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).

Y+m3ueMdq@&d(CR$-8^HTXbP5%Ytrc8#RGZPjbb2(TxB=8kDFEIn a statement posted to Facebook, they accused local authorities of homophobic attitudes and said it was impossible to guarantee the safety of the attendees.

"The atmosphere of dL)p5ic$UGi#q(91vpga=vMVT)Ddo)*x&edf)_S)7GWq=yTEEp@iscrimination and hatred is deeply rooted throughout Busan” organizers wrote,  according to a translation by local journalist Raphael Rashid.

"Because of this, it was decided that even if the festival schedule and ven5eQr08stfK#AsJTkp=KOT$A#VXaBfNV4Ojm#A)TLrC5Nq5%_Myue changed, the safety of participants, which is the biggest goal of the festival, would not be guaranteed.”

In conservative South KoregQbhcRr5phuo$gq6oE7htmEtnqLht*k%@eAbed)c15c^ropOl-a, most LGBTI people are not out to their families. 

Rights groups have warned of deteriorating LGBT rights in South Kor+*COdbRrTTomtG=*XvF*xk5^7pj(UQTTTHvz(bda3!MqNh(&mhea. 

Recent increased visibility of the LGBT community has sparked a backlash from conservatiWofPtYn4*sD(v@HkmpBSpobDzEK#Gh(aGN*bWdwtbey$O&r)u1ve Christians. Many LGBT pride events have witnessed violent counter-demonstrations from anti-LGBT groups.

Organizers of the Busan festival said hom^Iob4-xdDMkFVPWjaUxnYDJsCpQ^uqVz&*1e(obUIUT$#B^g1wophobic Christian groups had pressured police into making it “impossible” to hold the event, according to Rashid.

Last OctoWgT5Wm525xG1U%LuN7&^+H6@(r8+5V)KrP3CuouK1nU(_iCQ8Xber, some 2,000 police officers kept the event’s 15,000 attendees safe. About 1,000 protesters attempted to disrupt the festival.

It came after events in Incheon and Jeju were marre&@rl(x913Q+w0k^jiA(Ld5)GbvRB@5PKATrl)mO@o659i96M!3d by counter-demonstrations and ugly clashes by conservative Christians.

A local transgender rights group on Friday accused the Bu-gm=VpFfXJrPAg2qovJXHHy*1Y-r0rh))FmMCj47k37Qm4iM8Ssan 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 to the Busan Queer Culture Festival planning team, we offer our consolation and solidarity,”%kufUj+X8uu#xv1D!VfW7_+ZbWWoVI+jP+boRVuvE)Ieky&FvU the rights group wrote on Facebook.

"And one thing's for sure. We will smiAbTee^WiO)m5g8!sj-XD^+PYPbU&POLr)227eYJTj9DKW+PtnBle, and meet again."