In The News
Gracias, Messi! 28 International Front Pages Mark Argentina’s World Cup Win
ARGENTINA
FRANCE
QATAR
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
ISRAEL
TURKEY
SPAIN
GERMANY
ITALY
UNITED STATES
BRAZIL
MEXICO
URUGUAY
VENEZUELA
More about Worldcrunch
About usEditorial MissionEqual OpportunityCorporate ServicesFollow us on social media
Qatar
LGBTQ+ International: Russia’s Short-Lived Queer Museum, Italy’s Gender-Neutral Toilet — And Other News
- Exiled transgender Qatari royal
- Switzerland struggling with “gay conversion therapy”
- U.S. signs “Respect For Marriage Act” into Constitution
- … and more
✉️ You can receive our LGBTQ+ International roundup every week directly in your inbox. Subscribe here.
TW: This content may address topics and include references to violence that some may find distressing.
🇶🇦🇬🇧 Leaks Show How A Transgender Qatari Royal Found Asylum In UK
Leaked documents obtained by The Sunday Times reveal that an unnamed “trans princess” belonging to Qatar’s Al-Thani royal family escaped during a family trip to London in 2015, fearing persecution in their home country. They were then granted asylum by Britain.
As reported in the documents, the member of the royal family told the UK Home Office that “growing up in Qatar has been the most difficult thing” they ever had to do. In Qatar, transgender people can be detained for "violating public morality", which requires no trial or official charge. Recently, a Qatari transgender woman has spoken out about her fear and the dangers she faces being transgender in a country with very strict laws against it. "I am very afraid, but I just want people to know that we do exist," she says.
⚽️ World Cup Update: Homophobic Slurs, France Voices Support, Snapchat Filters
Inside a soccer stadium in Qatar during the 2022 FIFA World Cup
Although the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar is drawing to a close, there’s been no shortage of controversy as human rights remain a hot topic in the infamously conservative host country. Here’s an update on LGBTQ+ related World Cup events:
• FIFA to investigate homophobic chants by Mexican supporters
Mexican fans were asked not to use their notorious anti-gay “puto” chant, but it became a ritual for the country’s fans during goal kicks by goalies of opposing teams. Now, as Mexico is eliminated from the competition, FIFA has opened an investigation into the chanting and will ultimately look to bar fans from future matches hosted by Mexico.
• LGBTQ+ friendly journalist Grant Wahl dies
Tributes have been pouring in after celebrated U.S. sports journalist Grant Wahl died in Qatar. Wahl reportedly died after suffering an aortic aneurysm, according to his wife, and no foul play is suspected. His passing came just days after the journalist made the news for wearing a Pride shirt to a match in Qatar in a display of support for the LGBTQ+ community. A second sports journalist has since also died suddenly while covering matches in Qatar.
• France speaks out, at last
Though players have refrained from wearing the “One Love” armbands in support of the LGBTQ+ community, world diplomats and executives around the world are showing support in other ways. The Sports Minister for France, Amélie Oudéa-Castera, wore a sweater to the France-England match last week with rainbows on its sleeves.
Additionally, French player Antoine Griezmann has voiced his support for the community once again. Asked about his past positions and possible embarrassment at the idea of playing a World Cup in Qatar he said, "A little embarrassed? Yes and no. No matter where I am in the world, they know they will always have my support. But I'm a footballer, that's my profession. My country calls me to play a game, I come with pride. They have my full support, all my respect," he insisted.
• An LGBTQ+ Snapchat filter
World leaders from LGBTQ+-friendly countries such as Germany, Great Britain, and Denmark have found a way to help show support for the community with an initiative using a Snapchat filter that enables World Cup fans to post virtual Pride rainbows from Qatar despite its harsh anti-LGBTQ+ laws.
• Irish model Vogue Williams slams lack of UK support
After refusing her invitation to Qatar in support of her gay sister, Irish model and TV presenter Vogue Williams has criticized David Beckham for not speaking out in support of the LGBTQ+ community, calling on him to donate some of his earnings to LGBTQ+ charities in Qatar to provide “much-needed safety to those living in terror”.
🇷🇺 Russia's First Queer Museum Closes After Only 5 Days
On the eve of the law banning LGBTQ+ propaganda, Russian activist Peter Voskresensky opened a Queer Museum dedicated to LGBTQ+ history and aesthetics in St. Petersburg.
"Opening the museum is a political gesture because now Russia is passing a law that will not only make LGBT people invisible but will call their existence into question," says the museum's founder.
