There are so many bad things in this world but then there's also this--that queer art is becoming more common in Kpop, and as my dear friend said: we get to be here for it. 😭
YooJung (Onlyoneof) - begin - MV description
[Among the countless lovers in the world, there are also lovers that couldn't be blessed.
For whatever reasons.
Religious reasons, things like parents' disapproval. I dedicate this song to all those lovers who couldn't be blessed.]
This has come about because whenever I come across queer kpop lists I am disappointed by how short and repetitive they are. My goal is to have THE MOST comphensive list of songs and music videos with any sort of lgbt themes.
Each song or mv listed will have a little (or not so little) description explaining how gay it is or why it is gay. This does mean I’ve let some more questionable songs and mvs on the list but from the description I shouldn’t be leading people astray or getting their hopes up. (I decided against including covers of songs eg. where the artist hasn’t changed the gender in the songs. bc I feel that would become too messy and complicated. Also there are artists and songs I dislike on this list, and some artists can be considered problematic however I felt that if I excluded anything based on personal opinions it would make the purpose of this list invalid).
Hopefully kpop fans can diversify their playlists and discover new bops, as well as giving comfort to lgbt+ kpop fans. I plan to update this list as new gay content is released :)
PLEASE GIVE ME MORE SUGGESTIONS FOR THIS LIST
Playlist of this List
UV & JYP - Itaewon Freedom
Itaewon is the multicultural district in seoul, also one of the prominent “gay” areas in s.korea. this song is a gay anthem in korea.
Baek Ji Young - I Won't Love Again/Sarang Ahn Hae
a beautiful lesbian romance
K.Will – Please Don't
the ultimate plot twist mv and is THE gay kpop mv
Sistar – One More Day, I Like That, I Swear
In One More Day shows when friends turn into lesbian lovers, but one is still in a relationship with an abusive man. The latter two mvs have fanservice based touching plus those gay vibes
ANDA – Touch
a very lesbian mv
Baby Soul & Yoo Jia – She's a Flirt Feat. Jang Dongwoo
a lesbian relationship but one of them is still with a man
After School – Because of You
love triangle between 3 women
Red Velvet – Wish Tree
a one-sided lesbian love. I will mention ‘Bad Boy’ for having some fanservice moments and the rainbow outfits in ‘Peek-a-Boo’ is peak gay culture
Holland – Neverland
Holland is described by many news outlets as “The First Openly Gay Kpop Idol” make of that as you will (Because you can argue about being first and whether he is actually an idol, despite being a Korean person making pop or alternative pop music). Regardless he is openly gay and his song is most definitely gay and his mv is explicitly gay. Bless him
4L – Move
in the aftermath of a massive breakup, the female character ends up having a lesbian one night stand which further confuses her while she deals with her heartbreak. This mv is more in the fanservice and objectifying females/lesbians category.
Loona – Chuu: Heart Attack, Yves: New
light lesbian themes, up for interpretation
10cm – Help
The male characters struggle with their relationship as they worry how society view them
DIA – Seoraksan In October
light lesbian themes, up for interpretation
VIXX LR – Whisper
light gay themes and touching, symbolic based and possibly just fanservice. Some consider their other hit ‘Beautiful Liar’ as gay, however, despite the homoeroticism in that mv, the plot is about struggling with your two inner selves rather than a male & male relationship.
Day6 – What Can I Do
in a very messy love triangle (or octogon, who knows??) Wonpil has a one sided love for Sungjin, the plot is somewhat continued in their mvs ‘I Loved You’ and ‘When You Love Someone’.
Sweet Revenge – Cry to Your Heart's Content
lesbians, lesbians, lesbians
INFINITE – The Eye
some scenes of this could fall into the category of fanservice and skinship, even though it is very emotionally charged
Gugudan – Chococo
Sejeong experiences a gay and chocolatey epiphany (a minor scene)
San.E – Story of someone I know
Depicts an ex-girlfriend dumping him for a girl
Brown Eyed Girls – Abracadabra
Queens of sexual freedom, there is an almost kiss at the end.
Girl's Day – Female President
an almost kiss scene, in a feminist bop (a song made not too long after s.korea elected their very first female president, Park Geun Hye. Note: this was made well before she was exposed for being the worst™ and consequently impeached, which is a shame for the first and so far only female leader in s.korea to leave such a ignominious history.)
