Gay people livg unr radar Qatar prepare warily for World Cup | Rters

Contents:

• QATAR HAS TAKEN 'REAL STEPS' FOR SAFETY OF GAY FANS, SAYS FOREIGN SECRETARY
• AS QATAR BE FOC OF LGBTQ MPAIGNS, WHERE ELSE THE WORLD IS ILLEGAL TO BE GAY?
• GAY PEOPLE LIVG UNR RADAR QATAR PREPARE WARILY FOR WORLD CUP

QATAR HAS TAKEN 'REAL STEPS' FOR SAFETY OF GAY FANS, SAYS FOREIGN SECRETARY

(Beit) – Qatar Preventive Secury Department forc have arbrarily arrted lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) people and subjected them to ill-treatment tentn, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch terviewed six LGBT Qataris, cludg four transgenr women, one bisexual woman, and one gay man. Doctor Nasser Mohamed, an openly gay Qatari activist, helped nnect Human Rights Watch to five of those terviewed.

“I saw many other LGBT people taed there: two Morocn lbians, four Filipo gay men, and one Nepale gay man, ” she said. A Qatari gay man who has experienced ernment reprsn, cludg arbrary arrt, said that secury forc surveilled and arrted him based on his onle activy.

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. 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. 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.

AS QATAR BE FOC OF LGBTQ MPAIGNS, WHERE ELSE THE WORLD IS ILLEGAL TO BE GAY?

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. “If you’re an expat, you’re able to live your life like you want, ” a gay Arab man livg Doha told Rters. But there have been mixed msag wh a World Cup ambassador and former footballer Khalid Salman sayg earlier this month that homosexualy was “damage the md, ” an terview wh German broadster ZDF.

He is a regular at England ternatnals and was once the victim of a homophobic asslt, he says, at Wembley four years ago, ahead of England’s match agast Spa 2018, when he had an altertn wh another fan. Rints of Qatar face the risk of persecutn if they stand up for gay rights durg the World Cup, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has warned.

”UK mister Jam Cleverly lls for gay World Cup fans to show rpect Qatar – vioRints have long faced discrimatn om the state. Siar s have been reported prevly as well: s Our Inti Unr Arrt report, ILGA World documented s when crimalisg laws had been enforced as early as 1995, when a US cizen was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment and 90 lash for alleged “homosexual activy”. In 1997, 36 gay Filipo migrant workers were ported om the untry on acunt of their sexual orientatn, and 2013 Qatar was one of the untri the Gulf Cooperatn Council that was explorg a ban on LGBT foreigners om workg the regn.

GAY PEOPLE LIVG UNR RADAR QATAR PREPARE WARILY FOR WORLD CUP

In 2016, an 18- year-old-gay social media fluencer om Poland was jail for almost two months, and his arrt had not been rerd for 10 days. Lbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer people have the right to fair, accurate and clive reportg of their life stori and ncerns. Signifint progrs has been difficult, sce Poland has been facg a le-of-law crisis gog back to at least 2017, when the right-wg Law and Jtice, or PiS party began spreadg s fluence on key bodi such as the Constutnal crisis the judiciary ns so ep that the EU iated Article 7 proceedgs agast Poland, which spend certa rights for member stat if they are emed to persistently be breach of the EU’s fundamental European Commissn lnched legal proceedgs agast Poland at the European Court of Jtice (ECJ), a se known as Commissn v Poland, and the ECJ orred Poland to spend the laws that terfere wh the pennce of the ignored the the untry’s Human Rights Ombudsman, Marc Wiącek, has cid to tackle both the homophobic rolutns and the falterg legal system at the same Office of the Ombudsman, while formally an stutn fanced by the ernment, exists many untri as an pennt one-man state body wh the mandate to lnch quiri to vlatns of human rights perpetrated by any stutn or body the his electn was marred by difficulty, wh PiS blockg the opposn-backed ndidate for 10 months.

Qatar, officially regnis Islam as the state relign, and unr Sharia law Mlim men n be sentenced to ath by stong for homosexualy. Four transgenr women, one bisexual woman and one gay man were reportedly imprisoned whout charge, legal unsel, or trial, and forced to sign pledg promisg they would “cease immoral activy”. Image source, PA MediaQatar has taken "real steps" to ensure the safety of gay fans attendg the World Cup, Foreign Secretary Jam Cleverly has Cleverley told the BBC he had had "difficult nversatns" wh Qatari unterparts and had been clear how serly the UK tak the build-up to the tournament has seen ncerns raised over LGBT as well as broar human rights Qatar.

Asked whether Qatar was safe for gay fans, he said gay rights was an issue he had "brought up over a number of years" while workg wh the hosts preparatn for the event. "The Qataris know how serly we take this issue and they have taken real steps to ensure that gay football fans are safe and do feel secure and n enjoy the football.

World Cup chief Nasser Al Khater tells Sky News gay fans will be wele to display affectn and rabow flags. Transgenr people said they had been forced to nversn footballers, cludg members of the England, Wal, and Atralia teams - and broadster Gary Leker have voiced their ncerns about LGBT people's rights Leker says he knows of two gay footballers who he hop will e out durg the World Cup prott. But for me, an out and proud gay Qatari who had to flee my home, is a remr of the dangero and adly LGBTphobia that exists Qatar.

Currently, homosexualy is illegal Qatar unr Article 296 of the penal wh punishment rangg om imprisonment of 3-5 years, and even DEATH. Bee of the homophobic laws and the daily social and legal obstacl that exist Qatari society, I had no other choice but to seek asylum the Uned Stat for my own safety. The event’s ma anizer, Hassan Al Thawadi, suggted that LGBT+ visors should rpect Qatar’s homophobic culture and “simply take a break” om beg do damage to s reputatn for jtice, by selectg a stnch anti-LGBT+ natn to host the 2022 World Cup.

Homosexualy is illegal the nservative Mlim untry, and some soccer stars have raised ncerns over the rights of fans travellg for the event, pecially LGBT+ dividuals and women, whom rights groups say Qatari laws discrimate agast. "Freedom of exprsn and nondiscrimatn based on sexual orientatn and genr inty should be guaranteed, permanently, for all rints of Qatar, not jt spectators gog to Qatar for the World Cup, " HRW said a anisatn said had terviewed six LGBT Qataris, cludg four transgenr women, one bisexual woman and one gay man, who reported beg taed between 2019 and 2022 and subjected to verbal and physil abe, cludg kickg and were taed whout charge an unrground prison Doha, HRW said, and one dividual was held for two months solary nfement. Homosexualy is illegal Qatar, punishable by up to seven years prison, and the furore surroundg the natn's polici towards gay people has only creased sce the amid reports that players were banned om speakg out or monstratg agast anti-gay laws while supporters the stands had rabow-loured garments Qatar is by no means the only untry where beg gay uld land you prison - or worse.