Hurricane Kimchi leads Seoul Drag Parade 2019 in central Seoul’s Itaewon space. Courtesy of Argus Parul
By Jon Dunbar
Gojoseon was based over 4,000 years in the past, after a bear in a cave ate garlic and mugwort till she reworked right into a human. Though this legend provides us a statutory vacation in Korea, there aren’t that many avenue celebrations held for this fabled story. As an alternative, folks round central Seoul’s Haebangchon and Itaewon shall be handled to a unique type of celebration: the return of Seoul Drag Parade.
“As a drag queen, I gotta say a bear turning into a girl sounds very acquainted to what I see within the backstage of drag reveals,” quipped Heezy Yang, a drag artist who goes by Hurricane Kimchi, who’s a co-founder of the drag occasion.
Yang began Seoul Drag Parade in 2018 with Ali Zahoor, who additionally goes by Ali Vera. They held the parade yearly twice earlier than the pandemic received of their manner. Now, they’re lastly able to deliver the general public parade again to Seoul’s streets.
“Through the COVID-19 pandemic, we had been unable to carry the parade like this and had extra on-line occasions and reveals so we’re very excited to return to our roots,” Zahoor mentioned. “Our targets for this yr’s Seoul Drag Parade are considerably paying homage to our early days as we’re again to doing an out of doors daytime parade, which could be attended by anybody no matter age, gender, race or sexuality.”
Hurricane Kimchi crosses the road in Itaewon throughout Seoul Drag Parade 2021, which was held on-line. Courtesy of Seoul Drag Parade
Zahoor defined the necessity to maintain an out of doors occasion, which permits anybody to hitch.
“Drag in South Korea is usually restricted to bar or membership venues that can’t enable entry to minors as they serve alcohol,” Zahoor mentioned. “Some venues even limit entry based mostly on intercourse or sexuality, so we needed to create an area for anybody to strive drag or a minimum of see it. Being out within the open outdoor can be a option to have a good time the artwork of drag and queer performers, elevating consciousness for the artwork kind and the presence of queer folks.”
Zahoor emphasised the significance of drag within the LGBTQ group.
“Drag has all the time been a manner for queer folks to precise their gender and/or sexuality, relationship again centuries,” Zahoor mentioned. “As many queer folks begin to uncover or experiment with this from a younger age, it is solely a optimistic factor for minors to have a protected and supportive atmosphere to check out drag or a minimum of see it.”
“If you concentrate on it, gender roles and gender-appropriate clothes are what are unnatural really,” Yang added. “Some folks simply determined that males doing this stuff and ladies doing these issues is what’s right. Similar with the gender-appropriate clothes. These items are social constructs and (wrongly) discovered concepts and ideas. Drag helps the youths unlearning this stuff, and it even prevents them from studying such incorrect issues within the first place.”
Drag has turn out to be the middle of an ethical panic in some Western international locations, the place some conservatives really feel threatened by drag, seeing it as a sexual factor, and particularly one thing that minors ought to be protected against.
However in Korea, drag appears to be off the radar of conservative Christians to date. In contrast to the a lot bigger annual Seoul Queer Tradition Competition (SQCF) that occurs downtown, Seoul Drag Parade doesn’t get attacked by spiritual folks and wishes no police safety to function.
“Lots of people in Korea nonetheless do not even know what drag is. Subsequently, they do not know about Seoul Drag Parade both,” Yang mentioned. “The factor concerning the assaults and oppressions coming from anti-LGBTQ Christian teams is that they solely happen when one thing will get seen and observed on their radar.”
Yang added, “Whereas the numerous Pleasure parades of South Korea are named and offered as Queer Festivals or Queer Parades, our occasion is formally titled and promoted as Seoul Drag Parade, which doesn’t embody the phrase ‘Queer.'”
The situation in Seoul’s extra international areas may additionally assist shield them from protests, Zahoor famous.
“Protests have been minimal and largely on-line slightly than in-person, and I believe a whole lot of that is as a result of location being Itaewon,” Zahoor mentioned. “Regardless that drag reveals exist in Hongdae, Euljiro and Jongno, to call just a few, Itaewon is the guts of drag in Seoul. Itaewon is understood to be extra liberal and open-minded as a result of presence of foreigners and institutions for sexual minorities.”
Hurricane Kimchi, middle, leads Seoul Drag Parade 2018 by way of central Seoul’s Itaewon. Courtesy of Sangsuk Sylvia Kang
Whereas registering with the police for the parade, Yang reported not one of the issues skilled by SQCF organizers, who must compete with Christian protesters registering their very own counter-events. He did admit to preserving the occasion a secret till after they efficiently gained permission.
“To date, with declaring our parade on the police station and dealing with the police, I’ve not skilled something damaging,” Yang mentioned. “They’ve all the time tried to allow us to do no matter we needed to do in the way in which we needed to do, as a lot as potential, whereas they’re offering the assistance we have to hold us protected in the course of the occasion.”
Whereas SQCF attracts a whole lot of 1000’s of members, the Seoul Drag Parade sees participation within the a whole lot.
“If I’ll, measurement isn’t all the pieces,” Yang mentioned. “Seoul Drag Parade is a a lot smaller parade occasion than different Pleasure Parade occasions in Korea, however it’s that rather more intimate, community-like and safer from anti-LGBTQ Christian teams’ assaults and oppositions. I like what we’ve created and the way in which it’s now.”
Seoul Drag Parade was initially based to run the annual parade occasion, however the two co-founders quickly began organizing and collaborating in numerous different drag-related occasions all year long, not simply in Seoul but additionally in different Korean cities, and even abroad as nicely. It has additionally, out of necessity, turn out to be a human rights group.
“We create reveals, occasions, areas for drag performers, followers of drag, LGBTQ+ folks and allies,” Yang mentioned. “We create platforms for these folks.”
Hurricane Kimchi holds a Seoul Drag Parade fan. Courtesy of Chae Eu-geun
They lately raised donations with a view to be part of the Daegu Queer Tradition Competition, which is the second-oldest such competition in Korea. Seoul Drag Parade had a float for the competition, which was held Saturday.
“We felt it was necessary to hitch in once more for his or her sixteenth parade, particularly because it’s one of the crucial conservative components of South Korea with doubtlessly the very best ratio of protesters,” Zahoor mentioned. “Fortunately, we had been capable of increase sufficient funds to cowl transportation prices of performers attributable to type and beneficiant donors.”
The hour-long Seoul Drag Parade begins at 4 p.m. in entrance of Rabbithole Arcade Pub in Haebangchon and marches to Itaewon and again. There is no such thing as a participation payment.
Earlier than and after, there are an entire day’s value of occasions, ranging from 2 p.m. From 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., there’s a queer market and tarot studying at Rabbithole and The Studio HBC subsequent door. Entry is free to everybody of all ages, and the venues can have no alcohol gross sales throughout this time.
Rabbithole and KYLDN Social Membership will host after events with drag performances from 5 p.m. till 10 p.m. These occasions aren’t for minors, and 15,000 received provides company entry to each occasions.
As nicely, supporting companies Phillies Pub, Residing Room and Hair of the Canine will supply a free shot to folks sporting the after social gathering bracelet, once they make a purchase order.
Go to linktr.ee/seouldragparade for extra data.
