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Tensions rise in Daegu ahead of the upcoming Queer Culture Festival

Published: 14 Sep. 2025, 13:47 Updated: 14 Sep. 2025, 16:24

The 2024 Daegu Queer Culture Festival will be held on Sept. 28 in the Dongseong-ro neighborhood in Jung District, Daegu. [YONHAP]

DAEGU — Tensions are rising once again in Daegu ahead of the 17th Daegu Queer Culture Festival, scheduled to take place in the city center on Sept. 20.

The festival’s organizing committee announced Friday that this year’s event will be held under the slogan “We Will Not Be E(r)ased” in Dongseong-ro’s bus-only zone in central Daegu.

“The Daegu Queer Culture Festival, which began in June 2009, has taken place every year without fail as a form of resistance against hate and discriminatory policies targeting sexual minorities,” a representative of the organizing committee said. “We will not stop our march of pride no matter the interference or suppression.”

With the announcement of the festival, opposing groups filed for a court injunction to ban the event from taking place. On Sept. 5, the Daegu Queer Opposition Countermeasure Committee and around 30 local merchants from the Dongseong-ro business association filed the request with the Daegu District Court. They cited concerns over public inconvenience and falling sales.

“The queer festival is held in the city’s bus-only zone, causing congestion for pedestrians and preventing delivery scooters from passing through, which seriously damages merchants’ revenue,” the groups said in a joint statement. “Bus and subway routes should not be detoured for a gathering of 400 people.”

A group of Christians hold a rally opposing the 2024 Daegu Queer Culture Festival in Jung District, Daegu, on Sept. 28, 2024. [NEWS1]

The 2024 Daegu Queer Culture Festival will be held on Sept. 28 in the Dongseong-ro neighborhood in Jung District, Daegu. [YONHAP]

Similar injunction requests have been filed annually over the past three years — all of which have been dismissed by the court. A decision on this year’s request is expected sometime next week. The opposing groups also plan to hold a counterrally on the day of the festival.

Due to recurring conflicts over the festival, police once again this year limited the use of the bus-only zone to a single lane — the same restriction imposed in 2024. Although the festival organizers initially applied to use two lanes, only one was permitted.

“This decision aims to balance the freedom of assembly with the right of citizens to move freely,” a Daegu police official said.

In 2023, during the tenure of then-Mayor Hong Joon-pyo, the festival sparked an unprecedented physical standoff between city officials and organizers. As organizers tried to bring in booths and stage equipment, over 500 municipal officials blocked the road, and tensions flared as police intervened to clear the way.

Participants of the 2024 Daegu Queer Culture Festival march through the Banwoldang neighborhood in Jung District, Daegu, on Sept. 28. [NEWS1]

Daegu city government claimed at the time that organizers had illegally occupied the road in a bus-only zone — which sees more than 80 buses per hour — and carried out an administrative enforcement action to remove them.

However, in June this year, the Supreme Court upheld a ruling ordering the city government to pay 7 million won ($5,000) in damages to the festival organizers. The ruling acknowledged the city’s liability but did not find former Mayor Hong personally responsible.

“This ruling by the Supreme Court affirms both the constitutional rights of the people and that sexual minorities are also citizens protected under Korea’s Constitution,” said Bae Jin-gyo, head of the organizing committee. “No matter how much hate groups try to erase us, we cannot be erased.”

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.
BY BAEK KYUNG-SEO [[email protected]]