Queer Throughlines : Spaces of Queer Activism in South Korea and the Korean Diaspora

Abstract

Queer Throughlines draws on years of direct participation; interviews; and ethnography to examine transnational Korean LGBTQ+ activism since the 1990s. Han maps the sites and routes of leftist and queer political movements; highlighting challenges posed by Christian conservatives in both South Korea and the United States. The book uses the concept of “throughlines” to weave together a web of movement stories across time and space: a coalition of Los Angeles–based LGBTQ+ activists and allies fighting an anti-gay petition campaign led by Korean immigrant churches; queer activists involved in anti-war protests in Seoul; progressive clergy embracing inclusivity and risking heresy charges and excommunication; and queer and trans activists refusing to be sidelined from visions of political change underway. These moments do not always line up in a straightforward narrative of victory or progress; yet they create powerful lines of solidarity; community; and kinship.