K-pop star IU changed the title of her upcoming song after receiving criticisms from netizens for using the LGBTQ slogan.
Last Jan. 16, it was announced that IU will release the new song “Love Wins” on Jan. 24. The music video will feature BTS member V.
IU (Instagram)
IU's upcoming song title was changed from "Love Wins" to "Love Wins All" (X)
However, the title did not sit well with netizens and criticized IU for using “Love Wins,” a slogan widely used by the LGBTQ community and supporters when the US Supreme Court issued a landmark decision recognizing marriage between same-sex couples.
The US-based Human Rights Campaign (HRC), “the nation's largest LGBT civil rights organization,” used the hashtag #LoveWins to campaign for the same-sex couple marriage.
When the US Supreme Court issued the decision, “HRC leaped into action, implementing #LoveWins across the board. HRC used every tool at our disposal -- even balloons -- to make our hashtag go viral,” according to the Shorty Awards.
“#LoveWins was not only written, but also spoken on countless news outlets throughout the day as coverage of the decision played out. Everywhere people turned, whether it was the front page of a local paper, a national paper, the nightly news or their Twitter of Facebook feed, #LoveWins appeared. #LoveWins defined not only the marriage equality victory, but the immense excitement and joyous emotions of a day and a decision that will go down in history,” it added.
LGBTQ supporters around the world also used the hashtag to celebrate the victory.
Netizens said using “Love Wins” for IU’s song will diminish the original meaning of the slogan about LGBTQ rights.
After the backlash, EDAM Entertainment, IU’s agency, announced on Jan. 19 that the song’s title would be changed from “Love Wins” to “Love Wins All.”
“We would like to inform you that the title of IU's pre-release song <Love wins>, to be released on January 24th at 6PM, is changed to <Love wins all> as of today,” it said.
It added, “We decided to change the title to respect and support everyone who loves in their various ways, and we accept the opinions of those who express concerns that precious messages might be blurred due to the title.”
The agency explained that “if there is one single thing that is exactly opposite to the message would be the word 'hatred,' which was mentioned in detail in the track intro which was released on January 18th.”
“We deeply hope that the original message of the song is delivered without leaving any scars on anyone, as every love wins all in the world with no hatred. We will continue our teaser campaign and other promotion activities with the changed title, starting today,” it said.