Confn, exasperatn and datg apps – my month as a gay reporter at the Qatar World Cup - The Athletic

Contents:

• GAY PEOPLE LIVG UNR RADAR QATAR PREPARE WARILY FOR WORLD CUP
• CONFN, EXASPERATN AND DATG APPS – MY MONTH AS A GAY REPORTER AT THE QATAR WORLD CUP
• BT GAY DATG APPS 2022: WEBS FOR LGBTQ+ DATG
• GAY PEOPLE LIVG UNR RADAR QATAR PREPARE WARILY FOR WORLD CUP
• GAY MAN 'HUNTED' BY QATAR POLICE AND GANG-RAPED HOTEL ROOM AHEAD OF WORLD CUP
• SNIFFL GAY DATG APP

GAY PEOPLE LIVG UNR RADAR QATAR PREPARE WARILY FOR WORLD CUP

REUTERS/Fabriz Bensch/ Acquire Licensg RightsDOHA, Nov 19 (Rters) - 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 phone of one flashed wh a msage om a suor around the rner.

CONFN, EXASPERATN AND DATG APPS – MY MONTH AS A GAY REPORTER AT THE QATAR WORLD CUP

The man his 20s leapt up om the table, leavg to meet his date 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. We go to the beach, " said another gay man, om the Wt, who has lived the wealthy untry for over a .

"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 four spoke on ndn of anonymy due to ncern over possible punishment om thori. "It's not all sufferg, " said a 30-year-old gay Arab man who has lived and worked Doha for nearly 10 fact, the four exprsed worri about the wave of ternatnal cricism about gay rights Qatar brought by the World Cup, fearg they uld lose the eedoms they do enjoy should the opprobrium lead to a public backlash agast the LGBT+ muny once global attentn mov on. "The men prent jt one snapshot of life for gay people the Gulf natn - and the four regnise their relative eedoms are a product of privilege; they n afford to live alone, host parti and meet partners high-end rtrants or nightclubs, where the strict l of Qatari society are often more 's not like that for members of Qatar's LGBT muny have reported beg taed, some as recently as September, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said.

BT GAY DATG APPS 2022: WEBS FOR LGBTQ+ DATG

A Qatari official cricised the HRW report as ntag false rmatn and said the untry do not license or operate nversn Mohamed, a gay Qatari physician who has lived the Uned Stat for about a , weled the attentn the tournament has drawn to Qatar's rights rerd, sayg prompted him to speak out wily about his sexualy. 9 ln populatn, wh the rt foreign workers, rangg om low-e nstctn workers to high-powered four men terviewed by Rters said that there were strong fancial and reer centiv to ridg the untry, addg that life for gay people there was better than some other plac the Middle ced Sdi Arabia and Iran, where men have been sentenced to ath for beg gay.. I know gay men workers' mps wouldn't be able to live the same way.

"Qatari anisers of the World Cup have warned visors agast public displays of affectn but say that everyone, no matter their sexual orientatn or background, is wele at the the tournament, medil practners will not ask patients about their extramaral sex, relign or any other stat, acrdg to the Yoef Al Maslamani, the healthre spokperson for the FIFA World the 12 years sce Qatar was named host of the 2022 tournament, the untry has faced tensifyg cricism over s rights rerd on laborers, women and the LGBT furore has been fuelled by ments om public figur cludg former Qatar player and World Cup ambassador Khalid Salman who told a German broadster that homosexualy was "damage the md". I was a gay reporter Qatar for four weeks. I was fortunate, too, that The Athletic’s football edor is a gay man who felt the issue should be explored.

GAY PEOPLE LIVG UNR RADAR QATAR PREPARE WARILY FOR WORLD CUP

And, this suatn at least, to be gay affords a blsg not granted to other mory groups: n be hidn. It meant tailg and unrstandg how and why LGBT+ people — and that bloody armband — beme one of the them of the here is a gay guy’s acunt of the past month, reportg the World Cup Qatar. Grdr, however, is more of a hook-up app and is often the most direct wdow to the lol gay muny.

There were gay or bisexual men om across the Gulf regn. Gianni Infanto speaks ntroversially ahead of the tournament (Photo: Christopher Lee/Getty Imag)Homosexual behavur is illegal Qatar, as is sex outsi of marriage, regardls of sexual orientatn, so some of what I am scribg may e as a surprise. “I go to a hook-up bee I crave pany and nnectn, even if is fleetg, ” says one gay man, whose inty is ncealed to protect his inty.

GAY MAN 'HUNTED' BY QATAR POLICE AND GANG-RAPED HOTEL ROOM AHEAD OF WORLD CUP

Some gay men said they lead secretive liv wh partners. Several gay men scribed their fear of police entrapment, as well as s of btal sexual abe. The hostily is worse for those nsired feme, or trans, unrlg that so much about homophobia is unrpned by warped perceptns of the tournament, many Wtern journalists had obssed over whether men would be able to hold hands Doha.

Several gay men were rigned to unfulfilled personal liv, forced to marry women to su society, whether Qatar or neighbourg stat.

SNIFFL GAY DATG APP

They explaed that fay and relign do the job of the state, imposg a cloak of shame over homosexualy. One said he was prepared to set asi his own happs bee he feared his father would be stigmatised by his fay if he was known to have a gay person shared so many of the same terts as me.

He has enjoyed gay sexual enunters but never his own untry, for fear of reprisals. He said he had no gay iends wh whom he uld share his feelgs.