THE South Korean members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual (LGBTQIA+) community celebrated the court victory of a gay couple against an insurance company.
Although it is a long battle, the court ruling is still a leap forward for the Korean LGBTQIA+ communities who are struggling to fight for equality.
The appeals court ruling
A South Korean appellate court ruled Tuesday recognizing a gay couple’s rights to health insurance coverage in an almost two-year legal battle with its insurance provider.
According to South Korea media report, the Seoul High Court mandated the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) to reverse its 2020 decision disqualifying a man from receiving health insurance from the insurance company of his partner’s employer.
Gay couple So Seong-wook and Kim Yong-min wed in 2019, but same-sex marriage is not recognised in South Korea. So registered Kim as dependent under his health insurance policy.
After the NHIS learned that So and Kim were a gay couple, it removed Kim from insurance coverage, citing “administrative error.”
In 2021, So filed a lawsuit against the NHIS because he believed the insurance service was in the wrong for doing so.
In November 2021, the Seoul Administrative Court ruled against So and Kim saying that existing South Korean laws only recognize the marriage between a man and a woman and there are “no legal grounds to expand that definition to same-sex couples.”
Exempting same-sex couples from the system could be interpreted as discrimination based on sexual orientation, the lower court said. The NHIS has been allowing civil marriage couples to register as each other’s dependents.
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So-Kim reaction
Legal unions between people of the same sex are not recognized in South Korea, that’s why, according to So, the court ruling that acknowledges their right as a same-sex couple is a testament that “love conquers discrimination and hatred.”
On the other hand, Kim noted that the court decision is a signal to the LGBTQIA+ community that the rights of same-sex couples are now being recognized in South Korea’s legal system.
‘Love has won’
Following the court ruling, South Korean LGBTQIA groups have rejoiced in the decision to recognize the civil rights of gender minority couples in the country.
In a joint statement, the LGBT Family Organization Rights Network and Rainbow Action Against Discrimination against LGBTQ People said that the case of Kim and So is a “meaningful judgment” that sets a “stepping stone in the journey toward marriage equality.”
It added that several same-sex couples and LGBTQ families in Korean culture now live without public support for their relationships and without the rights required to care for and live together, and the landmark ruling has sent a clear message that “love has won.”
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More wins for the LGBTQIA+?
Last week, another fight was won by the LGBTQIA+ community after the Spanish parliament passed a comprehensive Trans law that extends that safeguards and establishes the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community, particularly kids who wish to change their genders at the age of 16.
Spain joined other countries, including Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, Norway, Ireland, and Malta, in recognizing gender self-determination as enshrined in Trans law.
Gender rights elusive to PH
In line with the case of So and Kim, LGBTQIA+ couples can include their partners as legal dependents in their insurance policies as mandated by the Philippines Insurance Commission.
However, the Philippines remains slow-moving in discussing the rights of Filipino LGBTQIA+ members as religious opposition bars the legislation of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Expression, and Sex Characteristics (SOGIESC) anti-discrimination bill citing that the bottom line of the proposed measure is same-sex marriage. But none of the provisions of the SOGIESC Bill discussed the inclusion of same-sex marriage.
