Raising Queer Workers' Rights in South Korea

Haengseongin(Solidarity for LGBT Human Rights of Korea) is currently focusing its activities on LGBT labor rights. However, our organization established an LGBT Labor Rights Team much earlier and has been engaged in various activities for over 15 years.

On April 25, Haengseongin held a program titled "Sharing the History of LGBT Labor Rights." At the event, we summarized our history of activities and invited colleagues who have been active for a long time to share their experiences and concerns. We have regularly held gatherings for working LGBT individuals to share workplace experiences and derive tasks for our activities from them. We have expanded solidarity by visiting and participating in sites of struggle outside the union, such as disasters and strikes, and have promoted LGBT rights in the workplace by holding forums and creating educational materials with social movement groups and labor unions. Beyond improving awareness of LGBT individuals within unions, these activities have led to various practical changes seeking equality, including many unions enacting bylaws regarding LGBT individuals and reforming their systems.

Looking back on past activities and understanding the history of LGBTQ+ labor rights activism is connected to an attempt to assess the current situation and share challenges. Currently, we are working to organize working LGBTQ+ individuals, foster an LGBTQ+ friendly atmosphere in the workplace, and create workplaces free from discrimination and exclusion. While these efforts stand on an extension of our past trajectory, they simultaneously confirm that the LGBTQ+ labor rights movement stands on the current of building a society of equality for all.

Haengseongin(Solidarity for LGBT Human Rights of Korea) participated as the LGBTQ+ contingent in the 2025 National Workers' Rally, held at Dongdaemun History & Culture Park on November 8, conducting on-site activities to raise awareness about the existence and labor rights of LGBTQ+ workers.

The National Workers' Rally is a space for sharing and expressing solidarity around diverse labor issues and struggles. However, the voices of LGBTQ+ workers have often been difficult to make visible. In response, Haengseongin organized activities under the message, “LGBTQ+ workers are here at the National Workers’ Rally,” aiming to demonstrate that LGBTQ+ people are also workers who struggle, organize, and demand workers’ rights as active stakeholders in the labor movement.

On the day of the rally, Haengseongin operated a booth from 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM, engaging with union members and participants. The booth featured a quiz program on LGBTQ+ labor rights and distributed the booklet <To You, Who Will Be an Ally of LGBTQ+ People> along with informational leaflets. Through these materials, we sought to share why LGBTQ+ people participate in the National Workers’ Rally and to invite greater attention to the labor rights of LGBTQ+ workers. Approximately 500 leaflets were distributed.

Following the booth activities, the group joined the rally’s march holding a banner, visually demonstrating that LGBTQ+ workers are an integral part of the National Workers' Rally. The slogan, “LGBTQ+ Workers Stand with the 2025 National Workers’ Rally Inheriting the Spirit of Jeon Tae-il,” drew interest and expressions of solidarity from other participants and served as an opportunity to highlight LGBTQ+ labor rights as a crucial agenda within the labor movement.

Through this participation, we reaffirmed that while many workers express solidarity with LGBTQ+ people, there is still a lack of concrete understanding about who LGBTQ+ people are, the challenges they face, and how they live their lives. Moving forward, there is a need to build connections using clearer and more accessible language. Haengseongin remains committed to continuing its efforts to ensure that LGBTQ+ workers can safely exist, be welcomed, and take part in collective struggle within workplaces and the broader labor movement.