Though great strides have been made in recent years when it comes to LGBTQ+ representation and on-screen visibility, homophobic censorship is (unfortunately) still something a lot of queer media and its creators have to deal with all over the world. Such was the case recently with the acclaimed Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.
When the Oscar-winning film was aired earlier this month by South Korea's Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS), several scenes depicting men kissing men were cut and/or blurred, a troubling fact considering the film is literally a depiction of the life of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, one of music's most iconic and influential queer icons.
Though SBS claims that censoring riskier content during earlier, daytime hours is a common practice, even amongst media depicting heterosexual couples, many Korean LGBTQ+ activists and groups rightfully took issue with the move. "The attitude of dismissing both the story and scenes of sexual minorities as violent or sensational is nothing more than censorship that shows hatred and discrimination against sexual minorities," Rainbow Action, a queer Korean activist group said in a statement.
And now, popular gay Korean content creators are taking part in spreading awareness of and protesting queer censorship.
Known mostly by their joint YouTube channel name "TV Mago Couple," boyfriends Kim and Backpack were inspired to take to the video-sharing platform to create a new social media challenge called the #BohemianKissChallenge. The rules are simple. If you and a friend are upset over the censorship Bohemian Rhapsody and other queer-themed films receive, all you have to do to spread some awareness is take pictures or videos of you and someone else kissing each other (don't worry, you don't actually have to be a couple) and then upload your pics or vids to social media using the hashtags #BohemianKissChallenge and #All_kisses_are_equal.
"The #BohemianKissChallenge is a challenge that shows that every kiss is equal," Kim and Backpack wrote in the description of their video, urging others all over the world to take part. "Regardless of which gender you kiss. Whoever you are is fine."
So far, the reaction to Kim and Backpack's viral challenge has been a modest success amongst the worldwide LGBTQ+ community. Their video currently has over 36,000+ views, and users across multiple social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram have been taking part.
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