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In South Korea, LGBTQ+ individuals face silence, and rejection, particularly in religious settings. For queer Christians, faith and sexuality are widely seen as incompatible. This tension is heightened by the fact that many Protestant churches are perceived as leading conservative forces in Korean society. These churches have been vocal in opposing queer pride events and anti-discrimination legislation. As a result, queer Christians often find themselves unable to fully belong in either the faith community or the broader queer community. This study explores how Korean queer Christians navigate decisions around identity disclosure and how they seek support across social and spiritual contexts. Two research questions guided this study: (1) How are the coming out experiences of Korean queer Christians constructed in Korean context? (2) How do they navigate support systems and seek safe spaces where both their faith and queer identities can be affirmed?
Methods
This qualitative study used a constructivist grounded theory approach. Seventeen Korean LGBTQ+ individuals with experience in Protestant church communities participated in in-depth interviews. Participants were in their 20s and 30s, and most lived in Seoul. Their gender and sexual identities varied widely, including cisgender gay men, pansexual, bisexual, asexual, lesbian, nonbinary, genderfluid individuals. Interviews were conducted in Korean and translated into English. Given the sensitivity of the topic and the potential risk of outing, all participants used pseudonyms during the interview, and any identifying information was anonymized. The data were analyzed using line-by-line initial coding, followed by focused and theoretical coding. The analysis focused on emotional experiences, and strategies around disclosure and support-seeking.
Results
Four key themes emerged. First, participants engaged in selective and symbolic disclosure, often avoiding full openness with families or church members due to fear or anticipated rejection. Second, internalized religious teachings shaped long-term anxiety about sin, judgment, and divine punishment. Third, disclosure was rarely the primary reason participants stayed in or left their churches. Most held low expectations for acceptance from religious communities. Fourth, participants struggled to find integrated support systems where both queer and Christian identities were fully understood. In church settings, queerness was often erased or dismissed. In queer spaces, faith was seen as irrelevant or unwelcome. As a result, participants navigated fragmented support networks and disclosed selectively depending on context. Some found partial affirmation through online groups, fandom spaces, or one-on-one relationships, while others struggled to find any consistent support.
Conclusions and Implications
Korean queer Christians seek spaces of support where they can be accepted as whole individuals. However, they face barriers in both church and queer communities. Rather than fully disclosing or completely hiding, participants developed flexible strategies, including emotional distancing, indirect communication, and compartmentalization. Their stories show that coming out is not a single turning point but a continuous process of managing vulnerability, survival, and meaning. Support systems must recognize the emotional labor of navigating across fragmented contexts. Social workers, church leaders, and clinicians should affirm both full and partial expressions of identity and help create spaces where spiritual belonging and queer identity can coexist.