Gays in Korea and Korean History (no real link, though)

Being gay in Korea is like being gay in the U.S. military...in 1950. Let's just say that it's not near as lovingly embraced as in the West/US. Gays marrying in Korea? C'mon! There are no Korean gays! Of course, if one is gay one can hardly be Korean. I'm not trying to piss of PCers out there, this is just the way many Koreans (especially men and older ones) think. Although the younger generation are more open to other ideas, it's the older generation that controls politics, education, finance, and even media and culture to a large degree. The CEOs of the TV stations are all men and all old guys, as an example.

Things are changing, though, as evidenced in this poster for a gay bar in Itaewon. (Now that you know its name you can either (i) know where to go or (ii) know where to avoid depending on your preference.)


Yikes!

Here are a few websites on gays in Korea: here and here. This blog has a tongue-in-cheek explanation of what being gay is...basically a primer in 'gaydar' (how to recognize a gay in Korea or elsewhere). However, I think that many of the guys here have gay characteristics. It's pretty weird sometimes. In a business meeting one guy from a partner firm put his hand on my leg (just above the knee) as he spoke of my experience in finance and what I do for the investment process. This would be outrightly gay, but in Korea it's ok...it just shows (non-sexual) fondness and a measure of trust between two people. My boss does it also...much to the surprise of foreigners in our group...but, again, it's not 'gay' its just the culture here. My wife's uncle holds my hand, too...and not for 2-3 seconds; for 2-3 minutes. At first I thought it was pretty weird, but it just means that he really likes me. (Having said all this I know I'll have to put up with a deluge of gay jokes when I see my buds back in Canada, crap.)

Over here guys touch guys and girls touch girls, but it's just not sexual. Many young gals (especially) can be seen holding hands while walking down the road. Add to that the schoolgirl uniform and you have a formula for stimulation for most Western guys. You get used to it, though.

I really wonder about some of these Korean guys, though. The Face Shop has a model on all of their (make-up) stores that's pretty gay looking. There are others as well. These guys are (I hope) more metrosexual than homosexual, although the distinction is greying. Many of the boy bands have similar dudes in them-the clothes, the hair, the dance moves. I got to really wonder sometimes. (Remember this guy?)

Perhaps because of the stigma attached to being gay in Korea most gays don't come out of the closet--choosing instead to marry, have kids and be a 'normal' person or going into singing or acting or modeling and making the excuse that they're too busy with their career to find a wife. Either way, it's quite different from in the West where there is more acceptance of such things.

On another topic: yesterday I had lunch with my CEO/boss and he mentioned that China and Korea were having a tiff about the Gorguyeo Dynasty. He said, "oh, how can you know about that...it is just Korean history". Well, when I said that is was about 50AD-600AD and was concurrent with the Paekche and Shilla empires and before the United Shilla dynasty that preceded the closely-named Koryo Dynasty of about 1100-1300AD that was right before the venerated Chosun Dynasty of 1392-1910 he just looked at me. Not sure if he got all of what I said, but a colleague dining with us said that I do, in fact, know about Korean history...hey, I've been here almost 2 years-and not all of it has been in the bars. My dates of Koryo are a little off, but if you want more information of where Korea came from take a look at this site. It has a cool timeline...just right if you're writing a report! So, if you're speaking with a Korean don't be surprised if they assume that since you're a foreigner you can't know precisely anything about Korea--and if you do know some facts or stories from its history you can really impress them well here.

Oh, and just for the record: I'm not gay.