On Oct. 30, 2025, a same-sex couple in South Korea filed a petition with the country’s human rights commission after a public institution denied marriage leave to one of the men and later reduced his pay and performance bonus for taking time off for their wedding ceremony. The commission last month completed its investigation and continues to consider the case.

The petition comes as South Korea’s same-sex couples have won a series of legal victories in recent years, even though the country does not extend marriage rights to them. Courts have increasingly been asked to decide whether existing laws and workplace policies can extend equal treatment to LGBTQ people, often in the absence of legislative change.

The employer’s policy granted marriage leave, but it did not define marriage or specify who could claim the benefit. After the employee submitted a wedding invitation and requested a brief leave for a ceremony with his same-sex partner, the institution denied the request and treated his absence as unauthorized.

The South Korean Supreme Court ruled on July 18, 2024, that denying dependent health insurance benefits to same-sex couples while extending them to opposite-sex couples amounted to discriminatory treatment. The court said the unequal treatment infringed on human dignity and the right to pursue happiness.

South Korea’s marriage equality movement has evolved gradually, moving from social taboo and legal nonrecognition toward greater public visibility and limited judicial victories. 

In 2004, a same-sex couple unsuccessfully sought a division of assets under a de facto marriage. Nearly a decade later, filmmaker Kim Jho Gwang-soo and his partner, Kim Seung-hwan, applied to register their marriage, but South Korean courts rejected their bid, as well as subsequent attempts by same-sex couples to gain legal recognition.

In February 2023, the Seoul High Court ruled that the National Health Insurance Service must extend dependent health insurance benefits to same-sex partners, marking a landmark legal victory for LGBTQ couples. The Supreme Court’s 2024 decision made it final.

Under South Korean law, a de facto marriage generally refers to a couple who live together and hold themselves out as married without formally registering their union. While such relationships may receive limited legal recognition in certain circumstances, a marriage is not legally recognized unless it satisfies legal requirements and is registered with the government.

In a ruling made public on June 5, a Seoul court found a same-sex couple had built a life partnership similar to a common-law marriage and deserved legal protection. The court ordered a third party whose affair led to the relationship’s breakdown to pay 10 million won ($6,611.59) in damages.

The court, however, said existing law did not allow it to recognize the relationship as a common-law marriage, underscoring the legal limits that same-sex couples continue to face.

“There is no evidence that the plaintiff and the former partner held a wedding ceremony or revealed their relationship to acquaintances outside their families,” said the court. “From September 2019, when they shared their finances, or at the latest from June 2023, when they lived with the plaintiff’s family and received engagement rings from the plaintiff’s parents and were recognized as a couple, they shared an emotional, physical and financial relationship with a mutual intent to marry, forming a life partnership similar to a common-law marriage.”

On May 31, 2024, South Korean lawmakers introduced the country’s first marriage equality bill. Former Justice Party member Jang Hye-yeong proposed the legislation that 12 lawmakers from across the political spectrum co-sponsored. and co-sponsored by 12 lawmakers from across the political spectrum. The legislation failed later. 

While consensual same-sex relations are not criminalized in South Korea, marriage equality remains unrecognized. Reports suggest many LGBTQ people continue to live with limited public visibility.

Recent opinion surveys suggest public support for marriage equality in South Korea has declined. 

A 2025 Hankook Research poll found that 31 percent of respondents supported extending marriage rights to same-sex couples, down from 36 percent in 2021. A separate Gallup Korea survey found that 34 percent backed marriage equality while 58 percent opposed it, reversing gains in public support and returning attitudes to levels seen nearly a decade ago.

The report attributed the decline in support to South Korea’s broader social and political climate. 

Activists told the publication that far-right mobilization, heightened political tensions, and growing online radicalization among some young men had likely contributed to the shift. They also argued politicians routinely cite a lack of public consensus to delay measures such as the Life Partnership Act and the Marriage Equality Act, describing the argument as an excuse for inaction.

Kiyong Shim, an activist with Chingusai, a Korean gay rights group, told the Washington Blade that the marriage leave dispute illustrates the challenges same-sex couples continue to face in South Korea. Shim said the country’s Civil Act contains no provision that explicitly prohibits same-sex marriage, but that marriage registrations by same-sex couples are refused as a matter of administrative practice.

“Because their relationships have no legal standing, exclusion arises in nearly every area of daily life: marriage leave, family allowances, medical decision-making, inheritance, housing, and more,” said Shim. 

He said the marriage equality movement is advancing along two tracks: one is public campaigning, lectures, workshops, and community networking centred on the Marriage for All Korea campaign and the second is through litigation. Fourteen same-sex couples are now plaintiffs in various lawsuits that have been before South Korean courts since 2024.

Shim told the Blade that change is also beginning to take root in South Korea’s judiciary, pointing to the Supreme Court’s July 2024 ruling that recognized dependent health insurance benefits for same-sex partners.

“Those holding political responsibility — in the legislature, the executive, and beyond — continue to turn away from the rights of LGBTQ+ people,” said Shim. “LGBTQ+ individuals remain exposed to discrimination and hatred in everyday life, and many live by painfully concealing who they are. This is precisely why the campaigning cannot stop, and why the work of organizing must continue.”

Shim told the Blade that public opinion is moving in a more favorable direction, albeit gradually. He said attitudes toward homosexuality, sexual minorities, and marriage equality have steadily become more accepting.

“The problem lies in politics,” said Shim. “In Korea, the forces driving anti-homosexuality sentiment are largely conservative Protestant church groups, and these church groups are deeply entangled with politicians in the ruling Democratic Party. As a result, even within the ruling party, this issue is difficult to address. So we are in an asymmetric situation: the judiciary and public opinion are moving forward, while the very political actors charged with legislation and administration remain stationary.”

Taiwan, Nepal, and Thailand have extended marriage rights to same-sex couples. Shim told the Blade there is a growing sense that South Korea is falling behind.

“Society’s perceptions shift most deeply when the fact that LGBTQ+ people are right beside us becomes a natural part of daily life, but this cannot be left to those individuals alone,” he said. “The conditions that make coming out possible must be built by allies together with the community — building workplaces, schools, families, and neighborhoods where discrimination and hatred need not be feared.” 

“What Korea needs right now is exactly this kind of broad, everyday solidarity,” added Shim. “Change in the law and change in daily life have to move together, and that is why the work of campaigning and organizing must not stop. There are already many same-sex couples in Korea living as families, caring for one another. The question is not whether they exist — it is when the state will finally recognize this reality in law.”

Niger is the latest African country to recriminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations.

The Associated Press on June 12 reported the country’s military junta announced a new penal code under which anyone who “commits or attempts to commit an immodest or unnatural act or practices lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual (LGBTQIA+) acts” will face between five and 10 years in prison and a fine.

“This same penalty is applicable to persons who officiated the marriage, to the witnesses of the alleged spouses, as well as to persons who have given their consent for the celebration of the marriage and to the organizers,” reads the new code that took effect on June 11.

Niger borders Nigeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Algeria, Libya, and Chad.

The AP notes homosexuality had not been criminalized in Niger. Anti-LGBTQ stigma, however, was widespread.

Lawmakers in Burkina Faso last September recriminalized homosexuality in the country. Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye on March 31 signed into law a bill that increased the penalty for anyone convicted of engaging in consensual same-sex sexual relations from one to five years in prison to five to 10 years.

Ghanaian lawmakers late last month approved a bill that would, among other things, criminalize LGBTQ allyship.

Todd Gloria has had a whirlwind two decades as a public servant.

Beginning with his successful 2008 San Diego City Council election, followed up by his second successful campaign in 2012 — this time as president of the San Diego City Council — Gloria has been strapped to a rocket headed to public servant fame that would make Leslie Knope’s head spin, with no signs of slowing down.

Just one year into his tenure as president of the San Diego City Council, Bob Filner, the then-mayor of the city, resigned from his role following multiple allegations of sexual harassment. In that moment of political uncertainty, Gloria stepped up, becoming the interim mayor of San Diego, and the leader of one of the largest cities in the U.S. .

While his term as interim mayor — lasting from August 2013 to March 2014 — was not long, it was a sign to the people of San Diego — and to himself — that Gloria could do good things for San Diego. When the newly elected Mayor Kevin Faulconer was sworn in in March 2014, Gloria continued working hard to keep the city he grew up in in caring hands.

Gloria started to look past “America’s Finest City” and began looking toward Sacramento. It was there that some of the state’s most capable minds were attempting to tackle problems that the entire Golden State faced. In 2016, he ran for the California State Assembly’s 78th District seat, representing San Diego, where he won with an impressive margin and started championing the city’s climate action plan. Shortly after assuming office, he was chosen to become a member of the Democratic leadership — as assistant majority whip — where he helped pass his and the Democratic Party’s legislative goals in the most populous state in the nation.

