[Journalism Internship] Homosexuality no longer seen as a big deal

Journalism Internship

Published: 11 Jul. 2022, 10:30

[Journalism Internship] Homosexuality no longer seen as a big deal

Participants at the 2018 Seoul Queer Parade wave a rainbow pride flag at Seoul Plaza in central Seoul. [YONHAP]

But many in Korea say it is still far from being part of the norm

“It’s the 21st century, after all.”
Moon Seung-seob, a high school student from Jeju, does not understand why movies featuring elements of homosexuality are still facing repudiation. After watching a lesbian kiss scene between space ranger commander.

Alisha Hawthorne and her wife in “Light year,” a spinoff movie of the internationally acclaimed “Toy Story” franchise, Moon told the Korea JoongAng Daily that he didn’t think much of it. “I initially thought it was a family kiss because of its short duration.” Even before the movie was released, “Lightyear” set off a global debate on gay scenes in animated films, prompting some countries to ban the movie’s release. The kiss scene in question lasted for about a second.

Fourteen countries have prohibited the screening of “Lightyear.” Starting with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the ban spread to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and more.

Many countries in Southeast Asia and the Middle East have strict laws that ban homosexuality for religious reasons, both on screen and in person. Due to the Muslim pravalence in many of these countries, the screening of scenes featuring LGBTQ+ content has been made harder, as it defies the teachings in the Quran that condemn homosexuality.

Alisha Hawthorne, right, in a scene from “Lightyear” (2022). The character kisses her wife in the offshoot of the “Toy Story” franchise, prompting several countries to ban the film. [THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY KOREA[

Disney themselves almost cut the same sex kiss scene out of the movie until Pixar employees who were part of the LGBTQ+ community protested.

In a statement published on March 9, they condemned Disney for cutting “nearly every moment of overtly gay affection,” causing Disney to cave.

The lesbian kiss scene was hence reinstated.

“Lightyear” is not the only Disney film that has shone a light on homosexuality. “Toy Story 4,” “Finding Dory,” and “Zootopia” have all included LGBTQ+ couples.

But what makes “Lightyear” different is the fact that it has the first open show of actual affection by homosexuals in a Pixar film.

In Korea, where the film is currently showing in theaters, many young people who were interviewed by the Korea JoongAng Daily expressed similar views to Moon, saying they didn’t think much of the kiss scene, suggesting they were rather accepting of the LGBTQ+ community. But for Korean society to truly embrace the LGBTQ+ community, as opposed to remaining indifferent, a lot remains to be done, they say.

“Even if people don’t regard [the LGBTQ+ community] in an unpleasant manner, they still subconsciously view the community as ‘outside the norm,’” said Jong Hyo-shin, a 16-year- old high school student in Seoul.

“I found it a bit surprising as Disney had never presented a scene as openly representative of the LGBTQ+ community like this one,” Jong continued.

Korean society is widely known to be conservative when it comes to addressing homosexuality, but over the years, the social perception has slowly changed.

In a 2018 survey of 8,000 people by the Korea Institute of Public Administration, respondents who said they cannot accept homosexuality fell below 50 percent for the first time in the survey’s history. The corresponding percentage was 62.1 in 2013 and 57.2 in 2017, dropping to 49 in 2018.

According to another study by the Pew Research Center, Korea saw a 19 percentage point increase in the acceptance of homosexuality from 2002 to 2019.

“If young people get exposed to media like this, I think it is going to help normalize the LGBTQ+ community,” said Moon. “Young children are specialists of just absorbing things around them, and [the] media certainly is not an exception.”

Kim Seo-yun, 15, said it was time older generations let their guards down, too.

“I think [the Korean society] is becoming more open to homosexuality and to the LGBTQ+ community,” said Kim, “but older generations in Korea do have trouble accepting them.”

BY SHIN EUN-JI(Dulwich College Seoul) [08eunji.shin@dcslg.kr], SUH YEON-WOO(Korea International School, Jeju Campus) [ywsuh25@kis.ac]