Rights commission rules Ewha discriminated against sexual minorities
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea ruled that neither a university's institutional autonomy nor a religiously affiliated school's founding principles can justify discrimination against minority groups.
The logo of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea
YONHAP
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea ruled that Ewha Womans University discriminated against sexual minorities and infringed on people’s freedom of expression by canceling a queer film festival’s reservation of a campus facility because the event conflicted with the university’s founding Christian principles.
Last year, the Seoul Queer Culture Festival Organizing Committee reached an agreement with Arthouse Momo, a theater on the university’s campus that shows independent movies, to rent the space to host the annual Korea Queer Film Festival, according to the commission on Wednesday. However, the agreement ultimately fell through at the university’s request.
At the time, the university said that a queer film festival was inconsistent with its Christian values and could trigger conflict on campus.
Ewha Womans University was founded in 1886 by American missionary Mary F. Scranton as the first modern educational institute for women in Korea.
The queer culture festival’s organizing committee subsequently filed a complaint with the commission, arguing that the university’s decision constituted discrimination against sexual minorities and violated the rights to equality and freedom of expression.
The commission’s Discrimination Remedy Bureau ruled that neither a university’s institutional autonomy nor a religiously affiliated school’s founding principles can justify discrimination against minority groups.
The queer culture festival’s committee also rejected the university’s explanation that it canceled the venue booking due to safety concerns stemming from a large-scale signature campaign opposing the event. The committee also argued that the university imposed an excessive restriction on it by canceling the booking outright without considering alternative measures, such as deploying additional security personnel.
The commission recommended that the president of Ewha Womans University establish measures to prevent future refusals of venue rentals based on a group’s beliefs or sexual orientation.
BY JEONG JAE-HONG [[email protected]]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
