The Gay and Queer in Kpop Thread

[Dilandau]

re: hanbin: this kind of thing could only happen to a very fruity mf...



i can't imagine women feeling this comfortable with a straight guy lol

I wonder what do Koreans think of Hanbin and Zhang Hao? do they think it's just fanservice?

 

[EphemeralGayz]

Matthew gives me “that one straight friend who wouldn’t say no to making out with a dude” vibes.

Off topic but I sometimes forget how good of a dancer Hanbin is.

Is that the pg version of "a mouth is a mouth?" Lmao. But agreed. I could see straight up bi too.

Hanbin shines when he's tutting for me.

 

[EphemeralGayz]

I wonder what do Koreans think of Hanbin and Zhang Hao? do they think it's just fanservice?

I mean, they both have plenty of girlfriend stans. Majority of people don't see the sugar at all. Or deny it, at least.

I also think it's just fanservice, though. With how controlled Hanbin is, there's no way he'd be sloppy enough to date a group member like that. Especially after knowing the rumors and being groomed to be his generation's it-boy.

 

[RussianRoulette]

I mean, they both have plenty of girlfriend stans. Majority of people don't see the sugar at all. Or deny it, at least.

Slightly unrelated, but I’ve always been sort of perplexed by certain girlfriend stans.

I’m going to use Key as an example. Oversea Shawols all seem to agree that the closet is made of glass, yet I see tons of Korean and Japanese girlfriend stan fansites and stuff who are like “look at him, my prince, my husband, the worlds most heterosexual man”

I don’t know how to properly phrase this, but this divide where oversea fans tend to push a lot of lgbt stuff on idols (even when stuff might not even be there) where Korean/Japanese fans seem to not do so (even if stuff might be there) always sort of interested me.

We all view the same stuff, but we have a big difference in perception.

(I don’t know if I’m getting this message across but hopefully this makes sense?)

 

[mimenet]

I wonder what do Koreans think of Hanbin and Zhang Hao? do they think it's just fanservice?

I remember in their debut days they both (but especially Hanbin) had a ton of k-fans trying to get people to not share his predebut videos. It definitely had an air of gay denial to it. I don't keep up with their fandom though so I'm not sure if that's still a common sentiment. They're definitely still a popular ship and very fanservicey though.

 

[Sergel]

I wonder what do Koreans think of Hanbin and Zhang Hao? do they think it's just fanservice?

I mean there are memes of them being a couple. I do think people thinking they’re a couple is less common in Korea or Japan than outside of Asia, despite some similarities in gay culture.

As to whether they actually are, only ZB1 knows lol. But they seem really close and enamored with each other. I do think they play it up a bit but it feels mostly genuine to me. Once zb1 disbands we’ll see if they seem to stay close.

Other things they both do individually are more telling though.

 

[EphemeralGayz]

Slightly unrelated, but I’ve always been sort of perplexed by certain girlfriend stans.

I’m going to use Key as an example. Oversea Shawols all seem to agree that the closet is made of glass, yet I see tons of Korean and Japanese girlfriend stan fansites and stuff who are like “look at him, my prince, my husband, the worlds most heterosexual man”

I don’t know how to properly phrase this, but this divide where oversea fans tend to push a lot of lgbt stuff on idols (even when stuff might not even be there) where Korean/Japanese fans seem to not do so (even if stuff might be there) always sort of interested me.

We all view the same stuff, but we have a big difference in perception.

(I don’t know if I’m getting this message across but hopefully this makes sense?)

It does. I would say the divide is two fold. On the one hand, you have distinct culture differences in gender as a performance with masculinity (the short version being that Korea/Japan is looser with what they deem masculine as opposed to the hyper masculine "ideal" of the West) and then you have a culture where heteronormativity is so ingrained that seeing people like Key doesn't automatically translate to gay because the idea is unfathomable for a lot of people. That is changing as Korea/Japan opens up to globalization. The other part, weirdly, is people refusing to believe it despite seeing it. Both out of desire for him himself and to protect him from the repercussions of being gay.

As for international fans. That hyper masculine lens affects us as well and how we perceive men. Gay or not. It's why so many people who aren't into kpop assume all of them are gay. The flower boy image does a lot of work both ways.

 

[mimenet]

Obviously this is just goofy fanservice but Hanbin is really out here proposing to men who aren't even in his group

 

[Sergel]

Obviously this is just goofy fanservice but Hanbin is really out here proposing to men who aren't even in his group

I would also like to add Myung Jaehyun to the "dudes who are probably straight but wouldn't say no to kissing another dude" list along with Seok Matthew and Yoo Seungeon (honestly a lot of Boy's Planet contestants could be added probably).

 

[EphemeralGayz]

I would also like to add Myung Jaehyun to the "dudes who are probably straight but wouldn't say no to kissing another dude" list along with Seok Matthew and Yoo Seungeon (honestly a lot of Boy's Planet contestants could be added probably).

Okay, but now we need a bigger list.
Imma add Jungwoo and Jaemin (nct). Jaeyoon and Dawon (sf9) too.

 

[carmenina]

Okay, but now we need a bigger list.
Imma add Jungwoo and Jaemin (nct). Jaeyoon and Dawon (sf9) too.

