Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Star Special Lecture Show

 
No way, Korea really does know the term 'gay'? But still can't differentiate between homosexual, transsexual and transvestite.
 

Hong Seok Cheon recently appeared on the February 25 broadcast of tvN′s Star Special Lecture Show, where he spoke about his life and the subject ‘Stories About Sexuality that Men and Women Can Sympathize With.’

Hong started with an explanation of the four types of homosexuality using the acronym LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transsexual).
He went on to explain that a lesbian is a female homosexual interested in other females, a gay man is a male homosexual who is interested in other males and a bisexual is someone who is interested in both males and females. Lastly, he explained that a transsexual is classified as someone whose physical gender is not the same as his or her psychological gender, pointing to Harisu as an example of a transsexual.

Hong recalled, "Once in a while, taxi drivers would ask me why I didn’t get a sex change operation and I would tell them that I was a man interested in other men” (pointing out the difference between being gay and a transsexual).

He added, "In Korea, the term ′homo′ carries a negative connotation, so I prefer to be called gay.”

Hong also talked about his close call with AIDS. He revealed that he took a full medical exam (which included an AIDS test) on December 31 per the recommendation of his doctor.

"I was told three red lines would appear for a positive test, and I was extremely shocked when I had three pink lines on mine," he said.

Hong continued, “I decided to take a more thorough examination and the four days it took to get the result seemed like 40 years to me."

However, his story fortunately ended on a positive note, when he concluded, "When I finally received word that I didn’t have AIDS, I wanted to fall in love."


Photo and article credit: tvN