25 years after Hong Seok-cheon. Another male entertainer has declared their coming out. This time it is a K-pop idol.
On the 23rd, it was reported that Bae In, a member of the boy group Just B, revealed on stage that they are a member of the LGBTQ community.
Bae In met with fans during the ongoing Just B world tour 'JST ODD' LA performance, where they confidently stated during the show, "I am proud to be part of the LGBTQ community." 'LGBT' is an acronym used to refer to sexual minorities within and outside the LGBTQ rights movement.
This is the first case of a South Korean male idol group member coming out, and fans present at the scene cheered Bae In's courage with loud applause.
In relation to this, Blue Dot Entertainment stated to OSEN, "As it pertains to Bae In's personal life and sexual identity, we are unable to provide a separate position."
The first instance of a 'coming out' in South Korea was the case of broadcaster Hong Seok-cheon. In 2000, Hong Seok-cheon, who declared coming out for the first time in the domestic entertainment industry, faced hardships, including being expelled from the broadcasting industry. However, through continuous broadcasting activities and a restaurant business, they gradually changed the negative and conservative public perception toward sexual minorities.
However, even after 'the first domestic coming out' case of Hong Seok-cheon, there have not been many cases of male entertainers coming out. Singer Park Woo-sik declared coming out while appearing on Mnet's 'Superstar K2' in 2010, and trot singer Kwon Do-woon also came out as homosexual, while singer Aquinas (Kang Min-soo) confessed in 2021, "I am bisexual."
In addition, there were cases in the idol scene such as Ji-ae from Wassup, who confessed to being bisexual, and Lala from Cats Eye, who revealed she is a lesbian, but there were no instances of coming out by male idols of South Korean nationality.
After 25 years since Hong Seok-cheon came out, Bae In's coming out in the realm of idols will be recorded as an even more unusual and symbolic moment.
[Photo] OSEN DB
[OSEN]