Hong Seok-cheon

Hong Seok-cheon is a South Korean actor, TV personality, and restaurateur widely recognized as the first major Korean celebrity to come out as gay, doing so in 2000 when asked directly about his sexuality on a variety show and choosing to answer honestly, at a time when LGBTQ+ visibility in South Korea was nearly nonexistent. The backlash was immediate and severe — he was fired from his children's television programs and advertising deals and blacklisted from major networks for roughly three years. He returned to acting in 2003 in the SBS drama Perfect Love, playing a gay character, despite protesters picketing outside the network's offices; the show's producers stood by his casting. In 2002, as television work dried up, Hong had opened his first restaurant, an Italian eatery in Seoul's Itaewon district, and he has since built a small restaurant empire there under the "My" brand name, including My Chi Chi's and My Thai. Hong is regarded as a foundational figure in modern Korean LGBTQ+ history, having paved the way for a new generation of queer artists and public figures through his candor, humor, and outspoken advocacy.