BTS – Blood Sweat and Tears, I need you, Run
In Blood Sweat and Tears Jin kisses the male demon statue that seems to represent Taehyung. The other 2 mvs have light gay themes with skinship type moments
Imfact – Lollipop
kissing on the cheeks and other skinship for fanservice
Wonder Girls – Why So Lonely
a sort of but not really kiss scene
Crispi Crunch - Thumbs up
a very questionable mv but does include a trans woman, or crossdresser, near the end. Also the teasers for this mv included the two dudes kissing, nowhere to be found in the actual mv though (or on the internet now.... ???)
Lim Chang Jung – Open the Door
Includes a gay kiss
Glam – Party XXO
a bi anthem, lyrics specify about not caring about gender when searching for love
N.O.M – A Guys, Nature of Man
the group were less of a kpop group and more of a gay club act who then released 2 singles
Orange Caramel – Catallena
more so in the lyrics than mv but not completely ignored in the mv, Catallena explores how women are supposed to compete with each other in society and how that becomes confusing when females look up and idolise other females, and even further complicates when you fall for a female. Additionally, the meaning can also be about how girl groups are pitted against each other but they also admire and love each other
Nell – The Day Before
Deals with homosexuality and suicide
Harisu – History (with Turbo), Liar, Shopping Girl, Reaction, Foxy Lady, etc.
A transgender model and actress who also had a pop career for a period of time
Mercury – Don’t Stop, Let’s Party
a girl group which has one member, Hanbit, who is trans
SNSD – Dancing Queen, Divine (Story Version), All Night, Love & Girls, etc.
Dancing queen has lowkey gay lyrics. Divine is one big lesbian drama. In All Night Sooyoung and Yuri have major gay vibes towards each other. Both All Night and Love & Girls include drag queens. GG’s discography is so large so there’s plenty more lowkey gay songs.
Lee Hyori – Miss Korea, Going Crazy
Miss Korea critics beauty standards for women in korea, and includes drag queens. In Going Crazy Hyori crossdresses as a man and then sleazily flirts with tons of women
Mamamoo – Um Oh Ah Yeh
plays with crossdressing and gender identity, and kinda gay. And they have a song called “Girl Crush” which is supposedly platonic by Korean pov but worth a mention
Monsta X – All In
Hyungwon and Minhyuk are shown to be together, this is possibly why Hyungwon’s dad beats him
GFriend – Navillera
Eunha and Yerin are confirmed to be depicting a couple throughout this mv. There are hints that the rest of the group are also coupled up but aren’t as far into their relationships yet.
Suran – Sad Pain
two differently disabled women find comfort with each other
Triple H – 365 So Fresh
heavily implied polyamorous relationship and threesome between 2 guys (Hui & e.dawn) and 1 girl (Hyuna)
Mad Clown – Love is a Dog from Hell Feat. Suran
the story of a trans woman and her wife. Side note: interestingly enough Mad Clown asked his brother to play the trans woman, which brings up some questions about their personal lives – how close to this story are they?
Bestie – Excuse Me
in this mv the girls have a magical pair of glasses that reveal the true intentions of men, the final group of men they come across are revealed to be gay
Maman – Obvious Story
a lesbian song by a lesbian singer in a lesbian mv
Kriesha Chu – Like Paradise
a lovely and trendy lesbian date
Song Jieun – Don’t Look at Me Like That
depicts how gay people feel in conservative korea, feeling judged for their love
XIA – Tarantallegra, Even though I already know
crossdressing and gender identity, plus gay vibes especially with the dancers
Heechul & Min Kyung Hoon – Sweet Dream
a love triangle including Kyunghoon’s one-sided love for Heechul
Planet Shiver & Crush – Rainbow
an anti-discrimination song
CoCoSoRi – Mi Amor
the kiss at the end, otherwise pretty het
SVT JUN & THE8 – My I
in the realms of fanservice, male duet song and performance
U-KISS – Quit Playing
threesome scene including 2 men (Kiseop & Hoon) and 1 woman
Kangta (H.O.T) – Polaris
deals with gender identity
Super Junior D&E – Still You, I Wanna Love You, etc.
In Still You Donghae and Eunhyuk find each other, “bromance” or just plain gay vibes. I Wanna Love You could be a gay duet or not. Most releases from these guys are lowkey gay so.
