Openly gay kpop idol

K-Pop idols coming out? It’s a bigger deal than you’d think. While K-Pop does not shy away from portraying queerness in its lyrics, music and overall imagery, Korean society remains cruel towards gender non-conforming celebrities, and no anti-discrimination laws exist to protect queer people in South Korea.

For years, coming out meant sabotaging your hold career and public image. Hong Seokcheon, who is now one of the most prominent personalities in South Korea’s entertainment and variety broadcast scene, faced intense discrimination when he first came out as gay back in , and it took him years to recover from the backlash before making his way back into the entertainment industry.

Combine that with the strict restrictions placed on K-Pop idols by their companies—including dating bans and extreme diets—and it’s understandable why there are only a handful of openly queer idols and artists.

And with bigger companies, there’s more at stake. Idols under bigger, more established companies often have stricter rules and less freedom than idols from smaller companies, because they debut wi