The Seoul Queer Culture Festival (SQCF) has returned as an in-person event after two years, and 13 embassies in South Korea, including the United States, have supported it.

On July 16, 2022, the 23rd Seoul Queer Parade (SQP), one of the festival’s two main events, was held at Seoul Plaza, attracting thousands of participants, including US Ambassador to Korea Philip Goldberg.

This year’s festival is themed “Live On, Stand Together, Go Onward”.

In front of Seoul Plaza, members of various gay-hating Korean religious groups held a rally against the festival and homosexuality.

Despite this, Seould Queer Parade participants were undeterred, waving rainbow flags and showing solidarity.

According to organizers, around 135,000 people attended the event on July 16.

At Seoul Plaza, there were 72 booths set up by foreign embassies, the National Human Rights Commission and companies like Google Korea.

Diplomats from the United States, Sweden, United Kingdom, Canada, Finland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Denmark, Australia, Ireland, Sweden and the European Union took the stage and held a banner that read “Diplomates for LGBTI+ Rights,” the Korea Times reported.

In his address to the attendees, US Ambassador Goldberg underscored the United States’ commitment to fighting discrimination.

“I just arrived this week but wanted to be part of this event to express America’s strong commitment to ending discrimination wherever it occurs and ensuring that everyone is treated with respect and humanity,” did he declare.

Goldberg added: “We just can’t leave any of you behind. So thank you for this warm welcome for all of us. We are with you. We will fight with you for equality and human rights.

In a tweet, Goldberg said, “No one should be discriminated against because of their identity. I join @POTUS [President of the United States] standing with the LGBTQI+ community and applauding all who work to advance the human rights of LGBTQI+ people in [South Korea].

The 22nd Korea Queer Film Festival (KQFF) is also part of the festival, where the online screening of films will take place from July 15 to 31.