Yun Hyon-seok
A young gay poet and activist whose death in 2003 led South Korea to stop classifying homosexuality as harmful to young people.
Yun Hyon-seok grew up in Incheon and was bullied at school for being gay. He left high school and moved to Seoul, where he wrote poems under pen names such as Yuk Wu-dang (“house of six friends”). He was a devout Catholic and struggled with his church’s rejection of homosexuality.
He became a volunteer and staff member of Solidarity for LGBT Human Rights of Korea and also campaigned for the rights of people with disabilities and against compulsory military service. At the time, a South Korean government commission classified websites about homosexuality as “harmful to youth”, which meant that young gay people could hardly find information or support.
In April 2003, at the age of 18, Yun took his own life. In his last letter he asked that homosexuality be removed from the list of harmful content and that society accept gay people. His death shook the Korean LGBTQ community. In 2004 the government removed homosexuality from the list.
He is remembered every year in South Korea as a symbol of the struggle of young LGBTQ people. If you are struggling, please reach out to someone you trust or to a crisis line in your country.