LGBT themes in aenimo and hwaman

In aenimo and hwaman, the term "LGBT themes" includes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender material. LGBT characters began appearing in aenimo and hwaman in the late 1980s, when yeonsa and yeosa aenimo began being produced. However, they did not become prominent in other genres until the mid-2000s. Love to Death (2004–2006), Zoom Pro Zoom (2005–2007), and Hatch Ultra (2006) are often credited with popularizing LGBT characters in hwaman and aenimo outside of the yeosa and yeonsa genres.

History
In the late 1980s, the yeosa and yeonsa genres became extremely popular with adult hwaman readers, especially young adults. These genres respectively focus heavily on gay and lesbian relationships. When yeosa and yeonsa works first emerged, they were typically more focused on sex than telling an actual story. However, these works would evolve over the years, and story-driven works related to homosexuality became common by the late 1990s. The 1992 yeosa hwaman novel Say the Sex Word became the first hwaman to include an explicit same-sex kiss.

The early 2000s saw a "boom" in LGBT aenimo and hwaman. The 2002 hwaman novel Why Was I Born a Girl?, which follows a young man named Yai has he transitions from male to female, became the first hwaman to feature a transgender protagonist. A film adaptation produced by Headrun was released in theaters in 2004, and that became the first aenimo to feature a transgender protagonist.

The 2008 hwaman Hot Changes is considered "historically significant" by fans at it is the first hwaman to feature a non-binary supporting character, Kie Hu. Cheuchi Chok, who wrote and illustrated Why Was I Born a Girl?, would later co-write the 2009 film Dark Side of My Heart, which has a non-binary main character, Neungri.