On the 19th, we visited a commercial building on Art Street in Dong-gu, Gwangju. Looking up at the church on the second floor, the ‘rainbow-colored sign’ caught the eye first. The lettering on the sign reading ‘Okhap Church’ uses the ‘Gilbeot Font’, which symbolizes the pride of sexual minorities. Okhap Church is the first church in Korea to hang a sign in the Gilbeot Font.

The Gilbeot Font is the Korean version of the Latin typeface ‘Gilbert’, created in honor of the American human rights activist Gilbert Baker (1951~2017), who designed the rainbow flag that symbolizes sexual minorities.

On the 24th, Pastor Eom Gi-bong of Okhap Church explained, “In 2022, with a congregant’s donation, we decided to use the Gilbeot Font when replacing our old, worn-out sign,” adding, “It embodies our resolve to be a church that walks with the marginalized in Korean society, including sexual minorities.” He added, “Beyond carrying on Gilbert’s intent, the sign’s typeface also holds the meaning of a ‘companion’ joining the ‘road’ toward a society that respects diversity.”

At Okhap Church on the 21st, a meeting was held where sexual minorities and their parents came together in one place. Since February 2023, the gathering has been held regularly on the third Saturday of every month. As of that day, it marked three full years (36 sessions).

In the Honam region, Okhap Church is the only church that has opened its doors and offered space to sexual minorities. Previously, there had been no regular meetings for sexual minorities and their parents in Gwangju and the wider Honam area. They either attended meetings held in Seoul or bore society’s gaze alone.

To keep sexual minorities from feeling uneasy, Okhap Church has minimized items that would make it feel like a ‘church’, such as crosses. It has affixed hanji paper painted in rainbow colors to the windows and also hung a rainbow-colored cross. Pastor Eom said, “If you are a believer who trusts that all living beings were created by God, you must not push anyone away or persecute them.”

First in Honam, doors ‘wide open’ to sexual minorities
A ‘rainbow-colored sign’ in the Gilbeot Font
Despite disadvantages such as denomination support being cut off
A ‘shelter·parlor’ for the marginalized

As news of Okhap Church spread, the number of people attending the meetings has steadily increased. Some come from Yeosu and Mokpo in South Jeolla, as well as from Jeonju and Gunsan in North Jeolla. When the Queer Culture Festival was held in Gwangju last year for the first time in three years, Okhap Church also served as a community parlor.

Because of its activities in support of sexual minorities, Okhap Church suffered disadvantages within its denomination. In June 2024, citing Pastor Eom’s attendance at a blessing ceremony at the ‘Seoul Queer Culture Festival’, the denomination required him to appear before the ‘Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Act Homosexuality Countermeasures Committee’.

The denomination demanded that the church stop its support activities for sexual minorities. When Pastor Eom did not comply, it ended early the payment of the ‘commercial-building church rent subsidy’ that had been scheduled for three years. A monthly subsidy of 300,000 won is no small sum for a small church like Okhap Church.

Okhap Church also continues to support other socially vulnerable people, such as people experiencing homelessness and elderly people who collect scrap paper. It is critical as well of other churches’ campaigns to ‘oppose the enactment of an anti-discrimination law’. It views churches and some pastors as opposing the law’s enactment for political purposes.

Pastor Eom said, “Believers who were disappointed to see some churches conduct signature drives against the anti-discrimination law and hang banners have come to our church,” adding, “The church must stand with the socially vulnerable and must not make discriminatory or hateful remarks.”

A parent of a sexual minority person in the Gwangju area said, “Sexual minorities and their parents feel fear in the face of the hatred of some conservative Christians, but at Okhap Church they experience welcome as they are,” adding, “Even without faith, Okhap Church has become a shelter.”