Qatar shuts down Tatchell’s LGBT rights protest
GAY rights activist Peter Tatchell was stopped from staging a proLGBT protest in Qatar yesterday, 26 days before the World Cup.
Police stepped in after he held up a sign outside the National Museum of Qatar in Doha, where the England men’s football team are set to play in just under four weeks.
Wearing a T- shirt with the hashtag #QatarAntiGay, the 70year- old campaigner held up a placard which read: ‘ Qatar arrests, jails and subjects LGBTs to conversion.’
But nine Qatari state officers intervened, taking away the sign and ‘interrogating’ him for 50 minutes before encouraging him to leave the country immediately, according to Mr Tatchell. The officers also spoke with his colleague, Simon Harris, who filmed the encounter and claimed his phone was confiscated and all pictures and videos were deleted. The pair then headed straight to the airport to return to the UK.
Qatar has some of the most repressive anti-gay laws in the world. Homosexuality is prohibited and punishable by three years in jail and even death by stoning. Mr Tatchell’s demonstration is believed to be the first-ever reported LGBT+ protest in Qatar or any Gulf state.
His arrest comes as thousands of England and Wales fans prepare to descend on Qatar for the 2022 World Cup, which starts on November 20. Last week the Government and England boss Gareth Southgate issued strong advice to fans to abide by the Gulf state’s customs. ‘There may be serious penalties for doing something that is not an offence in the UK. The availability of alcohol, and associated laws, will be different from previous tournaments,’ the Foreign Office said.
‘Steer clear of drugs. Qatar takes a zero-tolerance approach and visitors can expect a severe penalty for the possession of even residual amounts.’ Shortly before he was stopped, Mr Tatchell accused Qatar of ‘sports-washing’ by using the World Cup ‘to enhance its international image’.
He said: ‘There can be no normal sporting relations with an abnormal regime like Qatar. It is a homophobic, sexist and racist dictatorship.
‘I did this protest to shine a light on Qatar’s human rights abuses against LGBT+ people, women, migrant workers and liberal Qataris. I am supporting their brave battle against tyranny.
‘LGBT+ Qataris face police harassment, online entrapment, “honour” killing, arrest, three years’ jail and potentially the death penalty. Qatar has secret gay conversion centres where LGBT+ people can be detained and sub
‘Nine officers interrogating me’
jected to abusive attempts to turn them straight.’ Qatar’s government communication office said the activist was simply told ‘ cordially and professionally’ to move.
‘Rumours on social media that a representative from the Peter Tatchell Foundation has been arrested in Qatar are completely false and without merit,’ it said.
But Mr Tatchell insisted he was ‘arrested and detained on the kerbside for 49 minutes’. ‘There were a total of nine officers surrounding and interrogating me about where I was from, who was helping me, where I was staying and when I was leaving Qatar,’ he said.
David Beckham has faced flak for signing a multi-million-pound deal to be a World Cup ambassador despite Qatar’s human rights record.