K-Pop Star Asks Fans to Recognise that He is Gay

K-Pop heartthrob Holland has taken to Instagram to ask his followers to understand and respect that he is gay.

The singer, who made his debut in 2018 with debut single Neverland, broke onto the scene as the first gay K-Pop star, and certainly the most high profile since. However, after a twitter user ranked him "10th" in a list of "gayest k-pop idols", Holland wrote on Instagram "I'm 10th. I lost", accompanied with a picture of him kissing another man. 

In a country where same-sex relationships and LGBT+ people are marginalised, and prosecution remains rife, Holland's success as an openly gay man in South Korea is largely unprecedented. Honest and authentic, being open from the start of his career, Holland - real name Go Tae-seob - even received negative reactions from his own record label, leading him to split to release his own music. His decision to include a same-sex kiss in his first music video ended up landing it an adult rating, preventing it from being able to be shown on television, but this did not stop him.

Many took to Twitter and Instagram to support the artist after the post.