Jo Kwon – Animal
a gay diva delivering a gay bop
Beenzino – How Do I Look?
has a couple scenes (not many) where gay men/couple are depicted
Bebop & Humming Urban Stereo – MAEM MAEM
looks like they are on a date
WJSN – Secret
some minor gay vibes, gay staring, hand holding etc.
9Muses A – Lip 2 Lip
an almost kiss (in a pretty het mv)
9Muses – Wild, Sleepless Night
Wild has fanservice based touching plus vibes. Meanwhile Sleepless Night has a scene which heavily implies lesbian sex
History – Psycho
yet again fanservice based touching plus those gay vibes
Luizy – Baby Ride feat. Hyunsik of BTOB
just two bros being bros on their bro date y’know
Uhm Jung Hwa – Dreamer, Watch Me Move, Ending Credit, House Mix Performance, etc.
QUEEN OF THE GAYS
HA:TFELT (Yeeun of Wonder Girls) – Truth
shows a lesbian couple
Jo Sung Mo – Immortal Love
depicts a heartbreaking secret gay relationship
Z.Hera – D Island
depicts a powerful interracial lesbian love story
Yuri & Raiden – Always Find You
fight me this is lesbian af as long as you cut out the last 3 seconds
MISS $ – Just Let Me Live feat. Skull
complex love triangles, and possessive love, with plenty of lesbian themes
Chaness – SeSeSe
dark mv with lesbians doing what they can to be together
Lee Jung Hyun – Michyeo
Lee Jung Hyun becomes crazed when she learns of her boyfriend’s affair with another man
Homme – Still Eating Well
it’s a bit of a stretch but 2 dudes and 1 girl scenario, dedicated to more of the “bro” time than the hetero plot
Lady – Attention, Lady’s Night
A girl group made up of transgender women (Sinae, Sahara, Binu and Yuna)
Shinhwa – This Love
a massive stretch but voguing is gay culture so we can’t ignore that, plus the use male back up dancers is… interesting
Kim DongHee – I Feel Like I’m Dying
Lesbian storyline
Seo In Young – Scream (19 Ver.)
there’s some gayish scenes in there, nothing major
Aoora – Body Talk, grab or bite, heartfreak, etc.
he tries to pretend his stuff isn’t gay but he isn’t that good at it tbh. it’s pretty transparent how gay everything is even if he does include shots of boobs. he could be bi???
May Doni - Molla Ing feat. 2AM
has some gay scenes
Cheetah – My Number
Includes a male dance team which are very femme, or are drag queens (?? If someone knows please tell me)
Yu Mei – Suddenly
cute lesbian love
Risso – OMG
cute lesbian couple
Luna – Free Somebody
not necessarily gay but you can understand lyrically how this connected to the lgbt community in korea and how it is now one of their staples at pride
f(x) – Chu, Pink Tape Art Film
In Chu Krystal wears a marriage equality shirt that says ‘Legalise Gay’. Pink Tape Art Film has light lesbian themes. Amber in general defies female gender roles in both western and eastern cultures.
진주 – 미로 Feat. 엄지원 & TBNY
a lesbian storyline
Gangkiz – Honey Honey
a girl gang run amuck being troublesome and having the times of their lives. Has possible lesbian themes.
UP10TION – Attention
some gay fanservice choreography
Sweet Boy – I LUV HER feat. NUVO
This falls into the category of men objectifying females and lesbians, an almost kiss
Stellarjet – Guiding Light
the main character spies on her neighbour and falls for her
Brown Classics - Nostalgia Feat. Yozoh & Eric
has a gay storyline
Rainbow Blaxx – Cha Cha
minor lesbian themes with skinship and fanservice
Epitone Project – Hate
a delicate lesbian love story
4Men – First Kiss
The female character is devasted when the man she loves falls for another man
toheart (Key of SHINee and Woohyun of Infinite) – Delicious
Key and Woohyun might think they are trying to win over the same gal but in reality they are winning each other over
Taemin – Move
I was struggling whether to put him on the list as he is lowkey a gay icon eg. Move where he finally threw off the shackles of gender based choreography and fully embraced his androgyny. he has plenty of songs and performances that all exist in this realm of androgyny, and a lot of his discography, both Korean and Japanese, could be gay but it could also be straight, it’s very easy to interpret whichever way, which I do think is intentional. (please refer to Ten’s section further down where I share my conflicting feelings about referring to people like Taemin as a gay icon if you are interested)
Seeya – Shoes, Crazy Love Song
heavy drama plot with lesbian themes, the mvs are connected
Park Jungmin (SS501) – Not Alone
an anti-discrimination bop and includes a drag queen
Pentagon – Critical Beauty
All the members are coupled up, and there’s a very questionable scene with e.dawn and a banana. A small mention of their mvs ‘Like This’ and ‘Runaway’ which has some very minor scenes of guys together but it’s very ambiguous and a major stretch to even label it as fanservice.