But just a couple of days later, the museum was closed — but not before an estimated 200 people had a chance to visit it. Among the visitors was a priest from the Association of Christian Eucharistic Communities. "My congregation is mostly LGBT parishioners; I'm afraid many will have to go underground," the priest commented.
🇬🇭 Ghana Offers Trauma Counseling After Hate Speech Boom Since Musk’s Twitter Takeover
Anti-LGBTQ+ hate has spiked on Twitter since Elon Musk took over the company. Human rights organizations in Africa worry that online hate will drive the LGBTQ+ community away from the site — or even translate to offline harassment and violence.
In response, campaigners in Ghana have even started offering online safety training and trauma counseling to their communities.
🇰🇷 South Korea Rejects Plea To Recognize Trans Soldier’s Death As “On Duty”
A military committee decided last week to classify the death of Byun Hee-soo, South Korea’s first transgender soldier who was found dead a year after being forcibly discharged from service, as "general death". Her family and LGBTQ+ rights activists had called for the Army to categorize her death as “on-duty”, but the panel rejected the claim, arguing that Byun's death had no "significant causal connection" with her military service.
Byun Hee-soo had voluntarily enlisted as male in 2017 and served as a tank gunner at an armored unit in Gyeonggi Province. In 2019, she underwent sex reassignment surgery in Thailand and expressed her desire to continue serving as a female soldier. The army discharged her in January 2020 saying the surgery rendered her mentally and physically unfit to be on active duty. She had filed a suit over this decision but died in an apparent suicide in February 2021 before any hearing in her case. The "general death" categorisation is, however, a recognition of her death as a soldier and not just a citizen.
🇮🇹 Right-Wing Italian Mayor Says “Si” To Gender-Neutral Toilets
Mario Conte, the mayor of Treviso and a Northern League Right Wing party member, backed gender-neutral toilets in the Mazzotti Technical Tourist Institute of the Venetian city. This was surprising due to the possible repercussions of this position inside the Party. The city of Treviso last June formally allowed the change of gender of a trans student on the diploma of the city's art school.
Conte explains that the request came from the students and for this reason it is legitimate and must be accepted "to avoid wrong attitudes towards the students who have made their will clear".
🇨🇭Switzerland At A Loss On How To Deal With “Gay Conversion Therapy”
How do you deal with “gay conversion therapy” that doesn’t call itself that? Swiss parliamentarians are wondering how to regulate the practice (which can range from everything from talking, to extreme practices like electroshock) when the very groups that do it avoid the label.
As more European countries put bans into place (Greece, Germany, France, and Malta already, potentially soon joined by Spain and Belgium), Switzerland fears that bans in those countries will bring more practitioners and “patients” to the country.
🇺🇸 Joe Biden Signs “Respect For Marriage Act” Into Constitution
U.S. President Joe Biden
Just a quarter of a century after U.S. Congress defined marriage exclusively as the “union between a man and a woman,” U.S. President Joe Biden signed into law a landmark legislation protecting same-sex marriage in the Constitution after it was approved by Congress.
This legislation, called Respect for Marriage Act, asks for states and federal governments to acknowledge the validity of same-sex marriage as well as interracial marriages, even when it has been performed in another state. House speaker Nancy Pelosi thanked the lawmakers and advocates who helped the legislation. “Not only are we on the right side of history, we’re on the right side of the future: expanding freedom in America,” she said.
🇲🇽 Man Prosecuted For Femicide Against A Trans Woman For First Time In Mexico
Transfemicide doesn't exist as a crime in Mexico’s penal code, so the first prosecution of a man for femicide against a trans woman sets a precedent. Testimonies collected indicate that the man, whose name was not released, attacked the victim with an object after an argument.
According to official figures, until May 2021 there were 25 investigation folders on violent deaths of trans women in Mexico’s capital.
🇧🇧 Caribbean Islands Approve Same-Sex Marriage, Barbados Decriminalizes Gay Sex
Bridgetown, BarbadosThe joint Court of Justice of the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten and Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba has ruled in favor of extending marriage rights to same-sex couples. According to the Curaçao Chronicle, “The court has come to the conclusion that excluding same-sex marriage is in violation of the prohibition of discrimination and incompatible with state regulations.”
Meanwhile, Barbados Téa Braun, chief executive of the human rights organization Human Dignity Trust, said that “what people choose to do with their private relationships is not the business of the law.”
