Fridae

BoMi Kim became the first student council president to publicly reveal her sexual orientation in South Korea when she was elected president of Seoul National University in November last year.

In traditionally conservative Korea where LGBT issues remain largely taboo, her coming out received a significant amount of attention.

Despite prevailing traditional attitudes there has been a shift in public opinion towards acceptance of same-sex relationships.

Respondents in surveys showing support for the legalization of same-sex marriage increased from 16.9 percent in 2010 to 28.5 percent in 2014.

In an interview with the Huffington Post (link below) Kim made a number of comments with regards to her sexuality and the status of LGBT attitudes in the country.

When asked why she decided to come out during her campaign for the election, Kim answered "I felt I had to be more candid about myself if I were going to be the student council president, which is a pretty public position. Also, I knew that my past experiences were going to be reflected in the policies I propose, that being the person I am was going to have an impact."

When asked about Korean society's perception of sexual minorities, Kim regaled a story about a high school friend that recently got back in touch after making remarks about her sexuality a long time ago.

"I thought you'd given up on me." she said to the friend, "I didn't know any better then," was the reply. She said that this is a typical example of how attitudes are changing.