hankyoreh

Parents of LGBT youth give free hugs during an event at the 2016 Queer Culture Festival at Seoul Plaza in front of Seoul City Hall on June 11. (provided by PFLAG Korea)

It was the 2016 Queer Culture Festival at Seoul Plaza in front of Seoul City Hall on June 11, and “Bbomi,” 50, was extending a warm embrace to a student who had approached the booth for Parents, Families, Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG Korea). To others who visited, she raised two thumbs up and said, “We love you. It’s great that you’re here. Stay strong.”

PFLAG Korea’s “free hugs” event at the festival was an effort by parents and family members to share unconditional love with LGBT youth their children’s age.

“Some of the people who came for hugs cried - maybe they felt like it was their own mother,” said Bbomi, a steering committee member for the group, in a June 12 telephone interview with the Hankyoreh. “I found myself thinking how wonderful it would be if they could openly tell their parents [that they are LGBT] and be acknowledged and supported.”

A memo board set up near the booth showed notes with messages such as “I’ll tell you someday, and I won’t lie” and “I was amazed to learn about PFLAG Korea. Thank you.”

“A lot of parents won’t come forward even when they have LGBT children. There is a group for parents, and I hope people will take an interest and come find us,” Bbomi said.

“There’s meaning just in letting people know that there are parents who support them,” she added.

Members of Christian groups concerned about hatred toward LGBT people hold a Eucharist service at the 2016 Queer Culture Festival at Seoul Plaza in front of Seoul City Hall on June 11. (by Ko Han-sol

Also drawing attention at the festival was a Eucharist staged by Christians concerned about the spread of hate toward LGBT people. Methodists with LGBT People, a group of Methodist ministers and congregation members concerned about growing hate and exclusion toward the LGBT population, joined other Christians in setting up a “Rainbow Jesus” booth at one corner of the plaza.

“May all the people who experienced this festival bestowed by the Holy Spirit today shed all of the world’s pretenses and prejudices and enjoy true freedom,” echoed the quiet prayer over the plaza.

In Christianity, the Eucharist is a ceremony that reenacts Jesus Christ’s last supper. It recalls the sacrifices and love of Jesus and sends the message that all people are one within them.

“The job of religion is to create an equitable world where no one suffers discrimination,” said Im Bo-ra, a minister at Sumdol Presbyterian Church.

Across from Seoul Plaza, a citizens’ rally was staged in front of Deoksu Palace’s Daehan Gate to express opposition to the festival. Speeches were periodically punctuated with cries of “amen” from participants holding up signs with messages such as “Homosexuality OUT.”

The Queer Culture Festival organizers put the number of visitors on June 11 at over 50,000, the most in history. Despite fears of a possible clash with counterprotests by Christian and conservative groups, the event took place without incident.

By Park Soo-jin, Park Su-ji and Ko Han-sol, staff reporters

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