🇮🇩 Indonesia’s New Ban On Sex Outside Marriage Is Huge Threat For LGBTQ+ Community
Indonesia lawmakers unanimously passed a new criminal code that outlaws sex outside of marriage. This new ban will also apply to foreigners and tourists and forbid cohabitation for people who are not married. “It’s another nail in the coffin for LGBTQ+ people,” Dede Oetomo, an activist with the LGBTQ+ rights group GAYa NUSANTARA, told AFP.
Indonesia has seen a surge of religious conservatism emerge in recent years around the country that is strongly affecting the LGBTQ+ community — for example, in the semi-autonomous Anteh province, public flogging of homosexuals still take place.
OTHERWISE
• Through photographs, narratives, paintings, videos or performances, the Habibi, The Revolutions Of Love exhibition which lasts through Feb. 19 at Paris’ Institut du Monde Arabe explores queer identities and their place in countries where the LGBTQ+ community often faces discriminations or legal sanctions. 76crimes focuses on Em Abed, a pioneering Lebanese trans woman in the 1990, and how she’s featured in the exhibition.
• For Pink News, Ukrainians Irene and Hanna reflect back on their heartbreaking decision to flee to neighboring Poland shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of the country in February for fear of being targeted as a lesbian couple.
• Nkululeko means “freedom” in Zulu — and it’s the name of South Africa’s first all-black, all-queer music compilation.
• From Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Rosa Diaz to Yuri from the anime Yuri On Ice, Gaysi pays tribute to the Fictional Characters That Made Me Come To Terms With My Queerness (And Sometimes Question It).
Morocco Has Become The World Cup Flag Bearer For A Nation: Palestine
Hassan Ored, a writer and historian, told the Beirut-based pan-Arab news outlet Daraj, that the tournament has revealed itself as a driver of regional identity, where the Palestinian cause is expressed through sport: “What is remarkable, given the organization of the World Cup in Qatar, is the predominance of the Arab dimension," he said. "It was evident through the raising of Palestinian flags by the fans and players, in an expression that their victories are not only for Morocco; Rather, it is for the Arab world.”
Double standards
It was not the first time that its black, red, white, and green colors appeared during this World Cup. The week before, a Tunisia supporter carrying a Palestinian flag had run onto the pitch during the match between the North-African team and France.
Aside from these sensational incidents, displays of support for Palestine have been constant since the beginning of this tournament – and not only from Arab fans. Last week, a video of an England supporter went viral; he had the St George's cross drawn on his face and a Palestinian flag in his hand shouting “Free Palestine” in Arabic during a TV interview outside the stadium.
The same motto was echoed in another popular video where an Uruguayan fan is was asked by a reporter why she is wearing a keffiyeh, the traditional black-and-white checkered scarf — a symbol of the Palestinian cause. Not everyone approved. On social media, several users have denounced the Qatari organizers’ double standards for allowing pro-Palestine displays while discouraging pro-LGBTQ+ symbols and Iranian anti-regime protests.
What are Qatar's relations with Israel?
It is not surprising that Qatar is proving to be a welcoming environment for pro-Palestine supporters. While many Arab countries have normalized relations with Israel – most recently, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco – and recent reports suggest that even Saudi Arabia is on the same track, the Qatari leadership keeps repeating that it will not do so until the Palestinian issue is resolved on the basis of the two-State solution envisaged by the Oslo accords of 1993-1995.
This was not always the case: in 1996, Qatar became the first Gulf State to establish commercial and diplomatic relations with Israel and to open an Israeli trade office on its soil. The office was shut down only four years later and the relations between the two countries became much more tense since the Gaza war of 2008-2009.
Today, Doha is among the most vocal in denouncing the abuses committed by the Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank, including through Qatar-owned news network Al-Jazeera. Just a few days ago, the government-funded channelannounced the submission of a formal request to the International Criminal Court to investigate on the death of its Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, killed last May while covering an Israeli raid in the village of Jenin, West Bank.
Palestinians watch the broadcast of the 2022 World Cup match between Saudi Arabia and Poland in Gaza City
Amplifying rifts
A sign of Qatar’s approach was seen some weeks before the beginning of the World Cup, when the organizers loudlyannounced the opening of the first direct flights between Doha and Tel-Aviv to bring both Israeli and Palestinian supporters to the stadiums. On that occasion, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said: “Football has the power to bring people together. It transcends all boundaries, crosses all borders.”
Well, not all of them. The last three weeks of the tournament have shown how the sport can also bring out and amplify existing rifts and barriers. Two in particular have emerged strongly.
The first, not so surprising, is the one between Israel and Arab countries. Supporters interrupt Israeli journalists outside the stadiums or refuse to speak with them.
