Lawsuit filed over gay Korean Web site 
January 12, 2002 Posted: 5:32 AM EST (1032 GMT) 

SEOUL, South Korea -- Homosexual rights advocates in South Korea have filed a
lawsuit against the government for blocking access to the nations first Web
site for lesbians and gays. 

Ruling that the Web site, www.exzone.com, was "harmful to young people",
Korean Information and Communications Ethics Committee ordered the site to
block its access to teenage viewers. 

Users must now type in their social security numbers so access is denied to
people under 19. 

However, South Korea's Lesbian and Gay Human Rights Federation, together with
more than a dozen other rights groups says that the restrictions
discriminated against homosexuals and were a violation of the right to
freedom of speech. 

"This clearly shows that the South Korean government refuses to recognize
homosexuals," said Lim Tae-hoon, a spokesman for the federation told the
Associated Press. 

"All people, including teenagers, have the right to choose their sexual
identities and be open about it." 

In response to the restrictions, the Web site has removed its original
contents and replaced them with statements from gay rights groups protesting
the government's actions. 

Althgough homosexuality is not outlawed in South Korea, discussing it is
something of a taboo. 

The gay rights movment has also been virtually inexistent in the East Asian
nation until recent years.