Hong Suk Chun
Breaching A Social Barrier
 |
| KI HO PARK / KISTONE FOR TIME |
|
 |
By Donald Macintyre
Posted Monday, October 4, 2004; 21:00 HKT
Hong Suk Chun caught the acting bug at 10 after playing an apostle in a Christmas play. He knew he was gay by his early 20s and didn't think it would make a difference to his career—until he discussed his sexuality with an interviewer in 2000. Hong received hate mail, friends avoided him and passing taxi drivers shouted insults. He was fired as host of a children's television show, and his dream of becoming a stage director or musical producer looked dead.
There was no going back in the closet for Hong, but at the same time there were no role models: Hong, 33, is the first public figure in South Korea to admit he is gay. So Hong decided to become the role model himself. He gave numerous interviews and wrote a book called I Still Get Thrilled About Illicit Love, an intimate account of a past relationship that gave South Koreans their first uncensored look at gay life. "I wanted to write what I wanted to say, unfiltered by the media," says Hong. "It forced many in South Korea to admit that gays really exist."
His bravery has proven infectious: people attending gay-pride marches no longer wear masks, and earlier this year two men held their wedding at a fashionable café in Seoul (although the marriage isn't recognized legally). Gay bars are multiplying, Internet sites have mushroomed and more people are following Hong's example and coming out. "He's changed the way people think," says Choi Jun Won, president of Friends, a gay-rights organization. Most importantly, Hong has made his countrymen not only acknowledge its invisible minority but start to like it. Taxi drivers now beg for Hong's autograph, and Hong's three-year exile from television has ended with a rush of work. This month, he plays a critical supporting role in the country's biggest-budget TV drama ever, which will air in January. "It has nothing to do with gays," says the chief producer, Lee Mi Jee. "We chose him because he's a talented entertainer. I'm looking forward to a great performance." Hong may score many different parts in the future—but he's already played the real-life role of a lifetime.
|
|
