza from June 30 to July 1 was all but guaranteed, this year, they were not the only applicant. The CTS Cultural Foundation also entered an application with the Seoul Metropolitan Government to use the space for a Christian youth concert.

According to the South China Morning Post, the cultural foundation is linked to the local broadcaster Christian Television System, which has long supported the institution of marriage and spoken critically of the pride festival.

The city reportedly attempted to satisfy both applicants, providing both with options for alternate dates; however, neither budged. As a result, the city left the decision to a civic committee, which ultimately decided in favor of the CTS Cultural Foundation.

The organizers behind the LGBT activist festival, which enjoyed dominion over the plaza on July 1 for several consecutive years, now claim that allowing the Christian group to use the space they reckoned was theirs constitutes discrimination.

Yang Sun-woo, the LGBT event's chief organizer, told the Washington Post, "We were unfairly denied access to the public space where South Korea’s LGBTQ community has celebrated pride every summer for years."

City officials stressed that the decision was both lawful and impartial.

"Based on municipal ordinances … events for children and teenagers get a priority when requests are filed for a same date," said Jeong Sang-hun, administrative director at Seoul Metropolitan Government.

Past queer culture festivals have featured nudity, graphic displays, and highly sexual themes.

Despite the city's reasoning, activists presumed only the worst of intentions.

"We are angry at the Seoul Metropolitan Government that is trying to push out sexual minorities and fill the plaza with discrimination and hatred," said the Korean LGBT activist group Rainbow Action in a statement obtained by CNN.

Rainbow Action further suggested that by permitting the Christian event to go ahead, city officials were "aligning with homophobia and discrimination."

In addition to decrying the civic committee's decision, a spokesman for the queer festival claimed that the Christian concert would be used as a space to spread "hatred" against LGBT groups, adding that the purpose of the youth event celebrating Christ "is to interrupt the Queer Culture festival and to prevent sexual minorities from revealing themselves."

The CTS Cultural Foundation denied the timing of its concert having anything whatsoever to do with the queer festival.

"The day is when the weather is forecast to be good and if we were to postpone, the concert would be right in the monsoon season," said CTS spokesman Kim Min-tae.

Even though the queer festival was provided with other dates, Ryu Min-hee of Korean Lawyers for Public Interest and Human Rights told the Post, "This is a typical case of Pride blockade seen in countries where governmental authorities side with bigotry and discrimination."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!