Former Idol And Trainee Confirm There Are LGBT+ K-Pop Idols—And Why You Won’t Hear About Them

There are reasons why there aren’t a lot of openly gay idols.

Since former idols like WA$$UP‘s Jiae have come forward to announce that they’re bisexual, many fans have wondered if there are current K-Pop idols who are a part of the LGBT community. Two insiders confirmed that gay idols are more common than expected.

Former WA$$UP member Jiae. | @ji.aee/Instagram

For their Dark Sides Of K-Pop segment, former Blady member Coco and trainee-turned-lyricist Gina Maeng were asked how Korean companies view same-sex relationships and gay idols.

Although the images of K-Pop idols lead many to believe that all of them identify as straight, that’s not always the case. Gina Maeng revealed, “It’s a lot more prevalent than the public thinks.” They even revealed how one K-Pop group reacted when one of its members came out.

Despite idols not talking about their sexuality, there are quite a few who are gay. Gina Maeng added, “There’s certainly an LGBT community within the K-Pop industry.

Since idols don’t share every part of their lives, their sexuality seemed to fall into that category. Gina Maeng said, “And many people are keeping it hush because it’s just their private life.” However, there might be a darker reason why idols don’t reveal it.

A former K-Pop trainee from the United Kingdom once revealed that trainees are told to pretend to be straight—or get punished by the company. When announcing the news of her first solo album, Jiae even opened up about every company rejecting her because she was bisexual.

In a society where celebrities receive backlash for coming out as gay, it makes sense why K-Pop idols who are part of the LGBT community want to protect themselves.