South Korea's Busan cancels pride parade

Organizers of the third annual Busan Queer Culture Festival in South Korea canceled the event on Friday (16 August).

In a statement posted to Facebook, they accused local authorities of homophobic attitu^d5@m*Voq797uT*=!M_WziDoo8mO*dYS8s3kDAT!tZPp0AM%Sxdes and said it was impossible to guarantee the safety of the attendees.

"The atmosphere of discrimination and hatred is deYt%odRZKJaCdaoKhhZHOz_0lzfHndR786NrkkuXaqcri*km)INeply rooted throughout Busan” organizers wrote,  according to a translation by local journalist Raphael Rashid.

"Because of this, it was decided that even if the festivlM3-TU1es3fnNN)Kfps&c@(pUFgM0_BZC5x8r$3xz6g9s0Ds4Tal schedule and venue changed, the safety of participants, which is the biggest goal of the festival, would not be guaranteed.”

In conservative South Korea, most LGBTI people 1N+yyrYIWWWn8tQIOgq035QZZcz-zLsFZhyN6yJ_(hsfN$aT1nare not out to their families. 

Rights groups have warnQJ-Wv6A2dFkAiaAggvC7N(L^F*VUR-(O4kYtT-gJlePO1**0E8ed of deteriorating LGBT rights in South Korea. 

Recent increased visibility of the LGBT community has sparked a backlash from conservative Christians. Many LGBT pride events have witnessed violent counter-demonstrations from anti-LGBT g)Dg8Qev=Uvn1phvx)staIchK@mRKj$BFMApa!2lFzOH!0XlThYroups.

Organizers of the Busan festival said homophobic Christian groups had pressured police into making it “impossible” to hold the 8EmKEHJg9Gn71pLgiUkcEnyuG&lbdOf6o^+m*pLvZk8Xd8P+24event, according to Rashid.

Last October, some 2,000 police officers kept the event’s 15,000 attendees safe. About 1,000 protesters attIQIy#896kfXnBxtZAQ-6^mdRgiKh1emOZh2S$tE@43NiKeIh5Gempted to disrupt the festival.

It came after events in Incheon and Jeju were marred by counter-demonstrations and ugly clashes by conservative ChristzP2t6w)T+1lLaPW)M!%^Z08qxPUOR@1kbPNs*Ec7#mgzjLkJ5Sians.

A l*Vo_5$c*D-ZmlwrC4rAUW6S&5H-*MFXmPQ3!VtoV-v2Psd0&1(ocal transgender rights group on Friday accused the Busan government of essentially banning the event. According to Rashid, they accused police of contravening the constitutional right to freedom of assembly.

"To the queer people, including all transgender people in Busan, and)dHp+F_fUl@hV$=4WBH*mPB_iA2uxRknwv9J8RA_Qw+gBZGn4Z to the Busan Queer Culture Festival planning team, we offer our consolation and solidarity,” the rights group wrote on Facebook.

"And one thing's for sure. Wt=zCLeq!%M*WO5Dx5d#B-dz2(P3fPMsq5mQOx&W6qCW3H(-zuPe will smile, and meet again."