This year’s Queer Cultural Festival will kick off on June 11 with a pride parade to be held in central Seoul, its organizing committee said Monday.

The rainbow-studded pride parade will take place in Seoul Plaza for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender revelers and their supporters under the slogan “QUEER I AM.”

During the nine-day Queer Festival, the main overnight party “Private Beach” will be hosted on June 11, after the parade. Films about sexual minorities will be played in major cinemas across Seoul from June 16-19.
Caption: Participants gather in central Seoul for the pride parade on June 28.“Discrimination and hatred against the LGBT community prevail in society, but we, sexual minorities, are here and our beings should be respected,” the organizing committee said in a press release.

The slogan “QUEER I AM” embodies the organizing committee’s determination to fight against “those who hate sexual minorities such as Protestant and conservative groups.”

Kang Myeong-jin, head of the event organizing committee, asked for the cooperation of the government and police for the festival to be held safely and peacefully as planned.
(Queer Cultural Festival Preparation Committee)“The Queer culture Festival is a democratic culture event paving the way for Korea to step toward a mature civic society respecting diversity,” Kang said.

Last year’s pride parade, which had the slogan “Queer Revolution,” drew 30,000 citizens to the heart of Seoul, hitting record high attendance since the annual event first took place in 2000 in Daehangno.

(laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)