Students have been collecting signatures at Korea University (KU) for a petition protesting the decision to withdraw KU’s participation in the Seoul Queer Culture Festival. The decision was made by the Emergency Central Steering Committee this summer and students have been trying to gain offline traction for the petition since September 14, as campus wall posters received no formal response.

organizers of the petition spoke to The Granite Tower (GT) and explained that they seek confirmation of the invalidity behind canceling KU’s participation in the festival. They urge the Emergency Central Steering Committee to issue an apology and a statement regarding their position in relation to LGBT+ rights in KU.

Organizers also expressed their concerns about homophobic rhetoric posted in online communities such as Koreapas and Everytime. They stated that students posting such comments should not hide behind anonymity, but rather, should publicly express their opinions with their real names, seeing as students protesting the decision are required to provide their full names and identification numbers for the petition. For additional information and updates on the petition, students can follow nohateinkoreauniv on Instagram.