Credit: FYH 930615
Something great happened earlier today. A Kpop star came out as asexual.
The specific star that we’re talking about is Topp Dogg’s Hansol.
Now of course, some of us may still feel burned by the recent Aaron Carter situation. We’ve heard of pop singers coming out as some sort of LGBTQA and then find out it was just a publicity stunt.
Some, myself included, may feel that we shouldn't talk about or share news of “so and so” coming out because it often leads to this kind of disappointment.
That said, when a person comes out after going through struggle and strife, I think that’s something to celebrate and that’s why I’m sharing the news with you all.
For context, Hansol has been having a tough year so far.
His group, Topp Dogg, was never big. It was big enough to be known and to have a solid fanbase, but sadly its company doesn’t support them with multiple albums like more popular groups. (Though conversely, they aren’t being tortured with unimaginable workloads then). As such, the group is currently “on hiatus” since their last album.
Things got worse when fellow member A-Tom (or Kim Sang Gyun) left the group to be a part of reality show Produce 101.
And then on top of that, Hansol received an increase in hateful and homophobic messages on social media, which he would respond to with only love and understanding.
Credit: Twitter Screenshot of a Fan Translation
But possibly all the negativity sent in his direction finally got to Hansol as back in June he reached a tipping point.
The kpop star hosted a livestream on Instagram to talk to his followers and reportedly repeated several suicidal statements such as, “I want to kill myself,” or looking at cars while saying, “That could probably kill me.”
This video (a part of which can be watched here) scared fans so much that they contacted accounts of Hansol’s friends. This eventually got the attention of fellow dancer and close friend Yu Jun Min who posted, “I was able to contact Hansol. Everyone, don't worry.”
Credit: Instagram Screenshot
All of this is again to say that Hansol has not had a good year and the last time fans heard of him he was in a dark place.
That said, things seem to be looking up for him.
Hansol had another livestream on Instagram and this time looked much happier. Not only that, but he confessed to something he’d apparently been thinking about for some time.
In the stream, which you can watch below without subtitles, he said, “I have been thinking a lot. I’m asexual. Asexual. I don’t like anyone, anybody. I just like myself. I’ll probably never get married. I just like my friends and family.”
Not only is this frank announcement great knowing the struggle and battle that Hansol has gone through in the past year, but also for the fact that he is someone in the public eye in South Korea.
South Korea, while being pretty progressive in multiple areas, is still extremely regressive when it comes to sexual orientation.
The existance of LGBTQ people is acknowledged by citizens but they are often whispered about. In addition, the government and military are specifically ostracizing and criminalizing LGBTQ people in service (sounds like someone else we know).
As such, we are happy to hear of Hansol’s coming out. But again, we don’t want to have another Aaron Carter situation, so let's not deify him for doing it.
Instead, we’ll give him a virtual pat on the back and a raised glass in his direction. He deserves that at the least.
And we hope that he can go back to being the happy guy fans once knew.
