A Korean Gay Man in the United States: Toward a Cultural Context for Social Service Practice

The United States has historically served as a refuge for immigrants seeking to escape problems in their homeland. For many homosexuals, immigrating to progressive cities in the U.S. is a welcome relief from the sexual oppression they experience in their own countries. In 1990, 798,849 Koreans were reported living in the United States (U. S. Bureau of Census, 1992). This statistic indicates that the number of Koreans in the United States has increased more than tenfold in twenty years. This statistic also suggests that social service workers will increasingly be called upon to meet the needs of Korean immigrants, including homosexual Koreans, as they strive to adapt to life in America.