[The People's Choice 2017] Sexual Minorities Emerge as a Hot Potato: Sim Sang-jeung, the Only Candidate in Favor of Same-Sex Marriage

Sexual minorities have emerged as a hot potato in the nineteenth presidential election. It all started when Moon Jae-in, the presidential candidate of the Minjoo Party of Korea said, "I oppose homosexuality," during the fourth TV debate on April 25.

The only other time sexual minorities were in the spotlight in a presidential election was the fifteenth election in 1997. Due to the influence of the film, Philadelphia, which was released in 1994, the issue of sexual orientation drew social interest. At the time, Rhee In-je of the New People's Party sat with the press for an interview and said, "What is important is looking at homosexuals as a divine human being with warm eyes as in the film, Philadelphia." Lee Hoi-chang of the conservative Grand National Party also said, "I agree that the rights of homosexuals should be guaranteed."

However, the comments on sexual minorities that have been voiced in the latest election reveal that the South Korean society has not made any progress since twenty years ago.

In a TV debate on the previous day, Hong Jun-pyo of the Liberty Korea Party poured out groundless hateful comments such as "AIDS is rampant due to homosexuality." On the allegations that the Army chief of staff ordered officers to find and punish homosexuals in the military, Hong approached the issue by saying, "Homosexuality in the military is serious."

Near the end of the debate, Moon said, "I have no thought to legalize same-sex marriage. But I oppose discrimination," and tried to trim his previous statement. Moments earlier, when Hong asked, "Do you oppose homosexuality?" Moon had answered, "Yes, I do." Ahn Cheol-soo of the People's Party met with reporters this day and said, "I will share my thoughts (on homosexuality) at an appropriate time" and avoided an immediate answer.

Human rights groups criticized the presidential candidates' position on sexual minorities saying, "The sexual orientation of an individual, such as homosexuality, is not something that people can oppose or support."

Among the candidates of the five parties in the National Assembly, only Sim Sang-jeung of the Justice Party is in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage.

Recently when the South Korean office of Amnesty International asked the presidential candidates about their views on enacting an Anti-Discrimination Act including a ban on the discrimination of sexual minorities, only Sim answered that she was in favor of the bill. Moon and Ahn reserved their answers; Hong expressed his opposition to the bill; and Yoo failed to answer.

Doors, no candidate had reserved the answers, Hong candidate naeteumyeo the "Promotion No 'position, the candidate Yu did not answer. Hong Sung-soo, a professor at Sookmyung Women's University wrote on Facebook, "A person against discrimination (of sexual minorities) claiming to oppose same-sex marriage is a contradiction."

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