This brings us to the second and certainly more surprising rift – at least for those looking from the outside: the one between Arab countries’ leadership and public sentiment.
A recent poll by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, cited in a Middle East Eyearticle by Feras Abu Helal, shows that around 80% of the people interviewed in Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia had a negative view of the Abraham Accords that prompted a normalization of diplomatic between Israel and respectively the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.
Les fans de football libanais au Qatar refusent de faire une interview avec une chaîne d'information israélienne.
— Kamel BRX (@KamelBrx) November 25, 2022
"Tu es venu faire quoi !
Y a pas d' "israël" "
Y a la Palestine.... "israël" n'existe pas !" pic.twitter.com/DpY7R4jFcT
In this tweet, Lebanese fans refuse to be interviewed by an Israeli journalist. The Israeli journalist speaks to them in Lebanese Arabic dialect saying “I am from Israel, my brothers;” the Lebanese football supporters walk away, saying “There is no Israel, there is only Palestine” “Why did you come here?” “How did you get here?” “There is no Israel” and shouting “Palestine” a few times. The journalist responds: “Israel exists, my friends”.
Pan-Arab sentiment, Israeli doubts
This leadership vs. people divide also applies to intra-Arab relations. As Yasmeen Sehran wrote, the celebrations for the victory of Morocco over Spain showed that the pan-Arab sentiment is still alive among people in North Africa and the Middle East, despite the strong and frequent tensions among the governments of their respective countries.
The perfect example was offered by the Algerian people celebrating their “Moroccan brothers”’ success, despite the decade-long dispute over Western Sahara which led to the interruption of diplomatic ties in August 2021.
No less telling was the point of view of Michal Aharoni, an Israeli journalist quoted in al Jazeera, who described what she called a state of “Palestinian supremacy” during the World Cup. In a message sent to the Israeli community, Aharoni wrote, "Here we are discovering that there is a vibrant Palestinian people, and to realize that, the Israeli media had to fly to Qatar to remember this fact."
*Renate Mattar contributed to this report
Let's Not Forget The Original Sin Of The Qatar World Cup: Greed
The soccer governing body FIFA, a private multinational that meddles unchecked in the public sphere, has become a byword for excess and shady financial practices. The Qatar World Cup illustrates this perfectly.
Money knows best
Beyond the many marvels of the game, soccer has served to hide brutality and ignominies. Today, it is helping Qatar's ruling elite display boundless power in a land where the people don't receive the benefits.
Qatar snatched the opportunity, not with prayers and piety but with gold.
Even before 2010, Qatar's shady dealings and strong-arm tactics were somewhat known. But FIFA, which has little time for petty details like a host country's hellish conditions, let the country host the World Cup. The pressures, deceit, political haggling and payments that led to this decision are widely know, but they just called this old-fashioned business. Money knows best, bless it.
Qatar snatched the opportunity, not with prayers and piety but with gold. Better still, it was black gold, which made it all possible — nay, inevitable. FIFA's former President Sepp Blatter later belatedly admitted that picking Qatar was a mistake.
But the die had been cast, and the event demands a colosseum. That is where the migrants come in, from Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka or Nepal, working from "January to January" and "Sunday through Sunday" without rights but with so many needs. In the eyes of the elite, they exist to be exploited by the untouchable rich and their banks, who are there to run things.
What's the price of quashing human rights?
Thanks to investigations by places like The Guardian, the world began to learn about the mistreatment of workers in Qatar. It was already a harsh place for press freedoms, women and LGBTQ+ people, but now migrants were being worked to death. A stadium was built with the blood of workers.
A stadium was built with the blood of workers.
As The Guardian observed, more than 6,500 workers have died building the shining structures now hosting the games. Was it worth it? Should we care about a few thousand families mourning a relative who will not return, or that Qatar quashes freedoms for women and gays?
Soccer is more than just a game. Italy's dictator Mussolini knew it in 1934, as did the Nazis, some African dictators and the Brazilian generals who were enthralled by Pele's genius. The Argentine junta knew it in 1978, when cheering crowds obliterated the sound of detainees screaming under torture.
Soccer needs a bit of blood and sacrifice, they'll say — watch that expert dribbling or gobsmacking goal, and forget the injustice.
Society
The Singular Legacy Of Qatar's World Cup: Dead Migrant Workers
Migrant workers have played an important role in transforming Qatar ever since it was controversially awarded the World Cup hosting rights in 2010. The stadiums where the games will be held this November-December are built on the blood, sweat and tears of thousands of migrant workers from Asia and Africa. Some reports put the death toll of migrant workers who built the eight stadiums (along with a new airport, metro system and associated infrastructure) at 6,500. Qatari authorities say 37 died.
