Jungkook & Jimin and their (possible) queer coding over the years: a thread!

Before we begin, what is queer coding?

Typically, queer coding refers to a character in a story/media that exhibits signs of being queer without explicitly SAYING that they are queer. Recently, it's evolved to include actual people, and is considered a way for queer people to +

identify each other without the need to come out verbally. We unfortunately still live in a world where it's very difficult for some people to come out, but even still, some queer people enjoy dropping "hints" towards their queerness that other queer people might pick up on. +

That being said... DISCLAIMER:

I am not attempting to label either JK or JM with this post. Instead, these are just instances that, TO ME (as a queer person myself) read exactly like queer coding. +

Furthermore, please do NOT take anything in this thread as 'proof' of their queerness. These are just observations that I have made that I (and other queer ARMY I've spoken to) can relate to!

On that note... let's dive in! +

1. G.C.F in Tokyo + more

This is the big one, so I'll get it out of the way now. JK is an incredible artist in every way. He has learned how to express himself through his art, music, and videos, in ways he can't through his words. A perfect example of this is his GCFs. +

His song choices and edits tell very clear stories if you're willing to listen.

While you COULD argue that his use of There for You by Troye Sivan was based solely off of him liking the song regardless of the lyrics and sexuality of its artist, +

I'm personally inclined to disagree, based on the editing choices JK made.

Not only that, but it seems as though the narrative set in GCF-T has continued throughout subsequent GCF releases--Osaka, Saipan, and Helsinki being perhaps the most notable, +

all highlighting a very particular member through editing and lyrical placement. To me, GCFT felt like JK's attempt at sharing an important part of himself--or in simple terms, his way of coming out, albeit softly. He "showed" us instead of "told" us, but some people refused +

to pay attention. As a result, he did it again with GCF-S to reaffirm his message. +

2. Lie

Forewarning, this one is based HEAVILY on personal speculation and interpretation, and requires a bit of background knowledge. We know that Jimin has struggled with his presentation over the years, and I believe Lie is a retelling of his struggles. +

We know when JM debuted, he was given the role as the 'tough guy'. As a result, he initially presented more masculine than he does today. It was around the Wings era that he really began to embrace more of an androgynous presentation. He has even openly acknowledged this shift. +

Presentation is something queer people often struggle with, and it can cause a lot of inner turmoil. +

That in mind, ever since I first heard it, Lie has sounded to me like a story about Jimin feeling as though he were "caught in a lie", trying to appear a certain way to appease whomever, but suffering as a result. He mentions losing his way, feeling so far away, etc. +

The bridge is what sells the theory for me personally: "I am still the same person I was before, but an overgrown lie is trying to swallow me whole". The premise of "I'm still me" is common in the queer community (and will come up again later). He just wanted to be himself. +

The song is incredibly emotional, and as someone who struggled for years with presentation, I relate a lot to the feelings in the song.

It's of course possible that Lie has nothing to do with his gender presentation at all, but as a queer person, that's how I interpreted it. +

It's worth noting that the song could also be interpreted as being about his sexuality instead of or in addition to his presentation. Both interpretations are valid, and an argument can obviously be made for both. +

3. JK's music tastes

"There for you" is not the only example of JK listening to a queer song/artist. In fact, he has done it... a lot. Since there's so many instances, I've decided to make a separate thread for this topic, which is linked below! + https://twitter.com/_mochikookie/status/1254993453727076352?s=20

4. Rainbow Unicorn

Well, this one is obvious. Some have considered this queer baiting since it's part of a photoshoot. There's a fine line between queerbaiting and queer coding, however I'm inclined to believe it's more of the latter, because Jikook were the only two +

members to pose TOGETHER on that particular floaty, which was notably used as part of a Seoul LGBT Pride Parade the year prior. You don't get much more coded than that. +

5. I'm Still Me

Ever seen the movie "Love, Simon"? If you haven't, it's a story about a boy coming to terms with his sexuality and seeking acceptance.

In the movie, he says the phrase "I'm Still Me", which became, arguably, one of the most popular quotes from the script. +

Some time after the release of the movie, JK posted some of his art on twitter. One of the pieces he shared last year included a graphic he designed with a very prominent "I'm Still Me". Interesting phrase to use as inspiration for an art piece, huh?

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6. More rainbows!

