LGBT Activist Peter Tatchell Stages Protest In Qatar, Arrested
Australian born LGBTQI activist Peter Tatchell (70) was arrested in Qatar on Tuesday while protesting that country’s homophobic laws ahead of the FIFA World Cup.
Qatari security services reportedly seized Tatchell while he was staging a one-man protest outside the National Museum of Qatar in Doha.
UK-based Tatchell was holding the first ever public LGBTQI protest in Qatar. Tatchell shared a photo of him holding a placard that read: “Qatar arrests, jails & subjects LGBTs to ‘conversion’ #QatarAntiGay.” The activist said on Twitter: “The World Cup hosts are homophobic”.
In a statement, UK-based Peter Tatchell Foundation said that the activist’s current whereabouts was unknown. The FIFA World Cup is scheduled to be held in Qatar from November 20 – December 18, 2022.
‘Homophobic, Sexist And Racist Dictatorship’
Before his arrest, Tatchell said that there could “no normal sporting relations with an abnormal regime like Qatar. It is a homophobic, sexist and racist dictatorship.”
“Qatar cannot be allowed to sportswash its reputation. It is using the World Cup to enhance its international image. We must ensure that the tyrant regime in Doha does not score a PR victory. I did this protest to shine a light on Qatar’s human rights abuses against LGBTQIA+ people, women, migrant workers and liberal Qataris. I am supporting their brave battle against tyranny,” Tatchell said.
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“LGBTQIA+ Qataris face police harassment, online entrapment, ‘honour’ killing, arrest, three years jail and potentially the death penalty. Qatar has secret gay conversion centres where LGBTQIA+ people can be detained and subjected to abusive attempts to turn them straight. Women must get permission from a male guardian to marry, work in many government jobs and to study and travel abroad.”
Homosexuality in Qatar is illegal. The Penal Code (2004) criminalises acts of ‘sodomy’ and ‘sexual intercourse’ between people of the same sex.
The law carries punishments of up to three years in prison and a fine. Under the country’s Islamic Sharia laws, Muslims face the death penalty (though there are no known instances of the death penalty being enforced for homosexuality in the past).
‘FIFA Failed To secure Change’
“Over 6,500 migrant workers have died since Qatar was given the right to host the World Cup. Many families are still waiting for compensation. Migrant workers complain of unpaid wages, overcrowded slum hostels and being refused permission to change jobs,” said Tatchell.
The activist also referred to FIFA’s role in legitimising the human rights violations in the country.
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“Despite FIFA saying that discrimination will not be tolerated, if a Qatari footballer came out as gay, he would be more likely to be arrested and jailed than be selected for the national team. That’s discrimination and against FIFA’s rules,” said Tatchell.
“FIFA has failed to secure change in Qatar. There have been no legislative reforms on LGBTQIA+ or women’s rights. Improvements for migrant workers have been patchy at best. FIFA is letting Qatar evade many of its pledges when it was granted the right to hold the World Cup,” added Tatchell.
In 2018, Tatchell was arrested by Russian authorities after he staged a one man protest against the country’s homophobic laws in Moscow ahead of the World Cup.
