[VIEW 2035] Korea is no better than Qatar

There is something in common between Korea and Qatar. The two countries have legal grounds to penalize homosexuals. People with different sexualities are all around us. We cannot ignore them. Is it possible to see some changes after 10 years?

Park Tae-inThe author is a political news reporter of the JoongAng Ilbo.

There is something in common between Korea and Qatar. The two countries have legal grounds to penalize homosexuals. Although it is illegal under the Military Criminal Act and the Supreme Court ruled the law unconstitutional this year in Korea, the article is still in its effect. And same-sex marriage is still illegal.

For the 2022 Qatar World Cup, discrimination on the LGBTQ community has been a major issue. FIFA banned rainbow-colored clothing or flags in the stadium and came under fire.

If the sports event were held in Korea, this nation would not be able to dodge the issue as well.

Ten years ago when I was a college student reporter, I interviewed Baron Michael Cashman, an openly gay British politician who was a member of the European Parliament at the time. He said queer people pay the same taxes, observe the same laws and take the same trains to work as heterosexual people. His answer was logical and flawless.

Back then, you could easily spot same-sex couples taking a walk with their adopted children on the streets of Brussels, where the EU headquarters was located. A number of European nations were finishing legalizing same-sex marriage. It became legal in the United States in 2015, when the Supreme Court ruled it constitutional.

I thought the issue would be discussed here in Korea, but I was wrong. Sexual minorities were not mentioned during the presidential election campaign.

Recently, the Respect for Marriage Act passed the Senate by the 61-to-36 vote to legalize same-sex marriage in the United States. Congress stepped up first to hold the Supreme Court in check, as it overturned Roe v. Wade and took away the constitutional rights on pregnancy termination. This bipartisan coalition shows that same-sex marriage is an issue that goes beyond one’s political conviction.

For the first time in American history, Maura Healey, an openly lesbian Democratic Attorney General, was elected as the governor of Massachusetts in the mid-term election.

When the Marriage Bill was passed in the U.S. Congress, Kim Jin-pyo, the chairman of Korea's National Assembly, mentioned a homosexuality conversion campaign. What he said would be considered a discriminatory remark in most Western countries, but Kim faced no real criticism.

Khalid Salman, a Qatar World Cup ambassador, called homosexuality “damage in the mind” and was strongly criticized by the international community.

In fact, the phrase “sexual minority” is paradoxical. Even though it’s quite hard to notice, many people have a variety of sexualities. Minority here means the socially vulnerable, rather than a small number.

People with different sexualities are all around us. We cannot ignore them. Is it possible to see some changes after 10 years? I'm getting increasingly skeptical.

BY PARK TAE-IN [park.taein@joongang.co.kr]