Modern Gay History in South Korea

According to one source, the modern gay community can be traced to the 1970s. But it wasn't until 1991 when Shappo, an American soldier who treated her lesbianism as a badge of pride, formed the first visible gay group here. Two years later, a Korean-American gay man established the first Korean gay and lesbian co-gendered group.

Since then, Korean gays have been gradually moving away from the underground scenes in Itaewon and Chong-no. Increasingly, gays are entering the mainstream especially at universities, forming clubs and cafes and, as is so evident from the Gay South Korea website, Internet groups across the country.

Now, more than 30 universities, including Seoul National University, Yonsei University and Pusan University have gay clubs. Some 20 gay cafes and pubs dot Seoul's Itaewon district. Others are popping up in the cities of Shinchon, Hongdae, Inchon, Anyang and Ansan. The Kyongsang and Cholla provinces and even remote Jeju Island have establishments for gays now.

Shifting a heavily laden paradigm is not an easy task, especially when it is so ingrained in culture and religion. But a paradigm is still nothing more than collective ideas and ideas inevitably change when pushed by pragmatism and humanism.

[Source from; globalgayz.com]