On October 6, 2020, on occasion of his 10th debut anniversary, popular trot singer Kwon Do Woon came out as homosexual by relaying a statement via his label Trust Entertainment.
The message read as follows:
"I wanted to speak up as a representative voice of sexual minorities and wanted to open up the prospect of coming out more widely in the entertainment industry. I hope to continue representing the LGBTQ community in my role." He then also took to his Instagram with the hashtags #Gay #TrotSinger, writing, "I was so surprised to find a flood of news articles about me this morning. Thank you all for your support. I will work harder."
Representation is an extremely important and vital part of one's feelings of validity especially in a day and age where the youth largely looks up to public figures.
Kwon Do Woon is the first male celebrity to come out about his sexuality in public in twenty long years since TV personality Hong Suk Chun in 2000. Seeing someone with such a large platform being brave about being open regarding one's sexuality gives a message of hope and strength to those who still haven't found the courage to do so and be themselves.
Kwon Do Woon first appeared on television as a contestant on TBS's 'National College Student Trot Contest' in 2009, bagging a total of 3 trophies including the grand prize or the daesang, the composition prize, and the lyricist prize. He then went on to successfully release his debut album in 2010, promoting actively as a trot singer. His most recent work includes a release of a dance trot version or remake of Jang Yoon Jung's "Casanova". He also regularly greets viewers as a permanent guest on the YouTube/Naver live radio show, 'NAMOLLADIO'.
Fans or non fans alike, are celebrating his coming out as another step taken to abolish the stigma against queerness in South Korean society and are flooding the singer's SNS with messages of encouragement and congratulations, showing their love and support.
We heartily congratulate the singer on his 10th debut anniversary as well as his coming out!