Qatar’s summer is hot. So hot that FIFA made the unprecedented decision to move the tournament from its traditional slot in June to November, despite the havoc it has wreaked on the multi-billion dollar world of domestic football. But while organizers felt the summer conditions were too extreme for professional athletes to run out 90-minute matches, it’s alleged they subjected their workers — largely migrants — to 18 hour days.
Losing more than just a family member
Football is huge in Nepal. Many young Nepalese football fans will be glued to television screens to watch their heroes — Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappé — in the stadiums built on the blood and bones of thousands just like them, who died in Qatar’s grueling working conditions.
The reality is conditions for families of Nepali migrant workers who have died in Qatar have worsened after losing the main breadwinner. Migrants often have to pay high recruitment fees to both Nepalese and Qatari recruitment agencies. The fees could be as high as $2000, which is often a loan they take from a local money lender at an exorbitant interest rate. When most construction workers are paid only $200-$300 per month, several months of their wage goes to repaying the loan.
For those who die, the burden of paying the loan back falls on surviving family members. In most cases, another adult family member or a teenage son awaits to migrate. This cycle traps them in a debt spiral.
Bhupendra, a migrant from Nepal working in Qatar, has been left permanently disabled after a horrendous workplace accident in June 2011.
"Died in their sleep"
Questions linger over the deaths of migrant workers. Most families are told that their loved ones died in their sleep, with very few proper investigations into worker deaths. Sutda sutdai maryo (in Nepali, roughly translates to died in his sleep) has become a colloquial phrase among migrants in the Gulf. The phrase characterizes the helplessness families of migrant workers feel when they are neither properly compensated for a loved one’s death, nor provided with a more plausible cause of death.
There is a feeling of hopelessness among migrant workers
Healthy young men, mostly aged between 22 and 35, were dying within a year of arriving in Qatar to work. Death certificates often stated they died either of “cardiac arrest’’, “respiratory failure” or “natural causes”.
Ratna Mani Gajurel, a consultant cardiologist based in Kathmandu is skeptical about such causes of deaths. All migrant workers go through a mandatory health check up from a Nepalese government-authorized lab or hospital before a labor permit is granted. Defenders of the Qatari regime point to the reforms introduced since 2018, abolishing the kafala (sponsorship) system, limiting work hours when temperatures rise beyond 32°C and banning work in summer. But reports by various human rights organizations including Human Rights Watch and Transparency International reveal continuous apathy by recruiting companies and Qatari authorities.
The tarnished legacy of this World Cup
A joint letter by rights organizations to FIFA president Gianni Infantino says the football body knew or should have known of Qatar’s poor human rights records, and yet it did not do much for the migrant labor. Infantino’s comments since — including that workers should feel “dignity and pride” for the work they have done — have not been helpful. In Nepal, there is a feeling of hopelessness among migrant workers as they do not receive much support overseas. Embassies are poorly staffed and with frequent changes of government in Kathmandu, the functioning of Nepali foreign missions is affected, ambassadors often recalled.
The Gulf region needs migrant labor as much as migrants need jobs. They are indispensable for the region’s development. While it may be too late to protect the migrant workers who built Qatar’s World Cup facilities, it’s not too late for the countries where those workers came from to be more proactive in securing relief and protection of their citizens.
Negotiations with host countries such as Qatar to periodically adjust minimum wages in line with inflation would help improve the material circumstances of migrant workers. And future major projects would be safer if there was a stronger focus on sourcing and sending skilled workers — along with training provided by recruiting companies.
Pressing these issues as matters of labor diplomacy could prompt the best outcome for all: safe, sustainable employment for migrant workers, a large pool of labor for expanding economies, and stronger bilateral ties within the region among nations.
But no matter how well nations improve from here, the legacy of this World Cup will always be affected by the modern slavery-like conditions that marred its lead-up.
Australia’s national team, the Socceroos, released a video ahead of the tournament to condemn Qatar’s human rights record, including the treatment of migrant workers. Now, the pressure turns to heads of state to ensure conditions improve.
Society
Lusail Postcard: City Of The Future, Window Into Qatar's Ambitions
As the World Cup draws nearer, the events that led to it being awarded to Qatar are raising allegations of corruption at the heart of FIFA, the organizing body. But that doesn’t matter to Doha: its dramatic entrance onto the world stage is a key part of its National Vision 2030. Following in the footsteps of other monarchies in the Gulf region that owe their prosperity to oil and gas, the government’s development program aims to free this tiny emirate (which boasts 13.1% of the world’s proven natural gas reserves) from the well-known pitfalls of a rentier economy.
