The K-POP star who went out to the world on stage

Payne was in the middle of the road through his band in Los Angeles on a fragile night in April when the music stopped.

In a large fur coat and black sunglasses, I told the 24-year-old K-POP star thousands of fans: “Before I started the next song-I want to share something with you, comrades.”

A short pause then: “I (obscene) is proud to be part of the LGBTQ community!”

The crowd erupted in applause and screams while Payne stormed a hymn to Mrs. Gaga, “Just put your sponsors, because you were born this way, my love.”

At that moment, when he went out to the world, he was not tense, BBC told an interview in his studio in Seoul – instead, he was trying to “look great.”

A handful of K -POP artists have come out as gay in recent years – but nothing publicly like Bain.

Even in 2025, this is a bold step in the entertainment industry in South Korea, where stars are held according to the impossible standards. Admission even the relationship between two different sexes is a scandal.

“There were some people in the industry who knew (I was thinking about going out) and warned me about it, saying it would be a risk,” says Payne. Of course, I thought about risk – that we might lose fans.

“But then I thought, society is changing … I have earned more than I might lose.”

This is the big question: Did he throw the door open the door to change in an industry that has become universal, but it is still deeply rooted in the conservative South Korea?

Payne, whose real name is Song Pyongy, says he was at high school, about 12 years old, when he realized that he was gay.

Soon after that, he decided to become a K -POP trainee but he kept sexually – felt “not allowed.”

He says, “It was nothing I asked … I thought I had no choice,” he says. “There was no one else (those around me was gay). I thought I could only demonstrate and continue.”

The wealthy and modern South Korea are still traditional in several ways. You often see strong churches and conservative homosexuality As a disability or Sin. Marriage of the same sex is legally not recognized.

In 2021, Bain appeared for the first time as part of the six members, Just B. They released many albums, participated in reality programs, and obtained a dedicated audience.

But through all this, the years of hiding part of himself affected Payne.

“I was very drowned, I thought I could not be an idol at all. I felt I was hiding a lot. I decided to speak to my mother.”

This was about three years ago. His mother was the first person in his family to discover: “We talked for an hour, and I finally said,” I love men more than women. “This is when I knew.”

Her reaction was difficult for him. “Frankly, she didn’t like her – not at the beginning. She said she thought I could overcome her, and perhaps I would have resembled one day. I felt sad … I was now facing bad reactions from others. But she (she said),” You are my son, so I love you, I support you, I love you. “She was mixed.

Then his team members and company began to encourage him to jump – and he told the world.

Earlier this year, the band started a global tour, and at the last station of its tour in the United States, Payne decided to go out on stage.

Since then, the band has been directed to the spotlight – with Bayne giving countless interviews as the new face of the Korean LGBTQ community soon became.

“I feel that I have changed a lot since the exit. I feel more confident. When I meet a new person, I show who I am immediately,” he says. “But I also feel sad because my identity is a big problem now.”

Over time, he hopes that people will stop saying, “Oh, it’s anomalous, but, oh, this is only who is.”

When South Korean actor Hong Seok Chion came out as gays in 2000, LGBTQ’s representation really entered the country’s main current.

He was the first Korean celebrity to open around his sexual life – and he came at a cost. It was dropped from TV and advertisements.

The positions have certainly changed since then. The PEW survey of 2019 showed that the number of people who accepted homosexuality increased to 44 % of 25 % in 2002.

However, only a handful of other celebrities came out. In 2018, the Netherlands became the first gay artist in the country, and in 2020, Jia, a former member of the Girl Group Wassup group, came out, as is the dual sex. Both said they found it difficult to sign with a score of registration as a result.

However, Payne was celebrated by both fans and LGBTQ community in South Korea.

“When a person like the idol comes out, he gives people like me a feeling that we are not alone,” says a 26 -year -old Korean sexual transgender, who does not want her name.

“It brings comfort … makes me think, maybe I’m fine as I am.”

Also online, most of the comments were positive. One of the gay fans wrote in a comment on YouTube how Payne encouraged him, after he felt “very desperate” on “hateful comments” and discrimination.

“But thanks to Payne, I found the courage to continue.”

“After the initial shock, I started crying,” said Lea, one of the US K-Pop fans from the United States, who knows she is lesbian.

“Knowing that Korea still has some oppression against gay, courageous and courageous courage that he showed through the exit … (was) impressive.”

The cultural footprint of South Korea grows worldwide, and this has brought fans from everywhere, with their views and beliefs. The K-POP industry may be reshaped.

But this will take some time. This is evident in the scope of the comments in response to the Pine Declaration – rejection of indifference.

On the one hand, the country witnessed an increase in the right -wing, and often declares anti -feminist beliefs, who seem to oppose any challenge to traditional gender roles.

These roles remain strong in South Korea. The government and the hero of the church are traditional family values, encourage young people to marry and have children so that they can enhance birth rates, which are the lowest in the world.

Given all of this, it may not be a surprise that homosexuality is still taboo, even in a global industry like K-POP.

This is a world in which the righteous husbands do not talk about their private lives, says critic Lim He is Yoon.

“K-POP spent nearly 25 years avoiding the issue of sexual activity (completely). Even gender relationships are hidden to protect fans’ fantasies.”

He adds that Payne “stabbed this silence in a symbolic and strong way. I think it represents a great moment.”

But he believes that the fans may have their reaction completely differently – “perhaps it was explosive” – ​​if one of BoyBand’s members had gone out of sex.

“The Pine issue was important, but his group is not famous (so), it did not cause much stirring locally,” says Mr. Lim.

Payne definitely helped increase awareness, and agrees. “It is a slow process, but we see more public figures speak or the content is created about these LGBTQ problems.”

But any immediate change in the K-POP or the entertainment industry is unlikely to be.

He says: “It is not just a social issue – it is a problem in the market. Male idols usually have a much larger mass base … (F) If you discover that your favorite male idol is gay, this can break the illusion that can one day be the subject of his emotion.”

“So if they do (come out), they risk attacking the basis for the basis.”

However, Payne says that his decision will be worth it even if “one person in K-POP acquires strength or attention” from him.

“I spent a long time to demonstrate … I realized this because I went out, others felt safe to do this too.”

He remembers that on the day he went out, many fans approached him, saying that they are gay or gay, talking about their identity.

“Thank me and thought about myself,” I had to do this sooner. “