Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. We're celebrating 20 years of business and US Bank have been there every step of the way from our minivans and now our 10,000 square foot location. I'm Michelle Marino. I'm Denise Cotter. We're co-owners of Houndstooth House. Houndstooth House is located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
We were told early on, surround yourself by people that you work well with. And U.S. Bank was a great partner. U.S. Bank is small enough to care and big enough to make a difference. Earlier this year, Bane, who's a member of the boy band Just Be, became the first male K-pop idol to come out as gay. I'm f***ing proud to be a part of the LGBT community.
Now, K-pop idols are expected to live up to strict ideals. The women are often seen as innocent, they're beautiful, ultra-feminine, and the men are, of course, perfectly styled, they're quite reserved, and they're always straight. So when someone breaks that mold, it's big news. Okay, to anyone out there who's part of the LGBTQ+ or still figuring out, this is for you guys.
Today you're going to hear from Bane himself and the BBC journalist who interviewed him and we're going to talk about why it's still so rare for K-pop idols to come out as gay. I'm Hannah Gelbart and this is What In The World from the BBC World Service.
Let's find out more about this now from Juna Moon from the BBC's Korean service. Hi, Juna. Hi, Hannah. So you actually got to interview Bain after this big moment. What was it like to meet him? What's he like? So I met him at the Centre of Seoul around the studio and he seems a bit nervous when we first saw, but he's a bit of a man.
He was very happy about his coming out. I was excited to meet him because he's not so popular in Korea, but I knew that he has a lot of great fans outside of Korea, like all over the world, especially like Mexico and North America. And for those who don't know him and his work, tell us a bit about him and his journey into becoming part of the K-pop group Just B.
So, Bane, he has dreamed to be a vocalist, like an idol when he was from middle schoolers. And he joined to be a trainee when he was 15. And after six years, he finally joined Just Be. It is a K-pop boy band formed in 2021. And the group consists of six members.
Their song themes often explore about youth, identity and resilience. So what did he tell you about his decision to come out? He realised that he's gay when he was 13 or something, very young age.
But since he knew that he wanted to be a K-pop star and he wanted to do a trainee, he thought to himself that this is something that I can't tell anybody. And he just kept it in himself. But after his debut and on his second year, he just felt like he's lying to everyone. So he decided to
speak up to his close ones and suddenly like he realized that he has a safe zone near him and he
gradually started to find the confidence in himself. A day before the LA performance, he talked to his agency, like CEO and his members. Maybe is it a right timing for me to come out? And everyone was like,
"Cool, let's go. I think this is the right timing." And that's how he came out on LA Performance. I didn't prepare it for a long time at all. No, I didn't. I was a little bit nervous, but I was really trying to say it correctly.
I wanted to be perfect at the time. So I was really focused on my maybe English pronunciation. Why do you think he waited so long to do it? What were the things going through his mind, the different factors that he had to weigh up? It's because he's a K-pop male idol. And normally the straight image is forced to K-pop idols. And it is because...
the majority of K-pop male idol fans are women. And they think, they likely to think the idol as their like boyfriend or even they wanted them to be pure, like no dating, you know? So when some like famous idol turned out to be dating someone, like fans are really mad about it.
But think about like sexual identity. That's like almost, whoa. That's not something that is allowed in K-pop industry so far. So very few idols have came out so far. So breaking those mold will be a very kind of big burden. And also Bang told me that
the coming out his sexual identity is something his personal matter not something that team all have to like care about I mean I was really thankful because after coming out I was kind of a little bit sorry to my members because I mean it's not about
their life. I mean, it's about my story, but they have to carry these things all together. So I was a little bit sorry about
that kind of situation. Image is so important in K-pop. Image, brand, reputation. I mean, there might be some people listening to this thinking that by him coming out, they might be able to attract a different kind of audience as well. Yes. Oh, that's true. After his coming out, Bain told me he got a lot of love, respect and cheers from all around the world from LGBTQ fans. I mean, they did come out to me,
that moments are really touched because maybe they are feeling that me is a safe zone. What about fans back home in South Korea? What have they said? I see reactions are kind of divided. Like some fans truly support and respect Bain's decisions, but some others are still like discouraging him like,
"Why are you talking about this? We're not curious about your sexual identity. Who cares?" I saw a lot of negative comments. Actually, just for one day, I was kind of feel bad. After one day, I was like, "No, they're just a person who I don't know."
And I don't have to care about them. And what about the media, the Korean media? Korean media have responded more cautiously, but largely with support. But international media have praised Bain's bravery and calling it a milestone for LGBTQ+ representation in K-pop.
But Korean media, I don't think there is like a very positive comments about it. Why do you think that is? And how are LGBTQ plus people treated in South Korea? Do they have legal protections, rights, or are they still missing some rights?
No, legal protections are still limited, like the same-sex marriage isn't allowed, and anti-discrimination laws don't explicitly cover sexual orientation.
So I think the social attitudes are slowly improving, but the progress is pretty slow. Did he talk to you about that? Did he say that he hoped to achieve anything by coming out? Was it a personal decision or part of something bigger for K-pop?
yes he told me uh so in personally he wants to live honestly and he also told me he has ability to write songs but he has never um wrote a lyrics of like
Like something like a love song, always the subject of love was she or her, you know, like all these girls, even though he's gay. But now he can write songs with all his heart and he can use words, he or him.
And industry-wise, he was hoping that coming out shouldn't be something like a big deal in K-pop industry. Now, he got all the attention and he thought that this is something very sad. He hoped that just coming out can be representative
recognized as something as just like minor thing. Oh, that's someone's sexual identity. It's nothing a big deal. I hope that K-pop industry can accept this kind of like artist sexual identity. So I hope they can more accept this kind of things. But I know it's going to be so hard. But I just...
hope that more people can coming out more naturally. Juna, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. Thank you so much. Thank you. That's it for today's episode. I'm Hannah Gelbart. This is What in the World from the BBC World Service and we'll see you next time.