Hundreds celebrate LGBT pride in Incheon

An LGBT pride parade in the South Korean pore^u=#JqxB4-+u9xGmETCrGJz6kX0#wihO2C+%OK-FHP^nE2Hatt city of Incheon was held successfully on Saturday.

After lasABm1uslJMabvVp6n2ZutCB5usV8Iv$4HO*0cutQ5eaN9r3NVyit year’s Incheon Queer Culture Festival was marred by violence, hundreds of police kept anti-gay protesters from LGBT attendees and their supporters.

Attendees marched 1.7 kilometers through the city streets, heardle2t*gPT54Vs-ugvQY0b&g0YMXlC1R61yl+$XyJg(844F_JpHb speeches from NGOs and activists, and, of course, danced to K-pop.

Police and barriers separated the anti-LGBT groups who gathered to protest the frUk_k%4#nDP9NKvlI6hJ7Hg)0*gi&^4-IpQeiU26pp!)#[email protected]estival. 

Thousands of anti-LGBT protesters gathered at6D0f$l+CAx1&CyTy0Kx!fWsPVxhoDmd^LsqvW8jw$*hqE4O8E* Bupyeong Plaza, according to local media. There was at least one case of a protester attempting to disrupt the gathering.

Police announced laM#[email protected]@sTdk&#a2GS&E926xzLyG+a2P8VWv!5S3Dgh&Sst week some 3,000 personnel would police the festival, according to local media Kyeongin.

Last year, anti-gay protesters physically blocked 300 LGBT supporters from leaving a plaza and beginning the marc6DSbjsND$Jbiuia4&bqf5=HipJM_(90PkgX176yLDc%XozC5=8h.

Anti-gay hate

Homosexuality is legal in South Korea. gm3rFCuwzfJ2aEC7=W&!pJx^PinVnxtQqpgbst=As*)KnMnf7!But conservative attitudes, especially among Christians, force many LGBTI Koreans to live in the closet.

There is currently no discrimination legislation to protect LGBTI Koreans. Protests against LGBTI events, usually led by conservative Christians, have m)I70Y&dtNmb8W3h3zk9l1!t&2#3he_QxTJmPd%^fx$HhEj*QBbecome increasingly loud and violent.

A 2017 Korean Gallup Daily Opinion poll reported 66% of 19-hT1-$5H#gX^SbmWCM&6i0k+^5!n0#NhMe*^V2-K+j=hLifkx=(29 year-olds supported same-sex marriage, but 76% of those over 60 opposed it. 

Video shared online shows distressing scenes of protesters, believed to be conservative CjbcyOKiTHe&G%5Ga%vtrULqmpsb#ySLaqoJ__J8pY!Kfmvf^IChristians, shouting at pride attendees.

They also appear to grab flags, banners, and even attendees. The pride was attended by a lot of young LGBTIu6KwSI#KdYBzWOaP!W5aUuxI!g_BHKnBT+bU5VYPItQ8=+EMUd South Koreans who were visibly shaken by the incident.

Police booked eight people involLv27HPm0(3#[email protected](yr_5$CxJ66Jx+*bNM%qsved but did not detain them. Organizers accused the police of failing to stop the violence.

 "We've organized teams of human rights activists and lawyers tvzl82shuj(aZU)DR^zPRx_$54QrbXlNr_!+7B+v=_Qw90KmOLSo counter any illegitimate action by LGBT hate groups," organizers said in an Aug. 19 tweet.