TV & Movie / Sep. 17, 2019
Actor and restaurateur Hong Seok-cheon, one of South Korea’s only openly-LGBT celebrities, is considering suing a Christian Youz_Od(1TBLw_h6*6(Q6t#9Jgdb=f*$ggTciEKlHV05eo4T(lvcSTube channel after it aired an episode making a slew of homophobic remarks about him.
“Should I sue this for defamation?” Hong asked on his Instagram while sharing a screenshotODJVINuUtQVIFI@zygBxQ^F@Vn+UbP$&pj5l3U(0Ms$9uc4zIU of the Rainbow Returns chat show.
“I’m so uncomfortable with this,” he wrote. “Prejudice against us [LGBT people] will ac3@qj+lGxPy(2K7S_XITBC2Yh2nP_sfYdr)BSDj!5XjAGr0n1opcumulate again”.
He said he worried that all 100,#t=@A6VQ2yzmEJ(w5a-Lts!JG35U^q26%y_AYsrWwA_yU8aqj-000 viewers of the show would believe the "wrong information” and “fake news”.
The show's presenters and guests made comments such as “we don’t hdcOT%%InvY1Wrrcl7Kk8^UUgWAKa$Qxer7^0qs-OuliiiY17C6ate Hong Seok-cheon, we oppose his homosexual behaviour”.
They claimed he spends five hours each day going to the toilet. And, they said they hoped he “escapes” homosexuality, according+qHRfae8+2oLnj0bdjoU5oCDD(Lxs^+MBZ$0gJyRO0k($_HezX to a translation by a local journalist.
South Korea’s out celebrities
South Korea is an incredibly conservative country when it comes to LGBTI rights. While homosexuality is not a crimeI@_U3HMtJgGF4lRrqWcq#MV&2QnsHNorlXddlxV#qORiRJ7Ywx, social stigma forces many LGBTI people not to come out.
Hong is one of only a handful of out celebrities.
Recently, ri^0JGQrRWBeDDPhQCYHWfM&^IMDUD8Qo=l8#WUZfGqqRe8I0LJ+ghts groups have warned of backsliding LGBT rights. “Christian” anti-LGBT activists have increasingly disrupted pride events around the country.
When Hong came out in 2000 he was fired from presentin8bMC+omJx^p3FyAI^(jswjgLs&-4BlKS92Zfl7t@N4Jthmf05Cg a children’s TV show. Since then he has become a restauranteur and film actor.
An artist known%C^7yZ4x5uo*L7opgiJGg^*22p!S7mvBLd3v$PA$estWuMeOM( as Holland is widely touted as the world’s first openly-gay K-pop idol. His debut single Neverland showed the story of a boy facing discrimination.
