Gay Pride Month in Korea
In celebration of Gay Pride Month, Seoul recently hosted the 15th annual Korea Queer Festival. For the first time ever, the embassies of the U.S., France and Germany participated by hosting informational booths at the festival. As part of a separate US Embassy cultural exchange program, Star Trek and Internet star and gay rights activist George Takei also visited Korea.
LGBT rights and gay awareness are still relatively new "concepts" in Korea. According to a recent Pew poll, only 39% of Koreans said they have no objection to homosexuality, but that's up from 17% in 2007. Technically, there is no law barring gay marriage in Korea. In Korea, gays can even change their legally change their gender on official government documents such as their passport. However, objection to gay rights is still high, as evident by the large number of protestors who tried to halt the Queer Festival and parade.
A few photos from Korea Queer Festival 2014: