Behind the Scenes of South Korea's Barrier-Breaking LGBTQ Reality Shows

South Korea’s first LGBTQ reality shows “Merry Queer” and “His Man” premiered on streaming platform Wavve this summer—and the people behind these shows hope they’ll help bring awareness to the long fight for LGBTQ rights in the country. South Korea does not recognize same-sex marriage and offers little legal protection to its LGBTQ citizens. “Merry Queer” co-host Hong Seok-cheon—one of the most prominent openly gay celebrities in South Korea—spoke to TIME along with the shows' producer Lim Chang-hyuck and “His Man” cast member Lee Jeong-ho on what these shows mean for queer representation. “In the future, I hope 'Merry Queer,' 'His Man' and other cultural content could open up more opportunities to bring awareness to issues that need to be resolved or discussed,” Hong said.