It should be no surprise that, with a growing reputation as someone bent on making his city better for the more than 400,000 residents who live within the 78th District, Gloria won re-election in 2018 with more than 70 percent of the vote in both the primary and general elections. There, he was tapped once again to be an integral part of the Democratic Party’s legislative mission and was, in January 2018, made majority whip.

In 2019, Gloria announced he would no longer seek the 78th District seat when his term was up, but would return from Sacramento to San Diego — this time as mayor. He ran his campaign on issues that San Diegans faced: the housing crisis, affordability, public transportation, and climate change.

In November 2020, Gloria was elected mayor of the city he grew up in, where he broke barriers — his win also made him the first Native American and the first Filipino American to hold this position in a U.S. city with more than a million people, becoming San Diego’s first mayor of color. He was also the city’s first openly gay mayor.

The Washington Blade sat down with Gloria when he visited Washington earlier this month for the U.S. Conference of Mayors, where he was elected president of the organization. The presidency lasts for one year and alternates between political parties to ensure bipartisanship.

Gloria, has served as mayor of San Diego since 2020, will lead the nearly century-old bipartisan organization as a proud out gay man at a time when many LGBTQ Americans are concerned about the future of their rights and protections.

“Well, a lot. I think the first thing that comes to mind is that this time that we’re all living in, the stakes feel particularly high, and I think number one, I’d want your readers to understand that this is a conference of bipartisan mayors from all across the country who supported me to lead the organization that’s nearly 100 years old,” he explained.

“I think at a time when we definitely wonder, as queer people, where we sit in our nation and in our society, that my fellow mayors of all different political stripes are willing to allow me to be their voice as leader of this organization. I hope it somehow validates the notion that we are still making progress, that particularly the political process is still possible.”

Gloria framed his election as evidence that progress remains possible, even amid growing political polarization. He noted that the U.S. Conference of Mayors was founded during the Great Depression, another period when local leaders stepped forward to address challenges they felt were not being adequately addressed at the federal level.

Throughout the interview, Gloria repeatedly emphasized the unique role cities can play in advancing LGBTQ equality. He pointed to the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ long history of supporting civil rights, HIV/AIDS advocacy, and LGBTQ inclusion, and his belief that mayors often find common ground on issues where Washington remains divided as a clear thesis to his presidency.

“It’s building on the history. It’s one of the reasons I’m very proud of this organization. Why I’ve been an active member for years now is that it has this storied history of speaking up and helping to advance change in this country. Everything from direct aid to cities in the Great Depression to civil rights in the 1960s to equality, HIV/AIDS advocacy during a time of great stigma and shame,” Gloria said. “This conference, again a bipartisan organization, has been willing to sort of be able to find a common ground that maybe isn’t always possible in Washington.”

Gloria also highlighted San Diego’s own LGBTQ political history, noting that the city has maintained continuous LGBTQ representation on its City Council since the early 1990s. He credited generations of local activists for helping create a political environment where LGBTQ elected officials have been able to thrive.

With Pride Month unfolding amid continued battles over LGBTQ rights nationwide, Gloria argued that cities remain important centers of progress and power, even when state and federal politics become more hostile.

“We have quite a bit [of power] because we can often do things within our own communities, but also we can band together and lend our voices to try and either stop bad things from happening or help advance good things that we’d like to see come to pass.”

He added that cities provide opportunities to continue advancing equality — even when, at a national level, conditions seem unfavorable.

“Cities provide avenues to say ‘No, we can actually make progress, maybe not at the scale, maybe not as broad as we would like, but it can still happen.’”

While Gloria has championed LGBTQ rights throughout his political career, he said housing affordability has emerged as the defining civil rights challenge facing many communities, including LGBTQ residents.

“The biggest civil rights issue right now is housing,” Gloria said.

He argued that many LGBTQ people can now legally live and work openly in places like San Diego, but increasingly struggle to remain in those communities because of rising housing costs.

“You know, we are a very affirming city. We have a gay mayor. 1/3 of our city council is LGBT. We have all of the protections that you would hope a city would provide in a state that provides those same protections, but we’re horrifically expensive, and our housing costs are unattainable to so many people of all walks of life.”

