By journalist Noh Ji Min
[Interview] Raphael, Forest, Jeram work on 'Violent media archives' of Korean sexual minorities
[Media Today No Ji Min Reporter ]
Pride over hate and discrimination, Pride Over Prejudice (POP) is a project to collect and visualize media production dealing with sexual minority aversion in Korean society from 2018 to 2019. In Korean media, sexual minorities are often portrayed as conflicting factors that make our society noisy. Every year, before the Queer Culture Festival, the media released reports that 'crash is expected', and anti-discrimination campaigns including sexual minority rights activities collapsed before allegations of 'reverse discrimination'. What concerns did there have been in the process of reconstructing such memories of discrimination and disgust into a subjective history? Visual artist Jeram, typeface designer Forest and freelance journalist Raphael Rashid met with Gwanghwamun, Seoul on the 13th.
-Why did you plan this project?
Jeram: I have struggled in the church as a Christian minority. I thought one of the functions of the community of faith was to share my inner thoughts. After moving to the UK, she learned about the Lesbian and Gay Newsmedia Archive (LAGNA). Since the late 19th century, it was a vast archive of products that were not produced by sexual minorities. Sexual minority human rights activists and citizens recorded their own history. London police archives, on the other hand, say that sexual minorities cause confusion and are not good for national order. Seeing the same issue expressed differently, we thought we should make a history that we think for ourselves. There is also QueerArch in Korea, but because it mainly deals with books, videos, documents, etc., it was a pity that the digital recording capacity was insufficient. In the meantime, I was able to apply for the 2018 Research Contest (Lee Chang-Guk Queer Research Support Fund).
What does 'archiving' mean?
Jeram: When scattered information gathers, it can be a force, and when we put together pieces that were divided into pieces, we can see the flow and context. Archiving is usually a list of basic data for relevant subject researchers. The archive was intended to make it easy for anyone to see that religious aversion to sexual minorities is taking place, and that this is less known than it is supposed to be. I didn't know that the information was comforting and ringing, but I felt that the recording of the voices of those who wanted to be with someone had the power to bring the people in pain together.
The POP project looked at 120 media products dealing with sexual minorities in Korean society based on four cases, △ Queer Culture Festival, Anti-Discrimination Movement, △ Gyeongnam Student Rights Ordinance Act, and △ Sexual minority activities in the university. Major newspapers, broadcasters, neutral news media (centered on news agencies), Christian media, and social media products are the main targets. The issues related to sexual minorities not covered by the major media were supplemented by the products of 'Gatgil' (walking path), a human rights organization formed by the unfair disciplinary action of Jangshin University and Handong University students. They filled in the blanks by collecting the National Human Rights Commission Decisions from students who were virtually expelled from school.
Journalists Raphael also used photos and videos recorded on social media, as well as data he had found. It is a vivid record of the Queer Culture Festival and a UN speech about the Korean minorities, which was not covered by the Korean media. "I personally collected reports from the portal about sex and minority discrimination issues about a year and a half ago. I found articles two or three times a day. Most of the large media, such as" Jojung-dong ", are often small but important media, There's also some good news, and I thought about how to deal with these events, and I thought one of the ways was to create an archive. ”Raphael, who was born in England in the ninth year of his life in Korea, He pointed out that it is not called a hate group.
-What role do you think Korean media play in spreading hate of sexual minorities?
Raphael: In Korea, not only religious media, but also most media regard 'dislike' as 'controversy'. For example, every time the Queer Culture Festival is held, the news headline reads, Concerns such as 'tense tension' or 'collision fear' are used throughout the day. Conflict means that the two sides collide with each other, and when they actually go to the festival, they always attack from one side. " I don't think it's a religious organization. Even as Korean media is carrying the wrong claim that AIDS is spreading because of homosexuality, it is as ugly as it can be.
How about in the UK?
Rafael: There can't be a situation like this in England. Simple. Hate speech is illegal. Hate crimes are illegal. Violence against sexual minorities is also illegal. But in Korea, we can see too much of that dislike.