The Ok-pop star who got here out to the world on stage

Bain was midway by way of his band’s Los Angeles live performance on a crisp April night time when the music stopped.

In an outsized fur coat and black sun shades, the 24-year-old Ok-pop star advised hundreds of followers: “Earlier than I begin the subsequent music – I wish to share one thing with you guys.”

A short pause after which: “I am (expletive) proud to be a part of the LGBTQ group!”

The gang erupted in applause and screams as Bain broke into Girl Gaga’s delight anthem: “Simply put your paws up, ‘Trigger you have been born this manner, child”.

In that second, as he got here out to the world, he was not nervous, he tells the BBC in an interview at his studio in Seoul – slightly, he had been making an attempt to “sound cool”.

A handful of Ok-pop artists have come out as homosexual lately – however none as publicly as Bain.

Even in 2025, that may be a daring transfer in South Korea’s leisure business, the place stars are held to not possible requirements. Admitting to even a heterosexual relationship is scandalous.

“There have been some individuals within the business who knew (I used to be considering of popping out) and warned me in opposition to it, saying it might be a danger,” Bain says. “And naturally I believed in regards to the danger – that we would lose followers.

“However then I believed, society is altering… I would acquire greater than I would lose.”

That is the large query: has he thrown open the door to alter in an business that has develop into international however stays deeply rooted in a conservative South Korea?

Bain, whose actual title is Music Byeonghee, says he was in secondary faculty, about 12 years outdated, when he realised he was homosexual.

Shortly afterwards, he determined to develop into a Ok-pop trainee however he stored his sexuality a secret – he felt like being homosexual was “not allowed”.

“It wasn’t one thing I questioned… I simply thought I had no selection,” he says. “There was no-one else (round me that was homosexual). I believed I might simply fake and hold going.”

Rich, trendy South Korea remains to be conventional in some ways. Highly effective but conservative church buildings typically see homosexuality as a incapacity or sin. And same-sex marriage isn’t legally recognised.

In 2021, Bain made his debut as a part of a six-member boyband, Simply B. They’ve launched a number of albums and have taken half in actuality reveals, incomes a devoted viewers.

However by way of all of it, the years of hiding part of himself took a toll on Bain.

“I used to be so overwhelmed, I believed perhaps I am unable to be an idol in any respect. I felt I might been hiding a lot. I made a decision to speak to Mother.”

That was about three years in the past. His mom was the primary particular person in his household to search out out: “We talked for an hour, and I lastly stated, ‘I like males greater than ladies.’ That is when she knew.”

Her response was troublesome for him. “Truthfully, she did not prefer it – not at first. She stated she thought I might overcome it, that perhaps I might sometime like ladies. She felt unhappy… that I might now face unhealthy reactions from others. However (she) stated, ‘You are my son, so I really like you, I help you, I really like you.’ It was blended. I used to be unhappy, however ultimately grateful she stated she loves me.”

Then his workforce members and firm started encouraging him to take the leap – and inform the world.

Earlier this 12 months the band started a world tour, and on the final cease of their US tour, Bain determined to return out on stage.

Since then, the band has been thrust into the highlight – with Bain giving numerous interviews as he rapidly grew to become the brand new face of the Korean LGBTQ group.

“I really feel like I’ve modified rather a lot since popping out. I really feel extra assured. Once I meet somebody new, I present who I’m instantly,” he says. “However I additionally really feel unhappy that my identification is such a giant deal now.”

Over time, he hopes, individuals will cease saying “oh, he is homosexual, however slightly, oh, that is simply who he’s”.

When South Korean actor Hong Seok-Cheon got here out as homosexual in 2000, LGBTQ illustration really entered the nation’s mainstream.

He was the primary Korean celeb to open up about his sexuality – and it got here at a price. He was dropped from TV reveals and commercials.

Attitudes have actually modified since then. A Pew survey from 2019 confirmed that the quantity of people that accepted homosexuality has risen to 44% from 25% in 2002.

And but, solely a handful of different celebrities have come out. In 2018, Holland grew to become the nation’s first overtly homosexual Ok-pop artist and, in 2020, Jiae, a former member of lady group Wassup, got here out as bisexual. Each have stated they discovered it arduous to signal with a document label in consequence.

Bain’s announcement, nevertheless, has been celebrated by each followers and South Korea’s LGBTQ group.

“When somebody like an idol comes out, it offers individuals like me a way that we aren’t alone,” says a 26-year-old Korean transgender lady, who doesn’t wish to be named.

“It brings consolation…makes me suppose, perhaps I am okay the best way I’m.”

On-line too, a majority of the feedback have been constructive. One homosexual fan in a YouTube remark wrote how he was inspired by Bain, after feeling “a lot despair” over “the hateful feedback” and discrimination.

“However because of Bain, I’ve discovered the braveness to maintain going.”

Worldwide followers have particularly cheered him on: “After the preliminary shock, I began to cry,” stated Lia, a Ok-pop fan from the US who identifies as lesbian.

“Understanding that Korea nonetheless has some repression in opposition to LGBTQ individuals, the bravery and braveness he displayed by popping out…(was) admirable.”

South Korea’s cultural footprint has been rising globally, and that has introduced followers from all over the place, with their very own views and beliefs. They might effectively reshape the Ok-pop business.

However that may take time. And that’s evident within the vary of feedback in response to Bain’s announcement – disapproval to apathy.

For one, the nation has seen an increase in right-wing, typically avowed anti-feminist beliefs in younger males, who appear to oppose any problem to conventional gender roles.

And people roles stay robust in South Korea. The federal government and the church champion standard household values, encouraging younger individuals to marry and have kids to allow them to increase beginning charges, at the moment the bottom on the planet.

Given all that, it is probably not a shock that homosexuality remains to be a taboo, even in a worldwide business like Ok-pop.

It is a world the place even straight {couples} do not speak about their non-public lives, says critic Lim Hee-yun.

“Ok-pop has spent practically 25 years avoiding the subject of sexuality (altogether). Even heterosexual relationships are hidden to guard fan fantasies.”

Bain, he provides, has “challenged that silence in a symbolic and highly effective means. I imagine it marks a significant second”.

However he believes followers might have reacted very in a different way – “it may need been explosive” – if a member of a worldwide boyband had come out as homosexual.

“Bain’s case was vital, however his group is not as well-known (so) it did not trigger as a lot stir domestically,” Mr Lim says.

Bain has actually helped elevate consciousness, he agrees. “It is a gradual course of however we’re seeing extra public figures talking up or content material being created round these LGBTQ points.”

However any instant change in Ok-pop or the leisure business is unlikely, in keeping with him.

“It isn’t only a social subject – it is a market subject. Male idols often have a a lot bigger feminine fanbase… (and) in case you discover out your favorite male idol is homosexual, that may shatter the phantasm that you would at some point be the thing of his affection,” he says.

“So in the event that they do (come out) they danger shaking the inspiration their fandom is constructed on.”

Bain, nevertheless, says his choice could be value it if even “one particular person in Ok-pop positive factors energy or curiosity” from it.

“I’ve spent so lengthy pretending… I realised that as a result of I got here out, others felt protected to take action too.”

The day he got here out, he remembers, a number of followers approached him, saying they have been homosexual or lesbian, speaking about their very own identification.

“They thanked me and I believed to myself ‘I ought to have completed this sooner’.”