Attitude to gays sparks warning over Qatar links
THE main gay lobby group and two gay AMs have warned that Wales needs to be wary about a future partnership with an Arab country that has one of the world’s most oppressive policies on homosexuality.
First Minister Carwyn Jones visited Qatar at the weekend following an announcement that there will be regular flights between Cardiff Airport and the Gulf state’s capital Doha.
In a press statement, Mr Jones said: “My visit to Doha this weekend, alongside the new service, is the beginning of a special relationship with Qatar and the Middle East.”
Last year, however, Qatar was named by the Washington Post as one of the top 10 oppressive states towards homosexuals, where men convicted of engaging in gay sex can be jailed for up to three years.
An anonymous gay Qatari blogger wrote after last year’s attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida: “People were saying they all deserved to die – they should have died and done humanity a favour. They called them ‘God’s cursed people’.
“There were comments saying we should all have been shot, or put on an island and set on fire. It is very jarring living here, it is traumatising to see that you are the cause of your parents’ anguish, that you are shaming your family. It is a constant onslaught, and it is killing me.”
Andrew White, director of Stonewall Cymru, said: “The First Minister describes this as ‘the beginning of a special relationship with Qatar and the Middle East’.
“We want the government to also use this opportunity to open discussions about LGBT equality. These conversations and any resulting activities must be made in consultation with and led by the expertise of LGBT human rights campaigners based in those countries to ensure the safest and most productive outcome.”
Labour AM Jeremy Miles said: “I am very clear that LGBT+ rights are human rights, in every country, on every continent. As an outward looking, international trading nation it is important that we let Qatar and all countries that we trade with know that our values are underpinned by fairness, equality and acceptance.
“This doesn’t mean withdrawing from the wider world, it means engaging with it and supporting LGBT human rights groups to make their own countries more open to different identities and ideas. Above all, we should continue to show Wales is a country that champions LGBT+ equality at home and abroad.”
Plaid Cymru AM Adam Price said: “Qatar is an important potential source of investment and export sales for Wales. However, that should not obscure the fact that Qatar is guilty of the most severe form of discrimination against LGBT people, including imprisonment and physical punishment. While this appalling record of human rights abuse remains in place then it must, with regret, be stated unequivocally then Qatar and Wales cannot be partners in any wider sense.”
A Welsh Government spokesman said: “The Welsh Government is a strong supporter of LGBT rights and we expect all people in Wales and across the world, regardless of their sexuality, to be treated equally. We fund Stonewall Cymru to help build a Wales where people are free to be themselves, prejudice is challenged and our laws protect LGBT people.
“The First Minister visited Doha to develop Wales’ economic relationship with the region, following Qatar Airways’ decision to invest in a new direct service from Cardiff to Doha. The service is a huge boost for Wales, providing a direct route into the world’s fastest growing hub airport and opening up Wales’ links with the rest of the world.”