When the property market in the Gulf collapsed after the 2008 financial crisis, work on Lusail was considerably delayed. But this setback was never officially acknowledged by the State; it was offset by new investment in other sectors. The city’s infrastructure was meant to be finished by 2022, with 450,000 people expected to live on the planned 38 km2 site. That is still a long way off.
The environmental cost of the World Cup
Work on the site got going in earnest after the World Cup was awarded to Qatar. The pitch presented to FIFA included building the largest stadium in Qatar, the Lusail Iconic Stadium – which can hold 80,000 people and cost $675 million – to host the final and nine other matches in the tournament. After a last-minute push to finish construction, the stadium hosted its first event on Sept. 9 this year, the Lusail Super Cup, a rehearsal for the World Cup. It was a disaster: a lack of drinks and problems with the air conditioning drew complaints from spectators – mainly Qataris, Arabs from the wider region and middle-class Asian immigrant workers.
But Qatari officials have mastered the art of minimizing problems. On October, 15 days before the start of the tournament, the stadium’s project manager Tamim El Abed, appeared calm: “This kind of fine-tuning is exactly why we put on the test event,” he told a group of journalists at one of the traditional press visits, the only real opportunities to hear from the authorities.
When one journalist raised the environmental impact of the air-conditioned stadiums, engineer El Abed countered that they are using an innovative system that is “the result of ten years of research”. Like the seven other stadiums built specially for the tournament (the eighth, the national stadium, was built in 1976 and has only been modernized), the temperature within Lusail Stadium will be kept at a constant 17 degrees through a mechanism that is precisely calibrated to optimize energy use.
But this World Cup’s environmental impact is about more than reducing energy use; it is about its carbon footprint. According to a report commissioned by FIFA in 2021, the tournament will generate the equivalent of 3.36 million tons of CO2 – although this figure is widely considered to be an underestimate. The construction work required to build seven new stadiums for the competition is reported to have already produced 644,000 tons of CO2. And that doesn’t take into account the other forms of infrastructure created specially for the occasion…
These emissions are supposed to be offset by buying carbon credits, but environmental campaigners aren’t convinced by that argument, pointing out that projects have not been clearly identified or financed. “Even I find it difficult to believe,” admits an Arab diplomat in the lobby of the Four Seasons hotel.
An external view of the Lusail Stadium, taken in April 2022, during a media tour.
© Christian Charisius / dpa via ZUMA Press
Human rights violations
Then there are the allegations of human rights violations raised in a Guardian report in early 2021. The Qatari government has sought to suppress figures about the number of deaths on construction sites, but journalists have estimated there could be 6,500 victims. In the last few days, Qatar rejected calls from NGOs to create a compensation fund for migrant workers killed or injured in construction work.
Officially, this form of servitude no longer exists.
However, “without the World Cup, workers’ rights would not have moved forward at all,” says Max Tuñon, head of the International Labor Organization’s office in Doha, which opened in 2018. “No other country in the Gulf has allowed us to set up an office. The Qataris have introduced major reforms, including – importantly – abolishing the kafala system.”
This traditional system, based on an interpretation of the Koran, allows foreigners to move to Qatar for work under the authority of a local sponsor, who acts as a guardian. “I would say it’s more like a master,” says Edjaz, a taxi driver who worked as a crane operator on one of the Lusail construction sites three years ago. “My passport was locked in the boss’s office. He was Pakistani, like me. And we were crammed into dormitories on the side of the motorway,” he sighs.
Officially, this form of servitude no longer exists: migrant workers are no longer tied to a “kafeel” and their employer doesn’t have the right to take their papers away. Last year even saw the introduction of a minimum salary of $225. Although the law has been changed, in practice these measures are not often enforced. There is very little monitoring, and it is easy to find stories like Edjaz’s if you speak to anyone among the sea of high-vis jackets in Doha.
That is a dangerous thing to do, however, as the workforce are not allowed to talk to the press. Journalists who try to approach them have their notes and recording devices confiscated when they leave the country. This means that conversations take place in dim multi-storey car parks at dusk. The Arab diplomat dismisses the problem in the blink of an eye. “Do you really think that in these people’s home countries, the press are worried about what happens to them?” he asks in an offended tone.
A World Cup not aimed at the West
Raphaël Le Magoariec, who studies the geopolitics of the Gulf through the lens of sports diplomacy, offers a different perspective on the debate: “The Qataris have never hidden the fact that this World Cup is not primarily aimed at Westerners.”
