Yongin COVID-19 Patient Movement, Media Fueling LGBTQ+ Hate

66th Confirmed Patient's Movement Released
Indiscriminate Hate and Criticism Over LGBTQ+ Club Visit
Media Reports Fueling Controversy Also Problematic
Infectious Disease Expert: "LGBTQ+ Coverage Makes Epidemiological Investigation More Difficult"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seunggon Han, Intern Reporter Joohee Kang] As it became known that patient A (29), the 66th confirmed case residing in Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, visited a club frequented by sexual minorities, hateful expressions criticizing this fact have been pouring in online.

They are not criticizing the spread concerns of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), but rather the fact that they are sexual minorities. Furthermore, some media outlets have highlighted the nature of the club in their reports, continuing baseless prejudice and hatred against them. Infectious disease experts pointed out that such phenomena are meaningless in epidemiological investigations.

On the 7th, the Yongsan-gu Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters confirmed that patient A visited a pub in Itaewon and K Club in the early morning of the 2nd.

The K Club visited by patient A disclosed the fact that a confirmed patient had visited after completing disinfection, through Facebook as a means of providing information. The club stated, "For everyone's safety, we will continuously and transparently disclose updated information if there is any," and earnestly requested, "Please refrain from speculative rumors and personal information disclosure about the confirmed patient."

However, controversy arose as some media focused their reports on the club being a sexual minority club. Right after the reports, news comments were flooded with harsh criticisms toward sexual minorities such as "The public suffers because of sexual minorities," "They are the evil of society," and "Why hide when queer festivals are openly held?"

In response, some pointed out that unnecessary disclosure of information about the confirmed patient has fueled the controversy. One netizen commented, "Group facilities like clubs and bars were places of high concern for infectious diseases from the start. Although it is unfortunate that such an incident occurred, I wonder if it was necessary to specify that it was a sexual minority club and thus escalate the controversy."

Regarding media reports about Patient A (29), the 66th confirmed case residing in Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, the Korean Gay Rights Movement Organization 'Chingusai' issued a statement on the 8th. Photo by Korean Gay Rights Movement Organization 'Chingusai' homepage capture

Criticism also continued against the media that stirred controversy by emphasizing the nature of the club in their reports. Some outlets used discriminatory terms such as "Confirmed case visited a gay club," "Hundreds forcibly outed?" and "High possibility of hiding movement paths," promoting sexual minority hatred or using sensational headlines emphasizing the vulnerabilities of sexual minorities.

In response, the Korean Gay Rights Movement Organization 'Chingusai' issued a statement that day, saying, "Some media highlighted the 'gay club' and reported articles containing excessive information that could identify the confirmed patient's residence, workplace, and occupation, thereby promoting prejudice and hatred against sexual minorities," and added, "Such reporting behavior ultimately creates anxiety and fear about outing, causing those who had contact with the confirmed patient to become withdrawn and hide outside the quarantine network."

They continued, "This report, which shifts social responsibility onto individuals and reproduces social anxiety, regresses the human rights of sexual minorities and causes significant damage to public health. We strongly condemn this form of media reporting that goes against the flow of the times."

Infectious disease experts also expressed concerns that unnecessary exposure of information about confirmed patients could harm epidemiological investigations. Professor Jaegab Lee of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Hallym University Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital appeared on YTN Radio's 'Lee Donghyung's News Face-off' on the 7th and pointed out, "Whether it is a club frequented by sexual minorities or not has little significance in epidemiological investigations."

He added, "People who visited the club or are concerned about contact with confirmed patients can be sufficiently informed just by the name of the place, and emphasizing such parts in the media could rather interfere with the epidemiological investigators."

Meanwhile, the Korea Journalists Association announced the 'Infectious Disease Reporting Guidelines' on the 28th of last month, considering the significant social impact and repercussions of COVID-19 related reports.

The association urged, "Since discrimination and stigma can occur just by reporting on 'infected persons,' efforts must be made to protect the personal information of infected persons and their families and to prevent invasion of privacy."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.