[2023 National Audit] 20 Same-Sex Couples Registered Marriage... "LGBTQ+ Should Be Included in 2025 Population Census"

20 Same-Sex Marriage Registrations Despite No Repairs
11,184 Patients with Gender Identity Disorder Over 5 Years

Since the system was changed to allow the registration of same-sex marriages, a total of 20 same-sex marriage registrations have been recorded.

According to the 'Status of Same-Sex Marriage Registration Acceptance and Rejection' submitted by the Supreme Court to Jang Hye-young, a member of the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee from the Justice Party, from March 25 of last year when the family relationship registration electronic system was changed until September 27 of this year, a total of 20 same-sex marriage registration applications were received. All 20 applications were rejected during the registration process on the grounds that they were "same-sex marriages that cannot be accepted under current law."

Jang Hye-young, Justice Party member. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Rep. Jang pointed out that although there is no explicit provision in the current Civil Act prohibiting same-sex marriage, there has been discriminatory customary prohibition against same-sex marriage. Despite discriminatory administration, a considerable number of same-sex couples submitted marriage registration applications, Rep. Jang explained.

Additionally, according to data on the "Status of Patients with Gender Identity Disorder by Year and Age Group over the Past Five Years" submitted to Rep. Jang by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, a total of 11,184 people received treatment for gender identity disorder from 2018 to August of this year. By year, the numbers were 1,400 in 2018, 1,595 in 2019, 1,707 in 2020, 2,030 in 2021, 2,307 in 2022, and 2,145 as of August 2023, showing an increasing trend each year.

Rep. Jang pointed out that the diagnosis of gender identity disorder is essential for legal gender correction and military service evaluation, but due to the lack of national statistics on transgender people, it is only possible to estimate the population seeking hospitals for "transition" (the process of changing gender).

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) recommended to the government last March to reflect statistical policies for improving the human rights situation of sexual minorities such as transgender people to government agencies including Statistics Korea, but none of these recommendations have been accepted.

Rep. Jang emphasized, "It is necessary to understand the actual living conditions of sexual minorities through statistics so that related policies can be established, but Statistics Korea is hiding behind 'social consensus' and is not fulfilling its responsibilities. Since the 2025 Population and Housing Census, which will mark its 100th anniversary, will be used as basic data for policy establishment and various statistics, it is necessary to improve survey items so that sexual minorities can be included as policy targets."

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