In their eyes, Lusail is the first step in a vast plan to modernize the country, conceived by Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al Thani, the former Emir of Qatar (from 1993 until 2013) and father of current Emir Tamim Al Thani. Hamad Al Thani was the first Emir to try and reform Qatar’s highly conservative society. He believed that Wahhabi Islam – a strict interpretation that the country shares with Saudi Arabia – was holding his country back. “In his eyes, it was a question of survival in the shadow of the country’s giant neighbor, Saudi Arabia,” says Agnès Levallois, a specialist in Arab World issues and geopolitics.
It was also Hamad Al Thani who set up Al Jazeera to promote Doha’s interests around the world. Over the past 15 years, the television channel has grown into a powerful media group, a formidable instrument of soft power despite the structural instability in the wider Middle East. Its role in the so-called Arab Spring of 2011 is undisputed.
The sheikh was passionate about sport and technology, a friend to the West, and is seen as the founding father of modern Qatar. He was the one who, in an effort to reduce the country’s economic dependence on its natural gas reserves, created the Qatar Investment Authority, which now has an estimated $463 billion of assets.
View of the Lusail district of Doha and the Lusail Stadium from an airplane
© Christian Charisius / dpa via ZUMA Press
The soft power of sport
Today, his successors are continuing his legacy, seeking to exercise soft power through sports entertainment. Two years ago, the city of Lusail, which did not exist yet, applied to host the summer Olympic Games in 2032. Once again, the event would require a huge amount of new infrastructure – such as the 19,000-seater Al Thumama Stadium. This time, the Qataris pre-empted the criticism: is it really reasonable for such a small country to build such huge stadiums?
“Like Lusail, all of these stadiums can be dismantled,” explains Tamim Al Abed. “Some of the building materials will be moved to urban spaces and used for other purposes, in the future neighborhoods of Lusail City. The majority will be offered to African countries,” although the selection criteria for this are yet to be determined.
They think the systematic attacks are unfair.
“The West’s criticisms are by no means all disconnected from reality,” says Raphaël Le Magoariec. “And the Qataris must also take some responsibility, especially because they are so opaque, which feeds suspicions.”
However, it is clear that the Qataris are bothered by the criticism, as you can see from opinion pieces published in the local press, as well as conversations in town. “They think the systematic attacks are unfair, as they have willingly offered themselves up to the consequences of the international scrutiny that naturally comes with hosting these popular events.”
The World Cup is expected to attract 3.5 billion viewers, almost half the global population, and it is clear that many of them will not share the disapproval prevalent in Europe. “The Qataris have re-evaluated their position in the world,” says Raphaël Le Magoariec. Unlike his father, Emir Tamim does not want to be seen as bowing to the West.
However, the advert for Lusail City shown in business class on Qatar Airways is not aimed at the Qataris who appear in it, but at foreigners who have bought a ticket at an average price of €4,000. The make-up of this group has not changed much since the 1990s: wealthy Anglo-Saxons and a few French businessmen constantly traveling between the big global cities. They are the target audience for these new cities that are popping up across the Middle East, like Egypt’s new administrative capital announced by President El-Sisi, or Neom in Saudi Arabia.
LGBTQ Plus
LGBTQ+ International: World Cup Pressure, Buenos Aires Pride — And The Week’s Other Top News
- Top UK bishops preaching to the same-sex marriage choir
- Peru’s late public apology for torturing a trans woman
- A “sticker album” of LGBTQ+ sports in Argentina
- … and more
✉️ You can receive our LGBTQ+ International roundup every week directly in your inbox. Subscribe here.
TW: This content may address topics and include references to violence that some may find distressing.
🇵🇪 Peru Publicly Apologizes To Trans Woman Tortured 15 Years Ago
Peru has publicly apologized to Azul Rojas Marín, a trans woman who survived rape and torture after being arbitrarily detained by three police officers in 2008. Fifteen years of legal battle saw the case reach the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
Peru’s official apology comes two years after the Inter-American Court issued a sentence calling for ten binding reparations — the first time that the Peruvian state has offered public reparations to a member of the LGBTQ+ community. These reparations include providing medical and psychological assistance to Azul, the adoption of investigation protocols and the administration of justice in cases of police brutality, and the development of a plan to sensitize and train state agents on respectful treatment of LGBTQ+ people.
