Seoul: South Korean capital celebrates first pride parade in three years
Korea Queer Culture Festival 2022
South Korea's capital Seoul celebrated its first pride parade in three years with thousands of citizens taking part in an LGBT festival in downtown.
State media Yonhap reported that approximately 13,000 people were estimated to have participated in the 'Seoul Queer Culture Festival'.
Showing his support for the community, Philip Goldberg, the US ambassador to South Korea also attended the festival.
He told the crowd "To express the strong commitment of the United States to ending discrimination wherever it occurs and ensuring that everyone is treated with respect and humanity, we simply cannot leave any of you behind."
He added that "We're going to fight with you for equality and human rights."
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Saying “discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity has no place in the 21st century,” British Ambassador Colin Crooks was applauded for his speech which he delivered in Korean.
“The experience of Britain shows that the best way to guarantee rights (for sexual minorities) is through establishing a system of legal protection,” he said.
According to the Yonhap news agency, a protest rally against the pride parade was held by Christian and conservative groups and had at least 15,000 participants.
Highlighting the tensions surrounding the rights of sexual minorities in the deeply conservative country, police were on alert as church-backed counterprotesters rallied in nearby streets.
Kim Man-seok, an official at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, told news agency Reuters that thousands of police officers from nearly 60 units were deployed to watch the demonstrators from both sides.
Members of the LGBTQIA+ community are still harshly stigmatised and frequently exposed to hate speech and crimes, while views on sexual minorities in South Korea have gradually improved in recent years.
(With inputs from agencies)
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