Is Park Hyo Shin Gay? Now You've Got Me Wondering

In my first post for this blog, I explained why I wasn't enabling comments, and added: "Meanwhile, I'll try to answer any e-mail, though I also reserve the right to post anything I receive, especially if it's either very helpful or informative, or if it's abusive." Almost two years later, and this is the first time I've fulfilled that promise.

I got the following e-mail yesterday. What follows is the whole text, which (as you'll see) ends abruptly:

At this link: http://thisislikesogay.blogspot.com/2008/12/park-hyo-shin.html

you posted it, regarding Park Hyo Shin. Why are you accusing him of being gay ? What about his music is homosexual ?
I am writing as the designated person chosen by a Park Hyo Shin fan club, which has over 320 members.
Homosexuality is defined as:
ho·mo·sex·u·al·i·ty
(hō'mə-sěk'shōō-āl'ĭ-tē, -mō-)
n.

1. Sexual orientation to persons of the same sex.
2. Sexual activity with another of the same sex.


NOW, WHERE DO YOU ARRIVE AT HIM BEING HOMOSEXUAL ?
THIS WOULD BE THE SAME AS US SAYING, "THAT IS SO 'SOME IDIOT ON THE INTERNET STATING THAT PEOPLE ARE GAY WHEN THEY'RE NOT'", PERTAINING TO YOU.

SORRY, BUT YOU NEED TO BE CAREFUL WITH WHICH ENGLISH WORDS YOU USE. IN CASE YOU DON'T SPEAK ENGLISH, WHICH WE ARE ALL ASSUMING THAT YOU DON'T , OR AT LEAST YOU DON'T VERY WELL, THEN YOU NEED TO LOOK UP GAY IN THE DICTIONARY. ALSO, WE FEEL THAT WHAT YOU SAY AT THIS POINT IS TAINTED. SO WE ARE BLOCKING YOUR INCOMING MESSAGES.
YOU CAN SEND THEM, BUT THEY WON'T GO IN OUR INBOX, AND WILL DIRECTLY GO TO OUT DELETED FILE. BY THE WAY, PARK HYO SHIN HAS HAD SEVERAL STRAIGHT/HETEROSEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS, AND MANY OF HIS SONGS ARE BASED ON A CERTAIN FEMALE W

I might have answered it in e-mail, but as you can see, my incoming messages are blocked. That would be easy enough to get around, but no need.

I've noticed, in looking at the online searches which lead some readers here, that some people are searching for "park hyo shin gay." From the message above it appears that some of Park's fans are self-appointed Image Cops, dedicated to preserving their idol's good name. Since Park's audience seems to be largely young women, I wouldn't be at all surprised if a good many boys, envious of his appeal, call him "gay." It helps their teen-macho posturing that Park is famous for weeping during his concerts. This has no bearing on his sexual orientation, of course.

But neither does his public persona. Entertainers are no different from the general population in this regard, and the few openly gay people in the industry are the tip of the iceberg. I seem to recall that the songs on George Michael's Faith were reported in the straight media to have been inspired by a woman with whom he'd had a painful affair. Videos like the one for "Father Figure" encouraged the impression. Michael didn't publicly acknowledge that he was gay until he was forced out of the closet by his arrest for a "lewd act" in 1998.

The Korean entertainment industry is even more reactionary than the American, and I do wonder idly from time to time which Korean stars are hiding same-sex desires and relationships behind straight façades. At this point it appears to be even more stressful for Korean entertainers to come out than it is for their Western counterparts, probably due in part to the lack of a gay movement and visible gay community in South Korea, so I'm not looking to see a lot of openly gay Korean celebs any time soon.

Whether Park Hyo Shin is gay or not, I have no idea, not even wishful thinking. Nor did I say anything about his sexuality in the post my critics mention. Children, how did you arrive at the conclusion that I did anything of the kind? I'm guessing that you saw it in a web search, read the name of the blog and the title of the post, and jumped to conclusions. So much for any notion that the young are more Internet-savvy. Next time, read for context, mmmkay?

The key thing is, it is not an accusation to say that someone is gay -- well, it is among overwrought homophobes, I admit, but I'm not one of their number. (I suspect the fans figured out that I'm gay -- hence the dark insinuation that "what [I] say at this point is tainted." Wrong, dears: your denunciation is tainted, though, with the lowest sort of bigotry.) And the trouble with antigay bigotry is that it makes it impossible to know for sure whether to believe someone's denials of submitting to homosexual advances. Maybe they're telling the truth, maybe they're just closeted. If Park Hyo Shin were a closeted gay man, though, his fan club would be the last to know.