Very heavy on Jungwoo and Jaemin. A lot of NCT have that vibe/energy too

 

[EphemeralGayz]

Very heavy on Jungwoo and Jaemin. A lot of NCT have that vibe/energy too

Who else in nct? The other ones I can think of are either on the spectrum or just plain straight.

 

[carmenina]

Taeyong, Doyoung, Jaehyun, Renjun, Jeno, Chenle(), Xiaojun, Yangyang... at this point I guess these are the other ones who ping for me in that way besides the obvious

 

[EphemeralGayz]

Taeyong, Doyoung, Jaehyun, Renjun, Jeno, Chenle(), Xiaojun, Yangyang... at this point I guess these are the other ones who ping for me in that way besides the obvious

So you think they're all straight? Interesting.

 

[carmenina]

So you think they're all straight? IntInteresting.

Omg I think I misunderstood. I think they're NOT straight.

 

[EphemeralGayz]

Omg I think I misunderstood. I think they're NOT straight.

It's all good. Haha. The Matthew-type of guy would be a 1 on the Kinsey scale. "Mostly heterosexual, only incidentally homosexual." Just with a specific personality around it as well.

 

[geojituseongi]

Just curious, what is the consensus on Jaejoong these days? I saw him bringing up the topic of marriage on a reality show recently - but after watching, he's actually pretty much saying the exact same type of thing that was in that essay about him way back on the 1H gay thread. I've still yet to see him act remotely enthusiastic about marriage, to be honest. His parents even directly call him out on his strategy of vaguely postponing when he will marry! When asked for his ideal type, his only answer is, I shit you not, to compliment one of the male panellists and say that he would like a girl like him. If he is genuinely straight, I'm honestly fascinated by his consistent catastrophic failure to beat the allegations.

What is interesting to me is that if he is queer, his family still seem to have no idea at all, or otherwise are completely ignoring it. (Not that that would be terribly out of the ordinary in Korea, to be fair.) There are a couple of people in the comments of this AllKpop article who obliquely imply this too.

 

[mimenet]

Just curious, what is the consensus on Jaejoong these days? I saw him bringing up the topic of marriage on a reality show recently - but after watching, he's actually pretty much saying the exact same type of thing that was in that essay about him way back on the 1H gay thread. I've still yet to see him act remotely enthusiastic about marriage, to be honest. His parents even directly call him out on his strategy of vaguely postponing when he will marry! When asked for his ideal type, his only answer is, I shit you not, to compliment one of the male panellists and say that he would like a girl like him. If he is genuinely straight, I'm honestly fascinated by his consistent catastrophic failure to beat the allegations.

What is interesting to me is that if he is queer, his family still seem to have no idea at all, or otherwise are completely ignoring it. (Not that that would be terribly out of the ordinary in Korea, to be fair.) There are a couple of people in the comments of this AllKpop article who obliquely imply this too.

Isn't he already married?

Well I definitely don't think he's being seen as more straight over time that's for sure. He's at the sort of prime marriage age in Korea right now where guys are still sort of allowed to play eternal bachelor but they're going to get the marriage question a lot. I don't think it's that strange that his family is assuming heterosexuality like that and it seems still fairly common for gay men in Korea to remain closeted to their families (at least in the generation Jaejoong is from). He's also the baby of the family and his parents are quite old so I can see how being out might not be a choice he'd make. Now that the blacklist is lifted and he's doing a lot more media touring he'll probably be getting similar questions a lot so we'll see how he fares.

Here's the archived link for the onehallyu Jaejoong manifesto because you inspired me to go reread it and hunting for it was a pain.

Anyway here's Jaejoong on Hong Seokcheon's show early this year in case you missed it!

 

[geojituseongi]

Isn't he already married?

Well I definitely don't think he's being seen as more straight over time that's for sure. He's at the sort of prime marriage age in Korea right now where guys are still sort of allowed to play eternal bachelor but they're going to get the marriage question a lot. I don't think it's that strange that his family is assuming heterosexuality like that and it seems still fairly common for gay men in Korea to remain closeted to their families (at least in the generation Jaejoong is from). He's also the baby of the family and his parents are quite old so I can see how being out might not be a choice he'd make. Now that the blacklist is lifted and he's doing a lot more media touring he'll probably be getting similar questions a lot so we'll see how he fares.

Here's the archived link for the onehallyu Jaejoong manifesto because you inspired me to go reread it and hunting for it was a pain.

Anyway here's Jaejoong on Hong Seokcheon's show early this year in case you missed it!

Hah, well, that was exactly my question, since I don't think Yunjae is really an accepted fact anymore I wondered if the consensus was still the same.

For sure, like I said, it would definitely not be out of the ordinary for an almost 40-year-old Korean man to be closeted to his family. I imagine it's a particularly horrible situation to be in for someone who is gay or even simply not that interested in marriage, since his parents are elderly and genuinely want to see their only son start a family before too long.

I have watched that! Very nice to see.

 

[EphemeralGayz]

Not poor Woongki have to subject himself to a THIRD audition program. Korea, carve a throne for him already.

https://www.soompi.com/article/1694...ague-unveils-all-42-contestants-in-new-teaser