CS Numbers – Cry Out With My Heart
two girls go on a road trip
Bumkey – Bad Girl
The female character keeps on flirting with the male character but in the end it turns out he’s into guys
4minute – Whatcha Doin’ Today?
Jihyun may have accidently made two guys go from fighting each other to kissing each other, not to mention Gayoon has some lesbian vibes throughout the mv
i11evn – Porn Star Feat. Suprema
in the lyrics he talks about being bi (watch out for Suprema using, rather seemingly misusing the dreaded term “no homo”)
Gain (Brown Eyed Girls) – Two Women
some interpret this song to have lesbian themes
Infinite Flow – Rainbow Feat. Kim Jong Wan of Nell
the lyrics depict the depression and desperation of being gay in korea (sidenote: a personal favourite of mine that I discovered years and years ago and it still has a very emotional effect on me)
Dynamic Duo – Heartbreaker Feat. Kim Jong Wan of Nell
the anger and sadness of struggling with homosexuality in korea in the lyrics, the mv’s plot ignores the song’s meaning
Epik High - AMOR FATI Feat. Kim Jong Wan of Nell
In the very words of Tablo “I wrote 'Amor Fati' for people who are mistreated because they were born the way they are.”
IU – Peach, Red Queen, Everyone has Secrets feat. Gain of Brown Eyed Girls
Peach was written in dedication to former f(x) member Sulli. Red Queen’s lyrics also romanticise a girl and it is said to yet again be about Sulli. The lyrics of Everyone has secrets can be very relatable to the lgbt community.
Nam Tae Hyun (Winner) – I’m Young
a love song where the lyrics only mention a masculine pronoun
2YOON – Why Not
these lyrics can be interpreted as gay
EXO – Playboy, They Never Know
The lyrics of Playboy make more sense when you interpret as a secret gay relationship. The live performances of this is the opposite of heterosexuality. (note: Jonghyun wrote Playboy). In They Never Know the lyrics have moments like “Love is Blind” and discussion an unconventional love, it is widely accepted to have a strong gay theme. Also special mention to their 2017 winter album “Universe” for being completely 100% gender neutral
Oh My Girl – Knock Knock
Girls singing about girls
Black Nut – Beenzino
Black Nut takes his fanboying for Beenzino to the next level
Jonghyun – 02:34, Monodrama, Cocktail,
most of these songs have light gay themes, and make more sense when interpreted as gay. You delve even deeper into his discography and interpret them in a gay light.
Gain & Minseo - Imi Oneun Sori (The Footsteps of My Dear Love)
From the OST of the Korean film The Handmaiden, which itself has lesbian themes.
NCT’s Ten - Dream in a Dream
This is a bit of a reach but the inclusion of Lucas in some of the scenes of this MV is an interesting choice. Also I would like to give a shout out to NCT U (Ten & Taeyong) - Baby Don’t Stop, for being a lowkey gay tune even if nothing about it can be pointed out as explicitly gay. He has released a song called New Heroes, which lyrically talks about standing up for what you believe in and working hard to get successful whilst facing adversary, which is a great message, but with Ten’s almost meme-like status of being a “confident gay” (despite not actually being out) this song has definitely made a lot of people claim it as gay anthem, make of it as you will
(I feel conflicted about this; 1. he’s not standing up for the gays as a gay person if he isn’t out and people shouldn’t pressure him to do so, especially when he is a foreigner in s.korea; 2. it’s all well and good to quietly within the fanbase to joke about confident/panicked gays, or gay icons, but it can go too far, especially when it becomes their branding and only personality trait to both fans and the broader (western) kpop fanbase. these issues also apply to many like Sunmi and Taemin.)
Twice - What is Love?
The girls take turns in depicting and parodying famous cinematic couples, so fanservice based crossdressing and gayness.
Being a trans guy who likes guys is equal parts "he's so attractive omg I wanna date him" and "he's so attractive omg why can't I look like him" and it's confusing and tiring
