[포토] Opposite queer festival flags and picket lines

On the 15th, the 5th Incheon Queer Culture Festival was held to promote the human rights of sexual minorities in the central park area of ​​Guwol-dong, Namdong-gu, Incheon, as the first face-to-face event in three years.

As of 1pm, around 300 people attended the festival, including officials from sexual minority groups and progressive civic groups.

Rainbow flags fluttered throughout the venue and around 30 stands were crowded with people looking for souvenirs like eco-friendly fans and bags.

At the entrance to the festival, one-person protesters with placards stating “homosexuality is a sin” or “Jesus heaven” appeared one after another, but there was no physical confrontation.

In the Heart Fountain district of Guwol-dong Central Park, some 200 officials from Christian groups and conservative civic groups gathered to hold a protest against the queer festival.

They hung banners around the park with phrases like “No Omosexuality, NO Discrimination Act” and “Anti-homosexual Assemblies”.

The first queer culture festival in Incheon, held in 2018, was virtually suspended due to physical clashes between queer and opposing groups.

Police deployed around 1,000 20 mobile companies and 150 traffic police officers around the festival to monitor the situation in case of an emergency.

Previously, the Incheon Queer Culture Festival Organizing Committee applied for the use of the venue to the Incheon Grand Park office, saying it would hold the festival in Central Park this year, but it was turned down, but the festival is been brought forward.

The meeting of the Incheon City Human Rights Commissioner found that the establishment’s decision to ban homosexual festivals in the park without justified reasons violated the fundamental right to freedom of assembly and recommended measures to prevent their recurrence.

News team online