Opn: Dr. Nasser 'Nas' Mohamed sought asylum the US after g out as gay. Here's what he wants people to know about Qatar | CNN

Contents:

• WHAT ’S LIKE TO BE GAY AND QATARI
• OPN: DR. NASSER ‘NAS’ MOHAMED SOUGHT ASYLUM THE US AFTER G OUT AS GAY. HERE’S WHAT HE WANTS PEOPLE TO KNOW ABOUT QATAR
• GAY DOHA TRAVEL GUI
• 35-YEAR-OLD DOCTOR BE FIRST QATARI TO PUBLICLY COME OUT AS GAY: REPORT

WHAT ’S LIKE TO BE GAY AND QATARI

As the first and currently only Qatari to publicly e out as gay, Mohamed­—a doctor who has lived the U. But given homosexualy is crimalized Qatar, he is likely to rema s only member for the foreeable future. In the months sce, Mohamed lnched the non-prof Alwan Foundatn to advance LGBTQ+ rights across the Middle East and pecially Qatar, where he says that secury operativ filtrate gay muni orr to torture and erce members to rm on others.

TIME: As a gay Qatari, do you feel that hostg the World Cup n brg change? Is there an unrground gay scene or is that too dangero? There are some people om really affluent fai that are gay and ’s almost public knowledge—but they’re really wealthy, affluent, and very nnected, so people jt don’t say anythg.

But even the most powerful gay [person] Qatar is powerls some ways. They uld gaybash and get away wh wh no nsequenc at all. And if such an attack happens on a gay fan, I don’t know of the [secury] rourc to help them.

OPN: DR. NASSER ‘NAS’ MOHAMED SOUGHT ASYLUM THE US AFTER G OUT AS GAY. HERE’S WHAT HE WANTS PEOPLE TO KNOW ABOUT QATAR

Bee you uld be harmed, you n be gay bashed, you n be beaten, and people may not be able to help you. Qatari law crimaliz sex outsi marriage, cludg gay sex. In the terpretatn of Sharia law that Qatar follows, sex outsi of marriage, cludg homosexualy, is punishable by jail time and, as a maximum sentence, ath by stong, though there isn’t available evince that such a punishment has ever been ed.

Nasser Mohamed, a gay Qatari livg exile the US, explaed to Vox. So ’s really hard to build a gay muny. Mohamed left Qatar his 20s for medil school “wh the tentn of never g back” bee of the limed life he led as a gay man there.

Though there are small pockets of LGBTQ people Qatar, there’s not a gay scene, Mohamed said. “If you’re an expat, you’re able to live your life like you want, ” a gay Arab man livg Doha told Rters.

GAY DOHA TRAVEL GUI

I know gay men workers’ mps wouldn’t be able to live the same way. Why do people act like gay qataris don’t exist? Why are so many people batg the world cup suatn like gay qataris don’t exist?

Like gay and non-mlim people don’t live the nsequenc of those laws everyday.

35-YEAR-OLD DOCTOR BE FIRST QATARI TO PUBLICLY COME OUT AS GAY: REPORT

Gay and non-mlim do not equal whe people. "If they want to vis Qatar, we have no problem wh , " Mister of State for Energy Affairs Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi said of the lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr muny, speakg to Bild ments published on he said the Wt wants to "dictate what wants" to Qatar, where homosexualy is illegal.

Some have been mullg whether to attend the tournament, or even watch on ’s laws agast gay sex and treatment of LGBTQ people are flashpots the n-up to the first World Cup to be held the Middle East, or any Arab or Mlim untry. Wh his untry facg cricism over a number of issu, Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim b Hamad Al Thani, recently argued  “has been subjected to an unprecented mpaign” that no host untry has ever ambassador for the World Cup Qatar, however, has scribed homosexualy as a “damage the md”  an terview wh German public broadster ZDF.

Aired this week, the ments by former Qatari natnal team player Khalid Salman highlighted ncerns about the nservative untry’s treatment of gays and LGBTQ rights activists are seizg the moment to draw attentn, wh a heightened sense of urgency, to the ndns of LGBTQ cizens and rints Qatar. Recently, he jumped at the opportuny to lobby for a human rights ngrs hosted by the German soccer feratn Frankfurt, Mn told the Qatari ambassador to Germany that Qatar should abolish s penalti for homosexualy. “I happen to be a gay football fan and I thought that this is a great opportuny to … speak ont of such a high reprentative, to nnect the topic wh a face, ” Mn said an Youn, LGBTQ rights senr rearcher the Middle East and North Ai at Human Rights Watch, said that while Qatari officials have offered some reassuranc for LGBTQ fans, the possibily of stigma and discrimatn remaed hog, accs to health re and safely reportg potential sexual the same time, she argued, “suggtns that Qatar should make an exceptn for outsirs are implic remrs that Qatari thori do not believe that s LGBT rints serve basic rights or exist, ” addg her anizatn was ncerned about ndns for lol LGBTQ people, cludg after the law lls for a prison sentence of one to three years for whoever is “stigatg” or “scg” a male to “m sodomy, ” as well as for “ducg or scg a male or a female any way to m illegal or immoral actns.