Author Carmen de Monteflores said “oppression can only survive through silence”. Sadly this is true for many countries in the world no matter who is being oppressed. But, LGBT rights are an issue worldwide, the worst of which can be found in South Korea; nevertheless, it is imperative to comprehend the history of the movement, where the matter currently stands, laws and other precautions taken to stop the oppression, and their effectiveness. The LGBT rights movement started slowly, but it gained some popularity in 2010 and on. It began in the early 80’s during the AIDs epidemic, and a Korean news reporter explained they have nothing to worry about since there were not any homosexuals in South Korea according to Source 1. Although the reporter
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According to Source 4, in 2010 the tolerance of same-sex marriage and homosexuality was only 16.9%, but in 2014 another poll showed the tolerance increased to 28.5% acceptance of same-sex marriages and homosexuality which is not much, but demonstrates change is being made. But the needed change is still not there since same-sex marriages are not recognized and instead, recognized as a civil union according to Source 5. Although homosexuality is tolerated to a point in everyday culture, in the military, which is 2 years mandatory for all men, any homosexual is a crime punishable by whether there is or is not consent according to Source 5/Article 92 of the South Korean Military Criminal Act. Due to there not being a mention or differentiation of consent versus no consent, homosexual actions are the equivalent of rape even with approval. Luckily in May of 2016, a gay rights advocacy group, NHRCK, began a petition about the constitutionality of Article 92, and was found unconstitutional on October 27, 2016. This meant if two homosexual men were holding hands they would not be sent to prison for a year just for being open about their sexuality. The group in South Korea who is doing a majority of the oppressing are the conservative Christian groups and lawmakers, who have even gone as far as protesting a textbook that mentioned “sexual minorities in South Korea face bullying and discrimination… [and] discrimination against the LGBT community violates basic human rights”(IHRP University of Toronto 14). Due to the conservative Christian groups it has been very hard for the LGBT community to make a change in society, and hard for protection laws to be
According to Source 4, in 2010 the tolerance of same-sex marriage and homosexuality was only 16.9%, but in 2014 another poll showed the tolerance increased to 28.5% acceptance of same-sex marriages and homosexuality which is not much, but demonstrates change is being made. But the needed change is still not there since same-sex marriages are not recognized and instead, recognized as a civil union according to Source 5. Although homosexuality is tolerated to a point in everyday culture, in the military, which is 2 years mandatory for all men, any homosexual is a crime punishable by whether there is or is not consent according to Source 5/Article 92 of the South Korean Military Criminal Act. Due to there not being a mention or differentiation of consent versus no consent, homosexual actions are the equivalent of rape even with approval. Luckily in May of 2016, a gay rights advocacy group, NHRCK, began a petition about the constitutionality of Article 92, and was found unconstitutional on October 27, 2016. This meant if two homosexual men were holding hands they would not be sent to prison for a year just for being open about their sexuality. The group in South Korea who is doing a majority of the oppressing are the conservative Christian groups and lawmakers, who have even gone as far as protesting a textbook that mentioned “sexual minorities in South Korea face bullying and discrimination… [and] discrimination against the LGBT community violates basic human rights”(IHRP University of Toronto 14). Due to the conservative Christian groups it has been very hard for the LGBT community to make a change in society, and hard for protection laws to be