By Minseok Jeong | Project Leader
The Second Letter to the Global Giving Donors
It has been two months since we started fundraising through Global Giving so that we can provide a safe haven to LGBTQ Korean teens. The organizers are waiting for the day to come so that we can provide counseling sessions to the Korean LGBTQteens who are not protected by homes and schools and give them snacks and necessities. We have not started street counseling yet. The reason is because we have not met our budget in fundraising. However, we believe that we will be able to start street counseling for Korean queer youth as the number of donors go up.
On December 30th of 2013, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education(SMOE) announced a revision to the Seoul Students' Rights Ordinance after being pressured from the religious right of South Korea. The revision was to exclude language protecting sexual minorities by erasing the terms "sexual orientation" and "sexual identity" from the ordinance. However, after the announcement, SMOE received numerous complaints about the revision. Last January 14th, 1,232 Korean LGBTQ teens signed a petition and made a counter-declaration on the revision, mentioning "Do not erase our existence." The Rainbow Teen Safe Space Project organizers also attended this event and publicly opposed the revision of the Seoul Students' Rights Ordinance. The Seoul Metropolitan Council will soon discuss on whether to exclude LGBTQ teens from the ordinance or to keep them in it.
Last January 15th, Dong In Ryeon members attended the National Cham Gyo Yuk (True Education) Practice Rally, which was organized by Korean Teachers and Education Workers' Union. They installed a booth to advertise the Rainbow Teen Safe Space project to school teachers who came to the event, and also was on the panel of a debate on homophobic violence against LGBTQ teens and the roles of teachers and schools.
As there is a social movement to eradicate Korean LGBTQ teens, more attention is needed to the issue. The Korean government, which should be responsible to provide a safe space to Korean LGBTQ youth, is not showing any interest to do so. There are no street counseling programs for Korean queer youth. When we reach our fundraising goal, we will be able to start street counseling. Please join us in this cause! We do not know a lot of people who can donate. I hope the recipients of this letter can introduce Rainbow Teen Safe Space to others.
With many thanks,
February, 2014
Minseok, Jeong
Project Leader from Solidarity for LGBT Human Rights of Korea
* The following is my personal statement delivered at the declaration of 1,232 Korean LGBTQ teens in front of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education on January 14th. I am sharing this to all who are interested in the Rainbow Teen Safe Space project.
"According to the Fact-finding Study of Human Rights of Children in Seoul(2012), only 29% of students responded that they were willing to be friends with sexual minorities and only 15.1% of parents were willing to be amicable. This shows the reality of Korean LGBTQ teens not being regarded as a friend.
There has been Korean queer youth being verbally assaulted, threatened for physical contact, or having their personal belongings ruined. What is worse, there have been Korean LGBTQ youth testifying that they were spit at, punched in the face, kicked at, and even assaulted by a weapon.
There is more research being done that conclude that these sexual minority youth are in danger of committing suicide, being abused, being assaulted within human relationship and experiencing trauma. However, the Korean society is ignoring the reality of what these teenagers are facing as well as trying to eradicate them and silencing them, and this is very troubling.
How many LGBTQ youth have to get hurt? How many LGBTQ youth have to lose their lives? And how many LGBTQ youth have to leave their schools and homes?
10 years ago, a gay teenager had committed suicide, and another teenager passed away last December. I question the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education; what is your response to these teenagers when they asked if a person like them are deserved to be loved?
Erasing the terms 'sexual orientation' and 'sexual identity' from the grounds of discrimination not only means that LGBTQ youth are eradicated from schools but also means that the hovering discrimination and hate towards sexual minorities in the education field are overlooked. Therefore, it is terrifying to even think about what will happen in the future.
Just because we cannot see it does not mean it is not there. It is not seen because we never tried to look at it. I wonder if the Korean society ever tried to look at the lives of Korean LGBTQ youth. Has our society ever sincerely listened to the voices of young teenagers who stress about the fact that their sexual orientation is different than their peers or that they are born with a different gender than their physical body? We do not need the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education to create a selective and partial Seoul Students' Rights Ordinance. What we need at this moment is to enhance the human rights of overlooked sexual minority students and diminish the danger that they may encounter.
The SMOE must focus on this declaration. Actually, the SMOE must focus on the anger of the Korean LGBTQ youth. The attempt of the revision of the ordinance must stop at once, so that the ordinance can do its job. Do not forget that this is the fundamental and the first step of upholding human rights."
Minseok Jeong
Solidarity for LGBT Human Rights of Korea
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