Recently, housing insecurity is striking the 2030 generation [people currently in their 20s and 30s] and leading to ‘youngkkeul loans’ (those obtained by putting even one soul up [figuratively] as collateral) and insane investments in stocks and bitcoin. People in this generation might be lucky enough to get a permanent position through endless effort, yet they have to face the reality that they will not be able to buy a house in the capital area even with 10-20 years of salary. Therefore, young people are struggling to find an exit from this reality.

 

However, there is little attention paid to gender minorities [the Korean term for LGBTQIA people], who struggle more to find the exit. For them, housing insecurity issues cannot be solved even through owning a house. Thus, it is significant that the Gender Minority Residential Rights Network conducted research on the residential rights of gender minorities.

 

▲ On July 29th, the conference “Gender Minorities Speak Residential Rights Issues” was held online, hosted by the Gender Minority Residential Rights Network. (Source: Gender Minority Residential Rights Network)

The Gender Minority Residential Rights Network conducted a survey from March 2020 to April 2021 on residential status and residential insecurity among gender minorities who are over the age of 19 and living apart from their family of origin. Overall, 949 gender minorities participated online. The survey consisted of questions about their residential status, reasons for any residential insecurity, their criteria for choosing a home, and which residential policies they want. The researchers also conducted interviews with 17 participants.

 

In July 29th, the conference “Gender Minorities Speak Residential Rights Issues” was held online, supported by the Next Generation Foundation and the Open Society Foundation. Hosted by Father Jacao of the Anglican Yongsan Sharing House, Min-dal-paeng-yi [“slug”] Union activist Kim Kyung-seo and researcher Kim Min-soo, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Seoul, presented the case. Kim Soon-nam, representative of the Family Organization Rights Research Institute, Jung Hye-sil, co-chair of the Anti-discrimination Legislation Alliance, and activist Adele from the Center Dding-dong for Crisis Support for Young Gender Minorities participated as discussants.

 

Rates of young gender minorities living in semi-basement and rooftop apartment are high

 

The majority of 2030 households that participated in the first survey were located in the capital area at 82.4%, with 58.7% in Seoul, 15.9% in Gyeonggi-do, and 4.4% in Incheon. Participants’ gender identity was 53.4% cisgender men, 24.9% cisgender women, 6.5% transgender women, 2.1% transgender men, and 13.1% non-binary/gender queer. Sexual orientation was classified as 52.4% gay, 16.5% lesbian, 12.9% bisexual, 7.3% pansexual, 4.1% asexual, and 0.8% heterosexual.

 

▲ According to the report, the ratio of gender minorities in their 20s and 30s living in apartments [in large complexes] was lower than that of people nationwide and they had a lower rate of owning their own home. (Data source: Gender Minorities Speak Residential Rights Issues; Graph: Ilda)

There were some differences found between the residential reality of young people who participated in the survey and the government’s population census results. For the residential type, most gender minorities in their 20s and 30s live in single-family or multi-family homes, with just 13.4% living in apartments** instead. This shows a wide gap, even considering regional deviations, when compared to the 47% of 2030 households nationwide living in apartments.

 

Min-dal-paeng-yi Union activist Kim Kyung-seo said, “It is estimated that the cause of this is the fact that gender minorities cannot marry their partners institutionally and thus cannot receive the benefits of various types of housing support given to new married couples, as well as the high rate of single households related to this.”

 

In terms of housing occupancy, the rate of home ownership was lower and the rate of those instead paying monthly or deposit rent [jeonse] was higher than that of 2030 households nationwide. "This is also an indirect indication that housing instability for gender minorities is higher than that of other groups," Kim said. In the residential environment, the rate of (semi)underground and rooftop living was about 2.2 times higher than that of all young people in the Seoul metropolitan area, and about 6 times higher than that of ordinary households nationwide.

 

The fact that their residential type and environment are relatively inferior compared to those of non-gender minorities is likely connected to the low salaries of gender minorities, especially trans people and the non-binary and genderqueer.

 

▲ According to the report, when the survey participants were classified by gender identity, the following differences were found in salaries. (Data source: Gender Minorities Speak Residential Rights Issues; Graph: Ilda)

Experiencing residential insecurity even in one’s own space

 

An important thing to notice is that many gender minorities experience feelings of alienation even in their own home. Researcher Kim Min-soo explained that gender minorities feel residential insecurity in everyday social relations.

 

I am so stressed. Because I have to invite (my parents) over. Whenever they come, I have to hide all the photos of me and my lover and that is cumbersome. But what is worse is that I feel really bad doing it. I’ve done nothing wrong and those photos mean so much to me, but I have to hide them. -Interviewee H, cisgender female pansexual, twenties

 

Gender minorities who haven’t come out feel pressure to “re-place a queer space according to heterosexual norms” when their parents, acquaintances, and outsiders visit their home. Such a process "could make one's space unfamiliar and cause anxiety." You also encounter the emotions of "stress, distress, etc." One in-depth interview participant said, "It's so upsetting to hide and cover up our lives."

