Joe.My.God. LGBT News
The Associated Press reports:
Rainbow flags could be taken from fans at the World Cup in Qatar to protect them from being attacked for promoting gay rights, a senior leader overseeing security for the tournament told The Associated Press. Major General Abdulaziz Al Ansari insisted that LGBTQ couples would be welcomed and accepted in Qatar for the Nov. 21-Dec. 18 FIFA showpiece despite same-sex relations remaining criminalized in the conservative Gulf nation.
But Al Ansari is against the overt promotion of LGBTQ freedoms as symbolized by the rainbow flag that FIFA and World Cup organizers had previously said would be welcome across Qatar’s eight stadiums. “If he (a fan) raised the rainbow flag and I took it from him, it’s not because I really want to, really, take it, to really insult him, but to protect him,” Al Ansari told the AP.
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Non-Muslims charged with homosexual acts in Qatar face up to seven years in prison. All Muslims face execution for non-marital sex, but there’s no known case of a Muslim being executed specifically for having gay sex. In a notable 1998 case, an American tourist was sentenced to six months in prison and 90 public lashes after being accused of having gay sex.
A Qatari leader told @AP that rainbow flags could be confiscated at the World Cup in his country, where same-sex relations are criminalized. He says it would be to protect people from being attacked. FIFA previously said the flags would be welcomed. https://t.co/KnBw7d6mMo
— The Associated Press (@AP) April 1, 2022