LGBT in Taekwondo

[Master Dan]

So you're more concerned about how senior ranking members of Korean nationality will respond to LGBT students in your school?

50% yes and 50% outside forces in the community but with in my students and DoJang no. Frankly the issue of LGB has never been an issue here with in the DoJang but the T is new and a rarity for us here in our community except for one long term person who has caused several divorces including the loss of our National Gaurd post Comandant over the years and a new one from the Philipines that makes 3 total and half the community treats them as celebrities and the other half wants to burn them at the stake.

 

[shesulsa]

I can't speak to how you may need to work it out with high ranking Koreans, but with everyone else I recommend you ... come out! Have a meeting with adults in your school and parents and tell them your dojang celebrates diversity of all kinds, that this may result in some people on the floor of differing persuasions, lifestyles or perhaps in transition and that you train people who want and need martial arts and self-defense. Acknowledge that this may make some uncomfortable, that you are available to discuss these matters privately if need be. As to community members who wonder about the matter, let them ask the question. I would be happy if they ask questions because that means there is hope for enlightened thinking. People who will not make room for people in transition won't anyway and I would say don't worry about it.

And if you suffer some vandalism because of this, I'd go to the press immediately.

You know, we do much to bring Korean culture into our dojangs ... perhaps senior Korean masters could appreciate that we also preserve our own progressive culture as well. I don't know. I hope someone else who may know more about this particular facet of the problem will speak up.

 

[miguksaram]

50% yes and 50% outside forces in the community but with in my students and DoJang no. Frankly the issue of LGB has never been an issue here with in the DoJang but the T is new and a rarity for us here in our community except for one long term person who has caused several divorces including the loss of our National Gaurd post Comandant over the years and a new one from the Philipines that makes 3 total and half the community treats them as celebrities and the other half wants to burn them at the stake.

Then your community is no different than any other community in the world. You will have people who dislike them and you will have people who either do not care either way or like them. The bottom line is this. You are not responsible for their life choice or the consequences, good or bad, that comes with the choice they make. As you have mention, you teach for free, so the outside community who are against them really cannot effect you financially.

The only time you would be "responsible" for them is when they are in your school and you are teaching them. That, I would assume, is a safe haven. I have already mentioned my thoughts about the Korean GM's. I understand that you may feel some anxiety over this, but overall I feel you are causing much more stress for yourself than needed. Just keep doing business as usual.

 

[Earl Weiss]

To answer what I think your main question is that in most dojangs that I know of, there has never been an issue with members of the LGBT community. Again, it is stapled on their forehead what their sexual preference is, so for the most part you really don't even know..

I think you meant "It is NOT stapled..."

While my attitude may not be PC I think that while we should perhaps address tolerance and acceptance of differences in general terms, the topic of Sexual preferences / lifestyle does not need to be addressed nor should it in the TKD school. Now, this may need to be somewhat flexible when it comes to locker room issues, and quite frankly I am not sure how or if various schools have tha ability to address it properly. How many sets of locker rooms would you need to accomodate everyone's privacy accordingly? What if you are one of the many schools that is in another facility like a school, healthclub or community center that doesn't have such facilities?

 

[miguksaram]

I think you meant "It is NOT stapled..."

Yes...that is what I meant. ha.ha.ha..

 

[Master Dan]

I can't speak to how you may need to work it out with high ranking Koreans, but with everyone else I recommend you ... come out! Have a meeting with adults in your school and parents and tell them your dojang celebrates diversity of all kinds, that this may result in some people on the floor of differing persuasions, lifestyles or perhaps in transition and that you train people who want and need martial arts and self-defense. Acknowledge that this may make some uncomfortable, that you are available to discuss these matters privately if need be. As to community members who wonder about the matter, let them ask the question. I would be happy if they ask questions because that means there is hope for enlightened thinking. People who will not make room for people in transition won't anyway and I would say don't worry about it.

And if you suffer some vandalism because of this, I'd go to the press immediately.

You know, we do much to bring Korean culture into our dojangs ... perhaps senior Korean masters could appreciate that we also preserve our own progressive culture as well. I don't know. I hope someone else who may know more about this particular facet of the problem will speak up.

I appreciate your input well stated I guess to be honest we do well in the Dojang and support that and among the senior adult students we have discussed in quiet private concerns but I would say I have avoided public statements or discussions.

 

[Master Dan]

I think you meant "It is NOT stapled..."

While my attitude may not be PC I think that while we should perhaps address tolerance and acceptance of differences in general terms, the topic of Sexual preferences / lifestyle does not need to be addressed nor should it in the TKD school. Now, this may need to be somewhat flexible when it comes to locker room issues, and quite frankly I am not sure how or if various schools have tha ability to address it properly. How many sets of locker rooms would you need to accomodate everyone's privacy accordingly? What if you are one of the many schools that is in another facility like a school, healthclub or community center that doesn't have such facilities?

Your right in our Dojang but we do have teaching programs at schools during school as part of thier curriculum and do demo's on a regular basis as part of that we study and review different MA movies for thier cultural or historical value and i am really careful to make sure they are appropriate I really liked Ip Man for all its qualities they made maps and papers on teh area and the kids loved the movie I thought they would find it perhaps borinng we ran out of time for the final fight. This is a foriegn film no bad lanuage no naked pictures and even the violence is moderate to say the least but I did not see on the cover or credits rated R we got real crap for that and were not allowed to show the final fight? so in some cases some individuals are always looking for a reason to jump on us so in allowing our T person to participate in a recent demo it did concern me however I would never consider not having them participate and majority of school admin and staff would be on my side so my concern was the flak from the religous right who dumps a small fortune into this community from the lower 48 million and millions of dollars