Hong Suk Chun recently took to his personal Instagram account to share a painful moment of his coming out story.
On May 8 KST, the popular television personality uploaded a scene from the new Netflix British coming-of-age drama 'Heartstopper,' where the show's main character Nick comes out as bisexual to his mother for the first time. His mother responds in a warm way, thanking him for telling her, asking questions in a respectful way, and hugging him while telling him she loves him.
The caption to the Instagram post is a response to the scene, with Hong Suk Chun writing, "22 years ago, I also came out to my mom and dad. I said that I was a person who likes men. I can't forget the expression on my parents' faces.
Expressions that looked as if the world had collapsed, expressions of disappointment after being betrayed for the first time by their son who told them he would do everything well and to trust him, expressions as if they would no longer be giving me help in the future. That's how 22 years went by. I lived a very hard life and tried not to succumb to the many discriminations I faced because of the fact that I was gay. It was because I couldn't forget the expressions on my parents' faces. That's how I had to survive in this country.
On the 22nd Parents' Day since I came out, I found the words I wanted to hear from my mother when I was young through this British drama. I cry for no reason. I thought I overcame things and held up well, but somewhere in my heart, I think there are still scars. Even though I think the world has gotten so much better, my heart is heavy to know that there are other Hong Suk Chuns and family members everywhere who still struggle because of identity and discrimination.
At this point, maybe the time has come for our advanced country to stop simply suggesting 'Wouldn't it be good if an anti-discrimination law was introduced in our country' through words and recognize differences and work together toward a real change. That sounds just like some drama, but I dream that someday it'll come true. Dreaming is freedom, right? Let's see."
He then ended his post with the hashtags #Heartstopper, #AntiDiscriminationLaw, #ParentsDay, #ILoveYouMomAndDad, and #ThankYouForStayingHealthy.
Meanwhile, Hong Suk Chun made his debut in 1995 through KBS's '4th University Comedy Festival' and officially came out in 2000. He is active as an actor, television personality, and businessman and is known as the most prominent gay figure in Korean entertainment.
His Instagram post can be seen below.
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not only in South Korea, but i feel that generally, in most Asian countries, many people, especially older generation still discriminate against LGBTQ community. My father who is a doctor himself said that being queer is a mental illness that need to be, and can be "cured". One time i asked my mother what if i am into girls too and she was so horrified that I never ever mention my sexuality to her or anyone in the family ever again. One of my mother's friend has a lesbian daughter and she forced the girl to get married to a gay guy (the guy was forced by his family too), the miserable couple have twins just to satisfy their parents even thought they don't love each other at all, and now they barely even live together anymore... However, whenever that auntie mentions them, she always seems to be so proud of herself, and my mother is so envious of her friend's "achivement". I also meet many people who are openly homophobic and kind of proud of that. Asia still have a long way to go in this matter...
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