With anti-gay issues surfacing in Korea lately, a "Superstar K-2" contestant has recently revealed that he wanted to commit suicide after coming out on the show.
Park Woosik participated in an interview with Star News on September 30th and confessed his honest feelings and frustrations: "After the episode was broadcast, over 10,000 people were googling my name and digging information about my past, saying things that should never be said."
Hateful netizens uncovered his past relationships and spread it around on various portal sites, leaving replies purposely meant to embarrass and hurt him.
"When I first went on 'Superstar K-2', I wanted to reveal the true person that I am, the side of me that only my younger brother knows. I had no idea that people would take it so negatively. Nobody listened to how proud I was to be gay, or how passionately I wanted to achieve my childhood dream of becoming a singer. They focused instead on things that weren't even true, accusing me of using my sexual orientation as a way to get fame. That is why I agreed to the interview, in order to clear things up."
He went on to state, "I recently met up with others who were disqualified at the Seoul preliminaries. We all agreed that the people with the most things to say had a better chance of making it on the show, as opposed to those with talent. I, too, believe that I was able to pass because of my past."
The interview asked if maybe he wasn't exaggerating a bit, since 'Superstar K-2' doesn't have enough time to run a documentary on the lives of the contestants. Park answered, "Regardless, it's unfair for them to emphasize the fact that I'm gay. The majority of the hateful replies are geared towards me being an 'ugly gay.'"
When asked how he was adjusting to society after coming out, he replied, "When my workplace first found out that I was gay, it was a bit surprising, but it's gotten okay now. My mother is embarrassed of me. I was not able to go home for Chuseok."
Park concluded the interview with a wish for more tolerance and understanding. "Just because someone is gay does not mean that they are always good-looking. I just want to be acknowledged as a confident gay singer. I hope that people will stop digging into my past and making fun of my looks."
Source + Photos: Star News
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