As president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Gloria said he hopes to elevate housing affordability as a national issue and encourage local leaders to adopt policies that increase housing production and reduce costs.

On LGBTQ-specific initiatives, Gloria pointed to his work co-chairing the organization’s LGBTQ Alliance alongside Madison, Wis., Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway. Under their leadership, the alliance created a municipal toolkit designed to help mayors implement LGBTQ-inclusive policies, ranging from Pride Month proclamations to nondiscrimination protections and fair housing measures.

“We have a lot of allies and come to our meetings, we meet four times a year, and you want to be supportive of the community. This is what this looks like.”

Beyond policy, Gloria described the alliance as an important support network for LGBTQ elected officials navigating increasingly hostile political rhetoric.

“When the attacks on trans people, specifically trans children start happening, that was an issue that we discussed at length in the alliance.”

Despite his optimism, Gloria acknowledged that recent years under the current federal leadership have challenged assumptions many LGBTQ Americans once held about the inevitability of continued progress — and the idea that rights gained were forever.

“I think for someone who you know came up in the movement in the 90s and early 2000s you know, I’ve seen marriage equality, I’ve seen the progress with HIV and AIDS, you know, ability to work and live where you want, you know, all that stuff. It kind of felt like, for me, it felt like it was inevitable that we would keep ascending to greater and greater equality,” he said. “Obviously, recent years have made you not only stop some of that progress, but really question if we’re not going to start falling backwards.”

Still, Gloria urged LGBTQ Americans not to retreat from civic engagement or get quiet about the problems they face, given the constant barrage of attacks — both executive and cultural — that leaves some feeling as if the battle for equality is waning.

“This is not a time to back away. This is not a time to fold inward. We have to truly double down and continue forward doing the work. Leaning forward will mean that the progress may be less than what we want, but still progress will be made.”

Gloria also said he has noticed a change in the tone of political discourse directed at elected officials, including LGBTQ leaders. While he said hostile rhetoric has increased, he views his position as an opportunity to model resilience for younger LGBTQ people.

“You can either absorb it the way I did in middle school and feel kind of crummy and maybe a little bit sorry for myself, or you can realize that every time I’m called that, there’s a young person in a school who does not have the perspective I have, and they’re counting on me to figure out some way forward.”

As he begins his year leading the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Gloria said his priorities will focus on housing affordability, public safety, and economic issues affecting cities nationwide — issues he is familiar with. Success, he said, will ultimately be measured not by political messaging or narratives spun, but instead by tangible results.

Results that matter — even if they aren’t seen as glamorous. These are results that show the city is being effectively run for its citizens, he explained.

“The question is, did the garbage get picked up? Did the road get paved? Did the homeless person find housing?”

Addressing the relationship between cities and the Trump-Vance administration, Gloria said local leaders have had to navigate a political environment defined by unpredictability.

“The only thing that’s certain about this administration is the uncertainty,” he said, though he was clear that such uncertainty does not give the administration a pass to act unjustly. “My city has sued the Trump administration, I believe, eight times at this point, and we’ll continue to do that when it’s necessary or appropriate.”

Even so, Gloria maintained that mayors are uniquely positioned to cut through political rhetoric because residents judge them on day-to-day outcomes rather than partisan talking points.

“I think we are a bit more pragmatic, I think, a bit more focused on making sure that what we’re doing is improving people’s lives, not harming it.”

For Gloria, that practical focus — and the willingness of mayors from across the political spectrum to work together — offers reason for optimism despite the challenges ahead.

When asked what he thinks about the future of not only San Diego, but of the country given the increasingly hostile political climate, he provided a chance to peer into his mind: the mind of a public servant who is determined to make his place better than the day before, even if it does boil down to ensuring trash is collected and housing is affordable for all.

“Being an elected official is in itself an act of optimism. It’s a belief that you can help make things better, and it’s difficult to be in this line of work and be pessimistic.”

That goes hand-in-hand with making every city a better place for those who will enjoy the fruits of the labor sewn well after the mayors at this year’s conference have come and gone. That is why Gloria is doing what he is doing.

“I think for every kid, wherever they are, they’re wondering if they can be their full selves.It’s incumbent on us to do, because every one of these terrible headlines that we see may be frustrating to those of us that have seen some of that progress,” he said. “I think it could be devastating for these young people who have not known anything different, and we owe it to them to find better headlines to give them, both in the short and long term.”