Who is gay in k pop
Here Are Nine Openly Queer K-Pop Idols
In celebration of identity festival month, here are nine openly gender non-conforming K-Pop idols.
1. Harisu
Harisu is a gender nonconforming entertainer and singer. Born in 1975, she identified as female from first childhood and had sex reassignment surgery in the 1990s. She has been active since 2001 and is active in South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
2. LADY
LADY is the first all-transgender group in South Korea. The collective debuted in 2005 and had four members: Sinae, Sahara, Binu, and Yuna. The group’s main inspiration is from Harisu. Sadly, the group wasn’t proficient to be promoted well due to their music videos not being adequately received. The team disbanded in 2007.
3. Maman
Maman, who originally debuted in 2007 under the stage name Magoply, is K-Pop first openly gay idol. She debuted under Jerry Entertainment, and her debut song featured Super Junior’s Kangin. Shortly after debuting, Maman came out as gay in an interview. Her company initially wanted to pull it off as a prank, but it didn’t work and she was kicked out of the company. She then found a modern company but has been inactive since 2015.
4. Hanbit
Hanbit is a model,
K-pop idols are constantly in the spotlight — from strict contracts to fan expectations, every part of their lives is watched closely. But for stars in the LGBTQ+ group, the pressure is even more intense.
In South Korea, being openly queer is still a big deal. While some progress has been made, coming out in the K-pop society can put careers at risk. “While the Republic of Korea (South Korea) broadly respects the rights of its citizens, there are significant human rights concerns,” Human Rights View stated in a 2023 report, “especially regarding woman loving woman, gay, bisexual, and trans (LGBT) people.”
Despite this, a small number of K-pop stars have taken the brave step of coming out — publicly sharing their truth in an industry that isn’t always ready to support them.
One of the most known names is Holland, who made history as the first openly gay K-pop idol. His journey into music wasn’t smooth. When he first started out, no entertainment agencies were willing to accept an openly gay artist. So Holland took matters into his own hands.
He worked two part-time jobs to fund his debut unpartnered, “Neverland,” which dropped in January 2018. In 2019, he released his first m
K-Pop idols coming out? It’s a bigger deal than you’d think. While K-Pop does not shy away from portraying queerness in its lyrics, music and overall imagery, Korean society remains cruel towards queer celebrities, and no anti-discrimination laws exist to protect gay people in South Korea.
For years, coming out meant sabotaging your own career and public image. Hong Seokcheon, who is now one of the most prominent personalities in South Korea’s entertainment and variety broadcast scene, faced intense discrimination when he first came out as male lover back in 2000, and it took him years to recover from the backlash before making his way back into the entertainment industry.
Combine that with the strict restrictions placed on K-Pop idols by their companies—including dating bans and extreme diets—and it’s understandable why there are only a handful of openly queer idols and artists.
And with bigger companies, there’s more at stake. Idols under bigger, more established companies often hold stricter rules and less freedom than idols from smaller companies, because they debut with more eyes on them from the start and hence they have more to lose.
But lately, there has been a n
'Proud to be gay': K-pop star on coming out to the world
BBC News
Reporting fromSingapore
BBC Korean
Reporting fromSeoul
Bain was halfway through his band's Los Angeles concert on a crisp April night when the music stopped.
In an oversized fur coat and black sunglasses, the 24-year-old K-pop star told thousands of fans: "Before I start the next song - I long for to share something with you guys."
A brief pause and then: "I'm [expletive] proud to be part of the LGBTQ community!"
The crowd erupted in applause and screams as Bain broke into Lady Gaga's pride anthem: "Just position your paws up, 'Cause you were born this way, baby".
In that moment, as he came out to the planet, he was not nervous, he tells the BBC in an interview at his studio in Seoul - rather, he had been trying to "sound cool".
A handful of K-pop artists have appear out as gay in recent years - but none as publicly as Bain.
Even in 2025, that is a bold move in South Korea's entertainment industry, where stars are held to unworkable standards. Admitting to even a heterosexual relationship is scandalous.
&qu
Who's Gay in K-Pop? Pt.1
It’s almost inevitable in K-pop that same-sex couples will be shipped, from almost every band. And with each couple that is shipped, you also get the people who rant about how none of our oppars and unnirs are actually gay, and queer shippers are delusional, and can’t explain the difference between fanservice and homosexuality(bisexuality & pansexuality included). But I need to look beyond shipping and fanservice, and girl organization dances to accept a valid observe at who may actually fall somewhere between the middle and beyond of the Kinsey scale. I do ship, I won’t lie down and pretend that I don’t. I think it’s a normal part of being a human, and being committed in pop customs, since there look to be ships in literally every fandom that exists on Earth, including NBA, Harry Potter, Star Trek, and just about anything you can consider of. But some ships are just for fun, and aren’t truly as questionable as others. Please feel free to talk to me about anyone in K-pop or any Asian business that you believe might actually be gay, or that you think I’m way off establish about, but in this post, I will be discussing a few of the K-Pop idols who I assess are gay and