South Korea’s Constitutional Court has upheld a law banning same-sex relations in the military, citing a threat to combat-readiness, in a judgment decried by the local LGBTQ community as a disappointing setback.
In a 5-4 ruling on Thursday, the court refused to declare as unconstitutional a clause in the Military Criminal Act that bans “anal intercourse” or “any other indecent act” during service and allows for punishments of up to two years in prison. Though the law does not explicitly refer to same-sex relationships, this is how it is generally understood in practice and the law has long been opposed by LGBTQ activists who see it as discriminatory.
Amnesty International’s East Asia Researcher Boram Jang said: “This continued endorsement for the criminalization of consensual same-sex acts within the Korean military is a distressing setback in the decades-long struggle for equality in the country.” The researcher said the ruling underscored the widespread prejudice sexual minorities face in South Korea and the government’s lack of action to protect them by pushing for greater equality.
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