The star accepted an award at Golden Hour: A Queer AANHPI Night Market
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGE VIA INSTAGRAM (@LARARAJJ)
After coming out as “half fruitcake” earlier this year, KATSEYE’s Lara accepted the LA LGBT Centre’s Blooming Impact Award with a powerful speech.
The girl-group star accepted the award at the second annual Golden Hour: A Queer AANHPI Night Market, a celebration of queer Asian American, Native American and Pacific Islander communities.
Speaking on stage, Lara opened up about her own coming out. She said: “Growing up, I dealt with a lot of complexity and fear, understanding my queerness and being able to voice it out loud.”
“I just want to say to all of you that are living your truth now, I understand how much courage it takes, and I see your bravery. I know what it’s like to be very afraid and live in that fear, but now that I’m older and I understand it, I want you to know that I will continue to speak up for us as a brown queer girl.”
Lara was one of the contestants on the talent competition reality show Dream Academy. The goal: to create an international girl group. Using K-pop’s rigorous training methods, 20 candidates were whittled down to just six, eventually forming the girl group KATSEYE.
After she came out in March this year, fans were quick to send support to the singer. While the reaction was largely positive, Lara spoke at the LA LGBT Centre about her fears of coming out. “I was really scared, honestly, about how this would affect [the way] people would see me, people’s support of me and the group as KATSEYE,” she said.
While Lara was greeted with “so much love and support”, she is still one of very few stars under a K-pop label to come out as queer. South Korea’s attitude to LGBTQIA rights still remains largely conservative, and same-sex marriage is not permitted. Some attitudes are changing, however, thanks to queer visibility from K-pop idols like Holland.
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