Qatar is hosting the 2020 FIFA World Cup. While, the authoritarian government says homosexual fans are welcome to attend, they will not be allowed to engaged in homosexual activism.
Rainbow flags, or other symbols of “gay pride,” will be confiscated. Officials in Qatar say that it would be dangerous for a fan to display a rainbow flag, therefore the flag must be confiscated for their own protection.
Major General Abdulaziz Abdullah al-Ansari told the media:
“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. Because if it’s not me, somebody else around him might attack. I cannot guarantee the behavior of the whole people. And I will tell him: ‘Please, no need to really raise that flag at this point.’ You want to demonstrate your view about the situation, demonstrate it in a society where it will be accepted. We realize that this man got the ticket, comes here to watch the game, not to demonstrate, a political [act] or something which is in his mind. Watch the game. That’s good. But don’t really come in and insult the whole society because of this.”
“Reserve the room together, sleep together — this is something that’s not in our concern. We are here to manage the tournament. Let’s not go beyond the individual personal things which might be happening between these people . . . this is actually the concept. Here we cannot change the laws. You cannot change the religion for 28 days of the World Cup.”
Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar.
