LGBTQ+ rights in South Korea!

While the cause of sexual equality already has some weight in most Western countries, the same cannot be said for countries like South Korea. After all, it is a country with a strong conservative tendency in politics and customs. Even so, experts note a certain advance in rights LGBTQIA+ in South Korea, even if slowly.

The advancement of sexual equality in South Korea

Last Tuesday, the 21st, a historic decision by the justice of the South Korea brought an air of hope to the LGBTQIA+ community. This is because, for the first time in history, the country recognized a homoaffective relationship as valid.

In this case, the process went against the country's National Health Insurance Service, which did not recognize the affective union of a couple.

According to the Korean Times, South Korean So Seong-wook sued the NHIS for withdrawing his partner from the health plan, after discovering that they were a gay couple. Thus, So appealed to the courts, which initially denied the request, but the Supreme Court of the country demanded recognition of the union and reinsertion in the health plan.

This is certainly an important step that demonstrates how the South Korean legal system already articulates ways to help same-sex couples in the country. Even so, there is a very big barrier that comes mainly from the country's conservative sector.

For example, the Christian religion, Catholic and Protestant, still exert great influence over the nation.

The lives of LGBTQIA+ people in South Korea

In recent years, reports of violence that LGBTQ+ people suffer in the country have increased. In part, this was in the aftermath of the prison sentence scandal for South Korean soldiers who had sex.

At the time, justice even compared sex between two men as rape.

Furthermore, the growth of K-POP culture on the international scene also motivated the speech of those who suffered violence. In 2018, South Korean phenomenon group BTS addressed the UN and said it was necessary to raise our voices “no matter what gender identity”.

Still in 2023, the country restricts same-sex marriages and does not recognize LGBTQ+ couples.