Even if we might think it’s a safer place for people to be who they are, Korea is a place where homosexuality is not openly talked about and remains a social stigma and a taboo to talk about in public. As we have seen all over the world, the younger generation is more open-minded, but, the older generation still struggles to accept Queer members readily. If you think being queer in Korea is easy, you’re highly mistaken, It’s very stressful, and being yourself is not easy. In K-Pop, there’s not a lot to talk about when it comes to Pride months because of the taboo and that the big companies make the artists sign rosters for the same.
1. Holland
Holland is known to be the first gay K-Pop idol. He gained immense popularity ever since the release of his first single called, “neverland” and has been gaining fame ever since. In about half a year, starting from January, his “R-Rated” Music videos have been gaining love. The rating is because of the same-sex kiss between the singer and a man featuring in the song.
2. Som Hye In
She gained her popularity through a reality show, and later when she gained fame, she came under the radar when Hye In posted a picture of kissing a girl many speculated about her sexual identity, to which she reverted by affirming the same. She came out as a lesbian who had a girlfriend.
3. Marshall Bang
Known as MRSHLL, he is an R&B singer who was not raised in Korea but Los Angeles but was accepted well in Korea when he came out publically. The singer gained a lot of popularity and is signed with the Entertainment company, “Feel Ghood Music,” headed by K-Pop icons in Hip-Hop.
4. Maman
Maman is also known as Magoply, who happens the be the first openly gay K-Pop idol. She had debuted back in 2007 under the entertainment company Jerry Entertainment. There has been a lot of drama surrounding her ever since she came out publicly, and as a result of the unexpected move was even kicked out of her company, showing us the struggles and hard conditions for an artist to survive.
5. Tony Hong
More commonly known as Hong Seok-Cheon came out as a gay celebrity back in 2000 and created a massive controversy in his home country, Korea. He was a model who has been a part of variety shows, sitcoms, and even dramas. He has openly spoken about his struggles as a gay actor and how he was fired because of his sexuality.
6. Kim Ji Hoo
Kim Ji Hoo is one of the most tragic stories of Korea, exposing how toxic indifference and traditional thinking can be. He could not handle the issues that came as the aftermath of coming out, and he faced many problems like canceling his appearances on shows until he couldn’t take it anymore and killed himself at the age of twenty-three.
7. Harisu
Harisu has been a part of K-Pop way before the rise of the Hallyu wave. Gaining popularity back in 2001 with her first release, Temptation, she has been openly transgender and gained popularity back then as one of the most prominent new artists, who commemorated her eleventh anniversary with the single “Shopping Girl.”
8. Choi Han-Bit
More popularly known as “Han-Bit,” is a transgender entertainer who turned from a model to an actor who was initially a model for the channel SBS (sponsorship). She later was a part of the girl group named Mercury back in 2015. She has previously released songs as singles like “Don’t Stop” and “Let’s Party.”
9. LADY
LADY was the first-ever K-Pop band of transgender members who took inspiration from Harisu. They debuted back in 2015 with four members named Sinae, Sahara, Binu, and Yuna. The band was sadly not promoted enough and didn’t gain enough recognition as it should have given the band’s uniqueness and had to disband soon.
10. I. P’s Seungho And B.Nish
Both the members of the boy band D.I. P, Seungho, and B.Nish are the rarest K-Pop idols who went public about their relationship. Relationships are hard enough for boy bands, but they came out as a gay, same-sex couple, and have also been dating since years of debut.
