Harisu. (ilgan Sports/Multi-Bits via Getty Images)
K-pop singer Harisu tore down down a hateful troll who claimed she’s not a woman because she’s trans in a powerful and blisteringly sarcastic Instagram post.
Harisu, known off-stage as Lee Kyung-eun, shared a screenshot of her private messages on Instagram, showing an anonymous user lob barbs at her for no reason other than hate.
In the verbal onslaught, the user said she “should die” and questioned: “Why do u think becoming male to female is okay?”
The 46-year-old hit back by reminding the user – and her 26,300 followers – that the words of a “lonely” troll do not define her or her gender.
Harisu: ‘I’m legally a woman. So get lost’
“You’re so funny,” Harisu said sarcastically in the caption, posted Sunday (7 March). “I don’t get any damage from something like this.
“I’ve only been called pretty until now and I’ll age accordingly, but even when I’m older I’ll be more beautiful than you.
“Even though you’re worried about me, I’m legally a woman so there’s nothing to be gained from telling me I’m not a woman.
“No matter where I go, my passport and my rights tell me I’m a woman! I’m not shaken by a few words like this so get lost.
“If you don’t like me, just don’t come to my Instagram. Why are you bothering? Are you that lonely? Do you like me that much?”
It comes after the model and actor joined the chorus of anger and anguish that followed the death of South Korea’s first trans soldier Byun Hee-soo.
Byun was discharged from the military for undergoing gender-affirmation surgery last year. A military panel deemed her unfit to serve and a year later, she died at home.
The case has laid bare the plight that trans people face not just in the armed forces, but throughout socially conservative society in South Korea. Her death prompted an outpour of grief from trans people, including from Harisu who wrote: “Refrain and pray for the deceased’s honour.”