Link: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-56268409
The first transgender soldier in South Korea was found dead at her home after being discharged from the military for undergoing gender reassignment surgery. The cause of death for transgender rights activist Byun Hee-soo is unknown. In January of last year, she filed a historic legal challenge against the military over her dismissal. In July, her petition for reinstatement was denied. South Korea is still conservative when it comes to issues involving the LGBT community. The 23-year-old had been seeing a mental health center near her home in Cheongju, Chungcheong province, for counseling (which is south of Seoul). After not hearing from her since February 28, her counselor became worried and contacted emergency services. Ms. Byun’s case sparked a national debate about how transgender personnel and soldiers from the LGBTQ community are treated in the military. She previously told reporters that, aside from her gender identity, she wanted to demonstrate to everyone that she could be one of the country’s great soldiers. South Korea is far less tolerant of the LGBTQ community than its East Asian neighbors. Being LGBT is often seen as a disability or a mental illness, or by powerful conservative churches as a sin, and there are no anti-discrimination laws in the country.
Ms. Byun’s death caused a large wake-up call to many people living in South Korea to question the discrimination and hatred against LGBTQ+ people in the country. It is common in many East Asian countries to be hated or shunned if you are a part of the LGBTQ+ community and are often outed by many of the elderly in the community. With enough attention from the media, her death could cause a reassessment about how LGBTQ+ people are treated in the military.
With globalization on the rise and more and more people from the LGBTQ+ community being accepted, some countries with deep roots lack in accepting those people. Someone who is gay is most likely to be accepted by their peers if they live in Canada than if they live in China. Hopefully with more and more generation Z people becoming more accepted of people with a different sexual orientation, culture, race, etc. more East Asian countries will see a rise in that too as they grow older and old traditions become a thing of the past.