Filmmaker and artist, Nick Neon, experienced being attacked on the train of Seoul for assumptions of being homosexual.
Originally from New York City, Nick Neon was raised by a Korean mother and then moved to South Korea to direct music videos and other films and also co-founded NYK Media Group.
While sitting on the train in Seoul, Neon noticed that no one would sit down next to him no matter how many people had passed by. A drunk man took a look at the tattoos on his arms and judged him up and down. Concentrating on his phone instead, once Neon opened an article relating to the Queer Festival in Korea, the drunk man elbowed Neon and shouted, “If you gay, go your fucking country!”
Meanwhile, others on the train did not do anything other than stare at the situation. Neon simply got off and left the train and got onto the other cart, only to realize the drunk man had followed him on and continue to aggressively attack.
Neon noted that there was a poll that stated 39% of South Koreans were accepting and open towards homosexuality. However, upon his experience, he began to think otherwise. He believes that although South Korea is quickly modernizing, it still has a lot of growing up to do in terms of acceptance and conservative thinking.
Although on the outside, Neon did not outright present himself as gay, the drunk man quickly made assumptions based on the article. What enraged Neon was the fact that anyone who was homosexual or not could have been reading the article and might have still been attacked by that man.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HCksi67FEM
Source: Nick Neon