 

The same is true of relationships with neighbors. Just over 67% of the gender minorities said they do not interact with their neighbors. One of the reasons was the possibility of unintentional outing (21.1%). (Other reasons: 29.2% because of interference from neighbors, 22.2% because they don't spend much time at home, 13.2% because they have to move frequently, etc.)

 

When I introduce my girlfriend as an ‘unnie [older sister or older female friend]’, they ask me, “What does your friend do?” and then I feel awkward because she is my girlfriend, not my friend. I feel bad even now about telling those lies. -Interviewee B, cisgender female, bisexual, twenties

 

Researcher Kim Min-soo said, "They feel anxious, tired, and helpless as they go through things such as cracking down on intimate behavior with their partner or denying the relationship between the two of them, conscious of the eyes of their daily neighbors." This leads to experience of alienation and to housing insecurity.

 

In fact, it is also stressful to fear that problems such as rejection of lease contracts can occur if you are outed. In particular, trans and non-binary/genderqueer people may actually experience "cases of legal gender discrepancies resulting in outing or contract cancellation."

 

Even if the house belongs to you, this anxiety does not go away. Gender minorities control their behavior because they fear that they will be outed, that their personal information will be revealed to others, and that rumors will be spread.

 

▲ Screenshot from the research conference on the residential status and housing insecurity of gender minorities (Source: Gender Minority Residential Rights Network)

Excluded from residential policies which focus on newly married couples, heterosexual families

 

Exclusion from the country's various housing support policies and systems also poses a barrier to the residential movement of gender minorities.

 

I've put [money] in my home subscription savings account for over 10 years. But the problem is that I can't share a name with my partner with that money. There's a resale restriction if you do a joint name [in our situation]. If there was no resale restriction, for example, if it was a 400-million-won house, it would be less burdensome if I got a loan with her, but because of the resale restriction, I couldn't do it. So if same-sex marriage was recognized, there would be no resale restrictions and we could get a loan based on both our incomes. But because of the resale limit, you can't get a loan by adding up your income. We’re screwed. - Interviewer ㅂ, cisgender woman, lesbian, thirties

 

Participants in in-depth interviews pointed out that housing support policies and systems are unequal because they are focused on newly married couples and heterosexual families. They also criticized the focus on "reproduction, and so the birth rate." There are insufficient systems for supporting single-person households as well as same-sex couples.

 

Certain residential spaces, such as dormitories, are organized according to a gender dichotomy, so there are trans, non-binary, and genderqueer people who have difficulty securing residential spaces. In this case, they inevitably have to live alone in poor [off-campus] housing instead of dormitories with pleasant environments.

 

Life Partnership Act, Anti-discrimination Act are needed!

 

Roughly 77% of the gender minorities said they had never used the national government’s or local governments' housing support policies. The top reasons were "want to, but not qualified” (26.2%) and “probably not qualified (15.5%)." Eighty percent of participants said they needed housing policies that could be used by gender minorities.

 

Specific policies included "the need for enactment of the Life Partnership Act or same-sex marriage," while "change of public rental policy [that is currently] premised on blood ties and marriage relations" was also mentioned. There were also calls for "the enactment of a comprehensive anti-discrimination law”.

 

First of all, the anti-discrimination law should be enacted, and I think that's the beginning. If the social awareness that "it should be established quickly so that people are not be discriminated against" starts to form, I think stories about family membership rights, and so about diverse types of family members, will rise. And then we can talk about housing rights, happiness rights, freedom of marriage. That's what people say, social consensus. The president says that we can do these things only when we reach a social consensus first, but I think the system should be changed first when it comes to minorities. So, after the system changes first, there will be a society where we can talk about those residential rights and the most basic rights for us. - Interviewer E, cisgender female, lesbian, thirties

 

The system should also be expanded to support those who urgently need to escape from their families of origin and become independent due to various circumstances and environments. There should be a shelter for trans people, the non-binary/genderqueer, etc.

 

It was also suggested that "residential support policies should be easier to use and accessibility should be improved," even if they are not necessarily housing support policies for gender minorities. This would allow more people, those in more diverse locations, to access residential policy information and enjoy it.

 

The study revealed in detail the current state of housing insecurity for gender minorities, and it was a reminder that stabilization of housing "for all", not just some of us, is urgently needed.

 

*Download the [Korean-language] research report “Gender Minorities speak Residential Rights Issues” https://dawoom-t4c.org/130

 

**“Apartment” [apateu] in Korea is used to refer only to multi-room units in large apartment complexes such as these. They are generally considered more desirable than other types of housing.

 

Published : July 9th, 2021

Translated by: Haein Lee

Original Article : https://ildaro.com/9087

 

◆ To see more English-language articles from Ilda, visit our English blog(https://ildaro.blogspot.com).

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