A group of Arab iends livg Qatar's pal Doha met up over cktails and snacks last week, exchangg opns as they flicked through profil of gay men on datg apps Tr and Grdr. The iends, who met up days before the soccer World Cup kicks off Qatar on Sunday, are part of a Doha gay scene that's managg to fly unr the radar a natn where same-sex relatns are illegal and punishable by up to three years of jail-time. Rters spoke to four gay men Doha - the Wterner, two Qataris pl an Arab om elsewhere the regn - who said they lived the untry, a mag for foreign workers, bee they had well-paid jobs, pl iends or fay there.
Contents:
- GAY DOHA TRAVEL GUI
- BEG GAY DOHA
- 5 SAFT PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2019 (AND THE MOST DANGERO)
- GAY LIFE QATAR
- GAY LIFE DOHA?
- GAY PEOPLE LIVG UNR RADAR QATAR PREPARE WARILY FOR WORLD CUP
- GAY PEOPLE LIVG UNR RADAR QATAR PREPARE WARILY FOR WORLD CUP
- WHAT ’S LIKE TO BE GAY AND QATARI
- GAY UPL VISG - DOHA FOM
GAY DOHA TRAVEL GUI
gay life Qatar, homosexualy Qatar, LGBT Qatar, human rights Qatar, homophobia Qatar * doha gay scene *
In an attempt to help terme the worst plac for gay travelers, the duo created the 2019 LGBTQ+ Danger Inx, rankg the world’s most dangero—and saft—untri for gay travelers. The uple also updated the list wh the bt and worst plac for gay travelers 2021, which n be viewed here. The journalists looked at the top 150 most-vised untri the world by the number of g tourists, then ranked them g eight factors, cludg laws agast gay relatnships, legal protectn agast discrimatn and more.
Toppg the LGBTQ+ Danger Inx is Nigeria, which is nsired the worst untry for vlence agast gay travelers.
BEG GAY DOHA
* doha gay scene *
There, people n be put prison for up to 14 years jt for beg gay, and some stat even have the ath penalty unr Sharia law. In almost all s, the laws outlawg nsensual gay sex were put to place unr Brish le and were left place followg pennce.
“In 2018, India managed to annul Sectn 377, a Brish lonial-era law prohibg ‘unnatural acts, ’ orr to legalize nsensual gay sex, ” says Fergson, who pots out that ancient Indian lerature such as the Mahabharata and Ramayana have many referenc to LGBTQ+ hero cludg transgenr warrrs and two queens who ma love orr for one queen to get pregnant wh an heir for their kgdom.
“Long story short, this pots to the fact that was likely the Brish fluence that largely led to Indian homophobia the first place, ” she says.
5 SAFT PLAC FOR GAY TRAVELERS IN 2019 (AND THE MOST DANGERO)
A group of Arab iends livg Qatar's pal Doha met up over cktails and snacks last week, exchangg opns as they flicked through profil of gay men on datg apps Tr and Grdr. * doha gay scene *
“We found this to be a b ironic as the reason for many of the harsh homophobic laws untri throughout the world is largely leftover om laws created durg Brish le, ” says Fergson.
Has ma great progrs wh legalized same-sex marriage, worker protectns and crimalizatn of homophobic vlence. “One reason for that is that there is a great al of variatn gay rights pendg on the state you’re , ” says Fergson. You n see the entire rankg of the 150 untri here and also get 37 safety Swen, the saft untry the world for gay.
GAY LIFE QATAR
Prime Mister Jt T promoted clivy by marchg Toronto’s Pri Para and beme the untry’s first Prime Mister to vis a gay bar. Ci like Lisbon and Porto have the bt gay scen the untry and Portugal is hopg to host the 2022 Europri, the world's biggt event celebratg gay pri Europe. Wh an overall natnal attu that is relaxed and acceptg towards homosexualy, Belgium is known for havg a vibrant gay and lbian scene, particularly Bssels, ” says Fergson.
