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PlanetOut News Staff (with thanks to Rex Wockner)
Wednesday, October 11, 2000 / 06:30 AM
Stage and screen star Hong Sok-chon hopes that his coming out will inspire discussion about homosexuality, but the personal cost has been high.
Hong Sok-chon is Korea's first openly gay celebrity. The actor/comic publicly identified himself as a gay man on national television in an interview on October 4 -- not proudly but apologetically, with tears and sobs. His jobs have vanished almost overnight, and that scares him. Yet he takes heart from outpourings of support from many friends and activists. He told the Korea Herald that he is not a hero but he is a pioneer, saying, "I think I have gotten people talking about homosexuality. This is my contribution. Maybe parents and children will discuss me in their living room. That will be a big start. In the past homosexuality was something that could never be mentioned in ordinary conversation."
Ironically Hong, 29, is best-known for playing a very swishy fashion designer on the sitcom Three Men, Three Women, a character full of stereotypically gay mannerisms (who nonetheless had occasional heterosexual dates in the course of the series). He started that role in 1997, having previously worked primarily on the stage. His main job at the time he came out was hosting the children's show Po Po Po -- in fact, in his TV interview he referred to his work with the children leading him to ask himself, "How can I tell these children not to lie or deceive when I'm doing it myself?" -- but producers told him almost immediately that he needn't return. He was also quickly fired from his regular role on a radio sitcom, No One Can Handle My Family. But his broadcast media career consisted largely of guest appearances, and even the variety show that started the rumors about him has cut him off.
Hong attributes his firings to "the decisions of the few old men that run the industry" and believes the "vast majority of the people in the business" support him. He takes hope from a TV director who said he'll be working again in a few months, and he's still doing entertainment reports on IBC and appearing in an Internet sitcom Paradise. Hong's real love is musical theater and he's currently touring in Guys and Dolls, but the broadcast work pays his bills and brings name recognition that leads to better stage roles.
Hong seems always to have known he was gay, but he's largely devoted his life to his arts, leaving little time for relationships. He had come out to his siblings before he began to go public but not to his parents, although their relationship was particularly close and loving because he is their youngest child. In their small village, it would be a source of shame. Hong believes family is the main barrier to most gay and lesbian Koreans coming out. But at least his mother seems to be handling the changes in his life, although she harbors a wish that he'll still find "the right girl."
Hong more or less stumbled into his coming out. When he was taping a segment for Seo Sae-won's Wild Night (also translated Sexy Night), he was shocked when another comic asked if he liked men, and responded, "Yes, I do. What's the problem with that?" The remark was taped but never aired, although word got around. Gay journalist Rex Wockner dated Hong's coming out September 21 after an "outing" in the Daily Sports newspaper on September 17. As Hong told it in an interview with the Korea Herald, when a reporter for the magazine Women's Jung Ang 21 asked in an interview about his sexuality, he said he'd answer only if the story were held back from publication for three months so he could prepare. As might be expected, it was published two days later. Hong told the Herald he'd come out to the women's magazine because, "I am tired of people talking about me behind my back. To my face so many people tell me that they love me, but when my back is turned they say, 'Hey, you know what, he's gay.' I wanted to be able to say to everyone, 'Yeah, I'm gay. So what.' Now they have to find something else to talk about."
But for now, Hong is what they are talking about more than ever. The Herald editorialized that, "If Hong's coming out is to mean anything at all, it must force a discussion of the government's failure to protect the rights of homosexuals. The decision to come out and the reaction of family and friends are private issues, but the government has a responsibility to ensure that people are not fired, as Hong was, because of their sexual orientation."
Source : Obtained from planetout.com
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