Community Spotlight: Solidarity for LGBT Human Rights of Korea

“Being an ILGA Asia member means you get a chance to network with activist around the region”

– Solidarity for LGBT Human Rights of Korea | South Korea

Solidarity for LGBT Human Rights of Korea, also known as HaengSeongIn in Korean, is one of the oldest and most active LGBTI organizations in the LGBTI movement of South Korea. They are especially known for their work on labour rights and HIV/AIDS campaigns. ILGA Asia asked HaengSeongIn about their journey on activism and their thoughts on the LGBTI movement in Asia.

1. I have heard a lot about HaengSeognIn and the active role you play in the Korean LGBTI movement. Today I’m very excited to learn about how the organization was created.

Solidarity for LGBT Human Rights of Korea(HaengSeongIn) started as LGBT association of Korean universities in 1997 and has changed its name to the current organisation, HaengSeongIn in 1998. Since then, our organisation has been working actively as one of the representatives and leading LGBT organisations in South Korea. Thanks to the donations from 800 individual members consist of sexual minorities (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/transexual and intersex) and allies, we are operated with the principles of ‘Action’ and ‘Solidarity’. HaengSeongIn dreams of an equal society where the human rights of every social minority are respected. We advocate to change social institutions, culture and awareness so that sexual minorities can affirm their identity and live a wholesome and meaningful life.

2. What does HaengSeognIn do?

HaengSeongIn has organised various activities for transgender and people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) that could protect their rights and let them be free of prejudice and discrimination. We are currently working a group of sexual minority employees on protecting the labour rights of sexual minorities and making workplaces in Korea more inclusive.

HaengSeongIn has also been featuring human rights of sexual minorities, international news and culture news via our webzine (http://lgbtpride.tistory.com). Additionally, we are raising the voices of and representing sexual minorities on various social issues.

3. Among the works that you have mentioned, what is the current focus?

HaengSeongIn has been campaigning and organising a working group for the legislation of the Korean Anti-discrimination Act. These days, HaengSeongIn is focusing on collecting examples of transgender personnel in the military and universities, and raising trans awareness. The challenge of coming out among the trans-women soldiers and students in Korea has become a prominent social issue recently. In addition, we are expanding our solidarity with trade unions and civic groups with conducting education programs and campaigns on the labour rights of sexual minorities.

4. Recently, HSI was collaborating with ILGA Asia in organizing our conference in Seoul. How do you feel about it?

At the 8th ILGA Asia conference held in Seoul on August 2019, HaengSeongIn held a session on labour rights of sexual minorities. It was a precious time for us to talk about the experiences of sexual minority workers in the Korean social work environment, how they have been demanding their rights and what the future tasks will be.

5. Do you engage with other members, for example those in South Korea? How do you work together?

At the time when same-sex marriage was legislated in Taiwan, activists from both South Korea and Taiwan invited each other to exchange strategies on same-sex marriage campaign and movement. We were so inspired and motivated by their victory. We hope to have more opportunities like this to interact with fellow LGBTI activists from the region and around the world. We can easily share our experiences within the region, both institutionally and experientially. In the future, we believe it is important to create concrete activities of solidarity by sharing situations and strategies with each other.

6. What’s it like to be a part of a ILGA Asia?

Through the network, we have many opportunities to connect with other member organizations and LGBTI activists, including access to resources and understanding of other countries in the region. HaengSeongIn also gets lots of support as an ILGA Asia member when we organise networking activities.

7. What do you expect from ILGA Asia?

Beyond sharing human rights issues and activities of sexual minorities in Asian countries, we also hope that member organizations can get together for more activities and subdivided programs, both for junior and senior activists . In addition, it would be very helpful if there are online programs/webinars in consideration of situations in which mutual exchange is limited due to physical and political constraints.

8. The circumstance of LGBTI movement in Asia has been changing rapidly. How do you expect for the future LGBTI movement in the region?

In the future, the network of sexual minority movements in Asia will become more important as the civil rights of sexual minorities is emerging and the citizenship legislation began to be legalised in the region. We expect there will be more joint activities that we can share the situation of each country and resources for establishing movement strategies so that we can support each other in the region.