Raising Queer Workers' Rights in South Korea

Transgender people are treated unfairly at the workplace due to gender identity but also the unstable working environment and gender-discriminatory structure of Korean society itself negatively affect the health status of transgender people.

In the previous event, we looked into the general working environment and labor rights of sexual and gender minority people in Korea. In this event, we listened to the working experiences in Korean society as transgender, looked at the difficulties of trans workers, and talked about what kind of changes in terms of structures and environments of the workplace is needed to work with pride as transgender.

In this event, an activist/researcher who studies the health status of transgender people presented the overall issues of labor and health rights of transgender people, and a transgender member of the organization presented the working condition of transgender workers

•  What we discussed

            - Transgender people’s health status and working environment in Korean Society

           - Transgender people’s experiences of discrimination and unequal treatment in the workplace due to the gender identity/expression

          - Difficulties in changing gender markers in official documents and following hardships of transgender people in getting jobs and doing economic activities

           - Economic hardship and poverty of transgender people due to the obstacles in the job application, unfair treatment and discrimination in the workplace, lack of medical coverage for medical transition

          - What is needed for transgender workers: raising awareness of colleagues and transgender-inclusive workplace policies and benefits

[Open Forum] Thriving and surviving in the workplace as an LGBTQ worker

According to the 2021 Seoul Institute's Pilot Survey on Cultural Diversity Perception, "8 out of 10 people responded that they oppose discrimination, but 60% of respondents do not want to meet LGBTQ workers as their co-workers." Indeed, according to a Survey of 2,341 Korean gay, lesbian, and bisexual adults in 2016, "93% of LGBTQ workers experience negative attitudes toward LGBT people at work."

As such, LGBTQ workers in Korean society face hatred, discrimination and microaggression in their workplace. However, sometimes they don't recognize that their experiences can be defined as discrimination when those experiences are persistent and subtle.

We held an open forum to facilitate dialogue on LGBTQ workers' experiences of workplace discrimination and microaggression and raise awareness on labor rights of LGBTQ workers. The forum was held online due to the social distancing measures under COVID-19. In the forum, the results of the in-depth interview with LGBTQ workers were presented, which was conducted by Solidarity for LGBT Human Rights of Korea. As a panelist, an lesbian worker shared her experiences in the workplace. A panelist from Gwanak-gu Labor Welfare Center presented results of their project of LGBTQ labor rights. Panelists and participants discussed what can be done to prevend workplace discrimination and microaggression and to create inclusive and LGBT-friendly workplace in Korean society.