Less than equal
RECEIVING EVEN THE most basic of services can be difficult for Park Edhi, a South Korean woman living in the capital, Seoul. Because official documents do not reflect the fact that Park is transgender, her identity is questioned at every turn.
To apply for a credit card “took a very long time,” says Park, who is a coordinator at Dding Dong, the only LGBTQ youth crisis support center in South Korea. “They didn’t think I was me. I remember [the delivery person] came with my card, then said they’d come back tomorrow. So the next day, I smiled and showed my medical records proving I’m taking hormones.”
Life has never been easy for the LGBTQ community in South Korea, which ranks low among developed economies for
