Human rights commission to attend both queer festival, anti-LGBTQ rally

Participants at the Seoul Queer Culture Festival wave rainbow flags and signs as they walk from Jonggak Station in Jongro District, central Seoul, to Euljiro, on June 14, 2025. [YONHAP]

After skipping last year’s Seoul Queer Culture Festival, the National Human Rights Commission will attend this year’s festival, as well as an anti-LGBTQ rally taking place at the same time.

"We will work to promote mutual respect, advance human rights and foster national unity by attending the Seoul Queer Culture Festival and the Holy Breakwater of Unified Christian Rally," said Ahn Chang-ho, chair of the National Human Rights Commission, during a meeting to vote on a motion to attend the queer festival held on Friday.

The Holy Breakwater of Unified Christian Rally is organized by conservative Christian groups and has held anti-LGBTQ rallies in opposition to the Seoul Queer Culture Festival every year since 2015.

“The commission plans to operate a booth at the queer festival and organize a human-rights monitoring team to respond to hate speech and prevent physical clashes related to both events,” said Ahn. “People should refrain from making baseless accusations or spreading false information that could incite hatred or humiliation toward others during the Seoul Queer Culture Festival and the Holy Breakwater of Unified Christian Rally."

The human rights commission operated a booth at the Seoul Queer Culture Festival every year from 2017 through 2024. However, it decided not to participate last year, drawing criticism. At the time, some speculated that Chairman Ahn’s personal religious beliefs may have influenced the decision.

Whether the commission would participate this year had drawn attention following last year’s absence. The human rights commission's branch of the Korean Government Employees’ Union released a statement on Thursday urging Ahn to approve participation in this year’s queer festival.

Members of the Holy Breakwater of Unified Christian Rally hold signs opposing same sex marriage in front of the Seoul City Hall building on June 14, 2025. [YONHAP]

The commission had planned to formally introduce and vote on a motion regarding participation in the queer festival during Friday’s meeting.

However, Chairman Ahn declared before the session that he would attend both the queer festival and the anti-LGBTQ rally.

Ahn’s remarks triggered a heated debate among commissioners over whether the motion still needed to be formally introduced.

Some commissioners argued that “it is inappropriate for the plenary committee to deliberate on participation in events organized by specific private groups” and that “Ahn’s remarks had already achieved the purpose of the motion, making a separate motion unnecessary.”

The dispute between the two sides continued for about one hour and 30 minutes.

In the end, six of the commission’s 11 members — including Ahn and commissioners Kang Jung-hye, Kim Hak-ja, Kim Yong-jik, Lee Han-byul and Han Seok-hoon — voted against formally introducing the motion.

The five commissioners who proposed the motion — So Ra-mi, Lee Sook-jin, Oh Wan-ho, Oh Young-geun and Cho Sook-hyun — objected, saying the motion should still be formally introduced and discussed regardless of Ahn’s remarks.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.