City officials, police clash over LGBTQ festival in Daegu

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City officials, police clash over LGBTQ festival in Daegu

Officials from the Daegu Metropolitan Government and Daegu’s Jung District Office, left, clash with police officers on Saturday as they attempt to stop an LGBTQ festival from being held. [NEWS1]

Officials from the Daegu Metropolitan Government and Daegu’s Jung District Office, left, clash with police officers on Saturday as they attempt to stop an LGBTQ festival from being held. [NEWS1]

Daegu government officials clashed with the police on Saturday as the city attempted to stop an LGBTQ festival, in a rare show of confrontation between public authorities.
 
Some 500 officials from the Daegu Metropolitan Government and Daegu’s Jung District Office descended on the festival site in Jung District on Saturday morning as they tried to block the festival’s host from bringing in booths and stage equipment.
 
The festival was set to be held on a two-lane road in a public transportation-only zone.
 
About 1,500 police officers dispatched by the Daegu Metropolitan Police Agency stepped in, demanding the government officials move out of the way, saying that the host of the festival had lawfully notified the police of the assembly.
 
The government officials didn’t budge, claiming they were carrying out “administrative enforcement” because it was unacceptable to allow a festival with “no public nature” to illegally occupy public roads.
 
An administrative enforcement action refers to an administrative proceeding undertaken by the government against a person or group not complying with the law.
 
The officials were eventually pushed to the side by police officers, leading some to fall to the ground.
 
No major injuries were reported.
 
The Daegu Queer Culture Festival was held as planned from 12 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. that day. Nearly 800 LGBTQ participants joined the celebration, the organizer said.
 
Advocates of the LGBTQ community march down a public transportation-only zone in Daegu on Saturday as part of the annual Daegu Queer Culture Festival. [YONHAP]

Advocates of the LGBTQ community march down a public transportation-only zone in Daegu on Saturday as part of the annual Daegu Queer Culture Festival. [YONHAP]

The face-off between Daegu’s police and government officials had been somewhat predicted, as Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo spoke about his aversion to the queer festival on numerous occasions earlier this month.
 
The right-wing mayor of the conservative stronghold said he was opposed to the queer festival because it would “provoke disgust” among citizens, tarnish the city’s image and “expose the youth to an inappropriate sexual culture.”
 
Under Korea’s Assembly and Demonstration Act, authorities are prohibited from requiring peaceful assemblies to be authorized in advance. The organizer of the assembly, however, is required to submit a report to the police of the details of the planned assembly.
 
Upon receiving a report about the Daegu queer festival, the city’s police contacted the Daegu Metropolitan Government, requesting bus routes to be diverted from the roads where the festival was going to be held on.
 
The Daegu government office rejected the request, saying that public road occupancy required a government permit, which it was unwilling to provide to the queer festival.
 
Under the country’s road laws, any person or group that intends to occupy roads to install facilities is required to obtain permission from local government bodies. However, there are no specific regulations regarding whether separate permission is required if the location has already been reported for an assembly.
 
Local courts have in the past ruled that if an assembly has been reported, it’s allowed to install facilities on roads, even without obtaining separate permission for road occupancy.
 
Nevertheless, while speaking at a press conference near the queer festival on Saturday, Hong said he would hold the city’s police chief accountable for allowing the organizer to unlawfully occupy public roads.
 
Later in a Facebook post, Hong wrote he would fire the police chief if he could.
 
The annual queer culture festival first started in Seoul in 2000 and has since spread to other major cities such as Daegu, Busan and Jeju Island, prompting anti-LGBTQ protests from religious and parents groups.
 
The Seoul Queer Culture Festival is slated for July 1 in the Euljiro area of downtown Seoul.

BY KIM YOON-HO, LEE SUNG-EUN [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]
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