Prof. Ju Hui Judy Han (UCLA) joined by Prof. Giancarlo Cornejo Salinas (UCLA), Prof. Grace Kyung-won Hong (UCLA), Laura Hyun Yi Kang (UC Irvine), and Dr. Yeong Ran Kim

Tuesday, April 21, 2026
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Bunche Hall, Room 10383

About the Book  

Queer Throughlines draws on years of direct participation, interviews, and ethnography to examine transnational Korean LGBTQ+ activism since the 1990s. Han maps the sites and routes of leftist and queer political movements, highlighting challenges posed by Christian conservatives in both South Korea and the United States. The book uses the concept of “throughlines” to weave together a web of movement stories across time and space: a coalition of Los Angeles-based LGBTQ+ activists and allies fighting an anti-gay petition campaign led by Korean immigrant churches; queer activists involved in anti-war protests in Seoul; progressive clergy embracing inclusivity and risking heresy charges and excommunication; and queer and trans activists refusing to be sidelined form visions of political change underway. These moments do not always line up in a straightforward narrative of victory of progress, yet they create powerful lines of solidarity, community, and kinship.

Moderated by Grace Kyung-won Hong (Asian American Studies and Gender Studies at UCLA, it will begin with brief comments by Ju Hui Judy Han (Gender Studies at UCLA) and then shift to an open ended dialogue among panelists, with Giancarlo Cornejo Salinas (Gender Studies at UCLA), Laura Hyun Yi Kang (Gender & Sexuality Studies at UC Irvine), and Yeong Ran Kim.

Discussion

Moderated by Prof. Grace Kyung-won Hong, Dept. of Asian American Studies, UCLA