Queer Throughlines: Stories of Queer Activism in South Korea and the Korean Diaspora

Queer Throughlines: Stories of Queer Activism in South Korea and the Korean Diaspora

• Monday February 2nd, 4:10-5:30pm Hart Hall 3201
• Pre-event for Students: 3pm-3:50pm "Meeting with the Author" Hart Hall 3201

Ju Hui Judy Han is a cultural geographer and associate professor in Gender Studies at UCLA. She is committed to building critical and transnational conversations concerning gender, sexuality, and activism, and regularly contributes to community-based projects and public events both on campus and beyond.

This lecture draws from Queer Throughlines, a study of Korean LGBTQ+ activism grounded in long-term participation, interviews, and ethnographc research. It traces how queer and leftist movements have taken shape across South Korea and the Korean diaspora since the 1990s, revealing how activists navigate and contest the persistent influence of Christian conservatism and political homophobia. Using “throughlines” as a guiding concept, the talk follows interconnected stories that unfold across time and space: community organizers in Los Angeles responding to anti-gay petition campaigns from immigrant churches; activists in Seoul linking pro-democracy and anti-war protest to gender and sexual justice; and progressive clergy risking censure to advocate for change. Rather than presenting a linear narrative of triumph, these stories illuminate the uneven yet powerful ways activists build solidarity, create community, and forge enduring lines of kinship.