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Anger as South Korean transgender soldier found dead
SEOUL, March 4, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – A transgender South Korean soldier who was
forcibly discharged from the army after gender-reassignment surgery has been
found dead, police said, prompting anger Thursday and calls for legal
reforms.
Firefighters found Byun Hee-soo in her home in Cheongju after a mental
health counsellor called emergency services to report that she had not been
heard from for several days, Yonhap news agency reported.
South Korea remains deeply conservative about matters of sexual identity
and is less tolerant of LGBT rights than some other parts of Asia, with many
gay and transgender Koreans living largely under the radar.
Byun, formerly a staff sergeant and in her 20s, enlisted voluntarily in
2017. She went on to have gender-reassignment surgery in 2019 in Thailand.
The defence ministry classified the removal of her male genitals as a
mental or physical handicap, and a military panel ruled last year that she
would be compulsorily discharged.
At the time she waived her anonymity to appear at a press conference to
plead to be allowed to serve, wearing her fatigues and saluting the gathered
journalists and cameras.
“I’m a soldier of the Republic of Korea,” she said, her voice breaking.
Police confirmed her death to AFP and said they were investigating.
Reports said no note was found but the death was being treated as suicide,
with Yonhap citing officials saying she had tried to kill herself three
months ago.
Byun’s death triggered an outpouring of grief and calls for South Korean
MPs to pass an anti-discrimination bill.
“The whole of Korean society bears responsibility for her death,” said a
poster on Daum, the country’s second-largest portal.
“Those who ridiculed her and made malicious online comments because she was
transgender, I want you to reflect on what you did to her.”
– Childhood dream –
South Korea has a conscript army to defend itself against the nuclear-
armed North, with all able-bodied male citizens obliged to serve for nearly
two years.
But Byun was a volunteer non-commissioned officer and said at her press
conference last year that serving in the military had always been her
childhood dream.
“Putting aside my sexual identity, I want to show everyone that I can be
one of the great soldiers defending this country,” she continued, fighting
back tears. “Please give me that chance.”
Her case was the first of its kind in South Korea.
Deputy defence ministry spokesman Moon Hong-sik expressed condolences over
what he called “the regrettable death of the late former staff sergeant Byun
Hee-soo”.
But he added there had been no detailed discussions about transgender
soldiers serving in the military.
International rights groups have previously voiced concern about the way
the country treats gay soldiers, who are banned from engaging in same-sex
acts and can face up to two years in prison if caught — even though such
actions are legal in civilian life.
Seo Ji-hyun, a prosecutor who triggered the country’s #MeToo movement by
going public over sexual harassment she suffered at the hands of her
superior, declared following Byun’s death: “We could have saved her… We
just had to let her live life true to who she was.”
“Right now anti-discrimination bill”, she added as a hashtag on her
Facebook account.
A new bill was proposed last year to take on the country’s deep-seated
traditional social values, which are reinforced by powerful megachurches that
condemn homosexuality.
The measure would ban favouritism based on sex, race, age, sexual
orientation, disability or religion as well as several more unusual criteria
such as criminal history, appearance and academic background.
More than a dozen attempts to pass broad anti-discrimination laws have
failed over the past 14 years in the face of strong opposition from
conservative churches and civic groups.
BSS/AFP/RY/11:02hrs