Rainbows are pretty! They're pleasing to look at, and are obviously a natural occurrence. That said, the rainbow has obviously been adopted as a symbol for the LGBT community... which makes these two pictures of Jimin very interesting, and very queer coded. +

7. Even MORE rainbows!

On these two separate occasions, Jimin and Jungkook wore these very prominent rainbow designs. The designs are noteworthy for being part of (or similar to) some of the designs belonging to Gucci's pride line. +

Another notable comparison can be made to another Korean artist, Sleeq, who is openly lesbian and did a performance about LGBT and womens rights and nonbinary representation, including a line about the 'rainbow on her wrist', which is the tattoo shown. Look familiar? +

8. Another rainbow!

Speaking of pride collections, Chanel apparently had their own pride collection, which supposedly was the original source for the rainbow oversized Chanel logo necklace Jimin recently wore on a vlive. +

It's worth noting that Hobi also has worn the same necklace, albeit for a performance. The fact that JM wore it on his own accord makes it stand out to me a lot more as possible queer coding than just an accessory to match the Hobi-core aesthetic.

9. Blue Monday

This one is a bit obscure. If you aren't aware, the New Order song 'Blue Monday' was adapted as a bit of a queer anthem and was popularly heard in gay bars and clubs throughout the 80s-00s. It had a bit of a resurgence when Orgy covered it in 1998. +

The pendants on JK's sweater during this performance of Mikrokosmos are called the 'Blue Monday' charms, and were made in direct reference of the original New Order song.

"JK probably didn't pick those pendants. A stylist probably did!" Fair argument. We'll never know +

either way if one of their stylists chose the pendant or if he did, but we DO know the boys have had a say in their outfits in the past. It's not impossible that he chose them, or a sneaky stylist that knows him personally may have chosen them on his behalf. +

Either way, the pendants are a cute nod to a song that was widely popular in the LGBT community for many, many years.

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10. "What the heck is 'men'?"

As I've said, presentation is something that queer people struggle with a lot. Presentation and sexual orientation are two separate struggles of queer people, but they do often go hand in hand against breaking down instances of heteronormativity. +

...Which always made this conversation stand out to me. JM basically said "f*ck gender stereotypes", which is not a mindset exclusive to only queer people, but arguably IS more common among them. +

Aforementioned conversation:

JM: let me check how it came out
JK: Men shouldn't check selfies
JM: What's the point in that?
TH: Men take selfies but shouldn't check them
JH: men don't do that
JM: There u go again... what the heck is "men"?

11. Regardless of Gender

JK has come a long way since that conversation. Here we see him encouraging people to wear w/e they like, regardless of gender. Again, while not an exclusively queer statement, this mentality is certainly MOST prominent in the queer community. +

12. JM's Army zip tat

This might be one of the most blatant examples thus far. So this symbol? That's a queer symbol! Over time it's been used to represent a few things, but most recently and prominently it's been used as a symbol for bigender people. +

What does it mean to be "bigender"?

Bigender fits into the same umbrella as nonbinary, gender fluid, etc. It refers to someone who experiences aspects of both (male and female) gender identities at varying degrees. Someone who identifies as bigender can identify as female, but +

exhibit qualities of masculine gender norms at times, and vice-versa. Some Bigender people perpetually exist in a state where they maintain two gender identities at the same time and exhibit qualities of both. This is usually called genderfluid, but it's still considered a +

form of bigender!

The fact that JM included this tat as part of his ink for his army zip story (which he specifically described as being about himself and his self expression) tells me that he resonates with this particular symbol. A lot of his poses also emphasized the +

tat, which makes me think he WANTED people to notice it.

If you know, you know, am I right? +

13. Various types of love

JK made his bouquet in the recent run episode, and named it Various Loves. Another instance here of JK acknowledging that there are different forms of love out there in the world. +

14. Makeup!

Both Jimin and Jungkook are very open about enjoying makeup, which obviously is another form of breaking gender stereotypes, a common trend among queer people.

Here, we have JK (very casually and proudly) talking about doing his own makeup... +

And here, we have Jimin just as casually talking about wanting to give his dad a make-over. +

While we're on the topic, here's a few more cute instances of JK being his own personal stylist... +

And this little bit that Jimin did with the sticker(?) that tells me he probably watches beauty gurus on youtube.

In short, I stan two beautiful, confident men that aren't afraid to get a little dolled up. +

(Oh, and don't forget, JK thinks Jimin looks sexy with makeup. That's a double whammy of possible queer coding right there.) +