"Temporary visitors like people on working holiday visas and student visas will need to go back to Korea eventually so the legalisation of gay marriage will not provide any benefits to them so they are not interested in it." Korean community in Australia as conservative as in Korea Lee says actually, quite a lot of gay people around him didn’t really care about it. "In fact, most of them are not interested in it," he says. Lee and Han may be unusual within the Australian Korean community with their interest in the change of legislation. Anecdotally, SBS Korean has heard from some members of the Korean community here that few LGBTQ people of Korean background have closely followed the same-sex marriage campaign.
Many Korean LGBTQ people report that it is much more comfortable to live in Australia than Korea as there is more understanding about the homosexuality issue.
"No one ever has looked us strangely and it was just so natural not like in Korea." "Not many LGBTQs are interested in the same-sex marriage issue in the Korean community in Australia" “As my partner is an Australian, we go to see a doctor together and we attend events together as a couple," says Han." I was introduced by others as his partner and introduce him as my partner either." He says that’s because how people looked at him was different here in Australia. Han came out as gay even when he lived in Korea, but says decided that it would be in Australia, where he was studying, that he would like to settle down. "No one ever has looked us strangely and it was just so natural not like in Korea." "A marriage wasn’t an option possibly given to us but now we have a right of choice." "Before the legalisation passed, I thought what if one day we love each other so much and eventually want to tie the knot?" "I have a partner who’s an Australian," Han tells SBS Korean. The 23-year old says his future options became widened as a result of legalisation. "I definitely want to get married one day."ĭavid Han is another gay man who has closely followed the legalisation of same sex-marriage. "That’s just great.I definitely want to get married one day." "Like other straight couples we will have the same benefits," he says. This has made him excited about his new future. Now he can have the same rights as other straight people and can get married whenever he wants. However, he believes that his potential future has been transformed. Lee’s life has not been changed since the gay marriage act came into effect last December. However, the more hate crimes against gay people that occur, the more he believes a legal safety net is necessary.
Lee used to believe that the legalisation of same-sex marriage was not so important, because for him the more critical thing was the fact two people truly love each other. "I came to Australia because I felt like I had a life with limits in my homeland Korea," he tells SBS Korean. "So I have been supporting the Australian gay marriage act from the beginning and I was so glad to see it eventually passed."
Lee, who now permanently resides in Australia, says he was happy to witness the same-sex marriage bill pass through parliament in 2017. How has the legalisation of same-sex marriage affected LGBTQ of Korean background?Ģ6 year-old gay man Sangwoo Lee* came to Australia five years ago on a working holiday visa.