It was ranked so highly largely due to the extreme penalti for simply beg gay, which clu up to 14 years prison and the ath penalty stat unr Sharia law, ” says Fergson.
“This oil-rich Middle Eastern untry enforc up to three years prison, floggg and the ath penalty unr Sharia law for any acts of homosexualy. “In Yemen, the punishment for beg gay for both men and women is prison time and 100 lash, wh ath by stong for married men, ” says Fergson. “This nservative Mlim untry means bs when to rejectg homosexualy, both s laws and general public sentiment.
GAY LIFE DOHA?
“Sdi Arabia is another of the untri on our list which implements the ath penalty for nsensual homosexualy unr their terpretatn of Sharia law, ” says Fergson. “In Tanzania, any homosexual acts rult 30 years to life prison, and there has been a recent ernment crackdown on LGBT activy wh the untry. “Iran ma #6 on the x, due part to s extreme punishments for homosexualy, which clu 100 lash for homosexual terurse or the ath penalty, and 31 lash for same-sex acts other than terurse, ” says Fergson.
“Publicly, homosexualy is a taboo topic, so LGBTQ+ travelers choosg to vis Sudan should proceed wh utn and rema discreet wh regards to their sexualy. “Historilly, Barbados and some other Caribbean islands have had poor anti-LGBTQ+ legislatn and practic, largely left over om the Brish occupatn which put the laws place and rerced anti-gay attus. Unfortunately, imposed punishment for homosexualy is severe and the existence of gay people Malaysia was nied by their tourism mister as recently as March 2019, ” says Fergson.
“Unr state terpretatn of Sharia law, homosexualy Malaysia rults up to 20 years prison, whippg and f. “The punishments for homosexualy Malawi have earned this Ain untry spot #10 on our list, ” says Fergson.
GAY PEOPLE LIVG UNR RADAR QATAR PREPARE WARILY FOR WORLD CUP
Pro-LGBTQ+ anizatns are also banned by the ernment Malawi and general public sentiment regards homosexualy as off-lims.
GAY PEOPLE LIVG UNR RADAR QATAR PREPARE WARILY FOR WORLD CUP
That said, the LGBTQ+ muny is margalized this untry and there are heavy nsequenc for beg homosexual, which clu seven years to life prison for any same-sex act, ” says Fergson. Unfortunately, thgs may soon be gettg even worse for the LGBTQ+ muny, as the Ugandan ernment has recently lled to retroduce an anti-homosexualy bill, which would clu the ath penalty for same-sex acts, the midst of the recent murr of a gay Ugandan activist.
“Same-sex relatnships are nsired to be taboo Pakistan and there are strict laws erng agast homosexualy. For example, homosexual terurse n rult up to 10 years prison wh a fe or life prison, ” says Fergson. “In the Paltian terrori of Gaza and the Wt Bank, the anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment is taken very serly, wh homosexual acts rultg up to 10 years prison, ” says Fergson.
“Groups advotg for LGBTQ+ rights are threatened by the erng thori Palte, who nsir homosexualy to be ‘a blow to, and vlatn of, the ials and valu of Paltian society. Currently, Kenyan law stat that same-sex terurse between mal rults 14 years prison, while all other homosexual acts between mal are punished wh five years imprisonment, ” says Fergson.
WHAT ’S LIKE TO BE GAY AND QATARI
“However, the crimalizatn of gay sex is beg discsed wh the ernment, which would likely bolster LGBTQ+ travel to the untry.
GAY UPL VISG - DOHA FOM
“In the Maldiv, homosexual acts and terurse, as well as same-sex marriage, earn eight years prison or 100 lash.
In fact, Jamai was lled ‘the most homophobic place on Earth’ by Time magaze 2006 and LGBTQ+ people are sadly still the victims of homophobic vlence today. Rankg 19th on our x, Ethpia outlaws same-sex relatns and ‘cent, ’ or homosexual, acts rult up to 15 years prison, ” says Fergson. “Recently, there have been ath threats by Ethpia’s Orthodox Christian muny over gay tourism to the untry, puttg LGBTQ+ tourists at risk.