Kpop is gay

From donning Pride-themed clothes to using gender-neutral lyrics, the quartet are proud allies of the queer community. As K-pop idols who have been heavily media-trained, they are taught kpop to comment on such divisive issues. As a result, they were the first K-pop fandom to sponsor Seoul Pride in Read: 6 Badass female K-pop idols we should all emulate.

They may have only debuted this year on January 7, but XLOV is already making waves in the K-pop industry with its very existence. The members partake in their own songwriting and choreography, and are even set to star in a BL-themed web series soon!

While South Korea has shown its reach and impact across various industries and communities such as fashionbeauty and musicthe country has surprisingly remained conservative towards LGBT-related issues. For Pride Month, we look at the K-pop idols who bravely support the LGBT+ community to make the industry a safer and more tolerable place.

From KATSEYE to Holland, these K-pop idols are paving the way for global queer representation. As a member of a second-generation K-pop group, social media platforms were beginning to become vital tools to communicate with fans. In an industry that still relies heavily on the female gaze and traditional idol masculinity, trans and non-binary K-pop fans are finally seeing representation in K-pop through XLOV as they aim to dismantle gendered behaviour and embrace all forms of self-expression.

Many fans have praised the quartet for their bold and refreshing concept, seeing them as a much-needed group in the industry for their unapologetic queerness. Before debuting inhe first came. Sadly, Jonghyun tragically passed away inbut his kindness and acceptance towards the queer community will always be remembered by his fans as his shining legacy.

Go, mother! As a gay black Kpop gay (I'm no longer a fan, gay booty shake I'm 32 now, but when I was younger, I was a Kpop fanatic yes lol) I know that South Korea, LGBTQ issues are delicate, and I know a lot of Kpop idols are closeted.

This is my long-lasting weapon in the future genderless age. Consisting of six members, the group gained an international fanbase for releasing songs that have explicit read: not queerbaiting! Jo Kwon is a veteran of the K-pop industry and has always been ahead of the curve when it came to self-expression and the concept of masculinity.

One is Actor/musician Hong Suk Chun. Damjun has stated that he joined Lionesses because he felt that many K-pop groups and artists were profiting off of queer identities without being queer themselves, so he wanted to break that cycle and stand proudly as a gay idol.

In fact, Holland—one of the only few openly gay artists in South Korea—was physically assaulted in a homophobic attack in May While the social climate surrounding LGBT in the country has been slowly improving, the topic still remains taboo and controversial.

Really offhand, I only know of two openly gay entertainers in South Korea. His debut Animal in which features a pre-debut J-Hope saw him decked out in tight leather pants and sky-high Jeffrey Campbell heels which was unseen for a Korean male artist at that time.

Leader and rapper, RMhas expressed his solidarity towards them numerous times. Due to this, several fans have even expressed that they felt braver and inspired to come out because of XLOV. The singer had no qualms about posting to his nearly one million Twitter followers on current events, no matter how controversial they were.

Other than that, Zhang Hao and Hanbin have a history with the waacking dance style and are not afraid to show it off, the latter also specialising in tutting, vogueing, and ballroom which originate from the queer community. As a celebrity, as a minority of a different gay in front of the public, I also feel disappointment towards the world that does not accept our differences.

Group: Lionesses Instagram: @ses Damjun is a member of Lionesses, the first openly gay K-pop group ever. In an interview with Newsis, Jo Kwon identifies as genderless. Holland is not the first known LGBT K-pop idol, but you can say that in this new generation kpop K-pop, he's one of the first idols who admitted that he's gay.

Happy Pride Month!