🇲🇽 Hidalgo Becomes First Mexican State To Recognize Non-Binary People
On Nov. 3, the Congress of the state of Hidalgo, Mexico, approved reforms to legally recognize non-binary people over 18 years of age. Although previously two non-binary people had already been legally recognized through lawsuits in Mexico, this makes Hidalgo the first Mexican state to enshrine it in law.
The 84 municipalities that make up the state of Hidalgo can carry out for free the administrative process that recognizes the identity of both trans and non-binary people. The law reform was presented earlier this year by deputy Miguel Martínez and Luis Ángel Tenorio Cruz, the first openly gay deputy in that state.
🇦🇷 Buenos Aires Pride Draws Hundreds Of Thousands
The 31st LGBTQ+ Pride March in the city of Buenos Aires welcomed hundreds of thousands of people between fairs, party atmosphere and shows that accompanied the parade from Plaza de Mayo to Congress.
People gathered from all over Latin America to participate in the festivities — check out some of the Pride’s best photos here.
🇶🇦 Pressure On Qatar Over LGBTQ+ Rights As World Cup Nears
With just days left before the 2022 World Cup kicks off in Qatar, outcry is mounting against the Gulf state’s harsh LGBTQ+ laws and recent demonstrations of prejudice.
• UK star Beth Mead says Qatar “not the right place”
Openly gay Arsenal forward, Beth Mead, has spoken out against the World Cup, saying Qatar isn’t the “right place” for the event to be held, and that she won’t be “backing or promoting” the World Cup due to the country’s extreme anti-LGBTQ+ laws.
• Qatari World Cup official calls homosexuality “damage in the mind”
While interviewed for a documentary by German broadcaster ZDF, Khalid Salman, an ambassador for the World Cup in Qatar, described homosexuality as a “damage in the mind” and “a spiritual harm,” leading the interviewer to cut off the exchange.
• Head of Wales soccer voices support of LGBTQ+ initiative
The chief executive of the Football Association of Wales, Noel Mooney, said the organization will be supporting the LGBTQ+ OneLove initiative, a campaign was started by the Netherlands to promote diversity and inclusion, and fight discrimination during the World Cup in Qatar.
• Gay Qatari activist speaks against “sports washing”
Dr. Nas Mohamed, who became one of the few Qataris to come out on a public platform in May, has spoken out about the World Cup, saying he will do whatever he can to shine a light on the persecution of LGBTQ+ people in his country, determined to not let authorities succeed in “sports washing”.
• “Shockingly scandalous”: LGBTQ+ fans groups blast FIFA
In response to a letter sent by FIFA saying that teams should focus on the sport at the World Cup, LGBTQ+ groups and allies in England and Wales have issued a joint statement alongside Pride in Football, calling their hypocrisy “sickening, and their silence in light of Qatar’s prejudice against LGBTQ+ people “shockingly scandalous”. The statement from the football governing body says that attendees should “try to respect all opinions and beliefs without handing out moral lessons.”
🇵🇱 Poland Recognizes Same-Sex Marriages Held Abroad
In a rare judgement in favor of LGBTQ+ rights, Poland’s highest administrative court has ruled in favor of recognizing same-sex marriages of Polish citizens legally married in other countries on Nov. 3. The case was brought up by Jakub Kwieciński and Dawid Mycek, two Polish men who got married in Portugal but whose union wasn’t recognized in their home country.
Though the country’s constitution describes marriage as “a union of a man and a woman,” the Supreme Administrative Court ruled that the article couldn’t “in itself constitute an obstacle to transcribing a foreign marriage certificate.” Poland, which has been ranked as the worst country for LGBTQ+ people in the European Union for two years in a row by Rainbow Europe, doesn’t legally recognize same-sex unions.
🇬🇧 Embattled Trans Children Charity Targeted By Death Threats
After British media giant Telegraphpublished a series of articles in September attacking trans children’s charity Mermaids, which provides support to trans children and their families, members of the organization’s staff are reporting cases of severe abuse.
Telegraph accused Mermaids of unsafe practices and inaccurately suggested the use of chest binders. Much of the mainstream British press relayed the news, prompting abuse toward Mermaids staff. CEO Susie Green says that within the last month, the charity has received 130 threatening calls and messages, 80 of which were so severe that they had to be reported to the police.
“It’s a concerted attack that’s intended to bring a lot of negative publicity to the organization but also to invite the harassment, particularly on social media, of the people who are working for the organization. It’s an all out attack,” said Cleo Madeleine, communications officer at Gendered Intelligence.
🇬🇧 Prominent UK Bishop Calls For Same-Sex Marriage, Other Bishops Follow Suit
Reverend Dr. Steven Croft, the Bishop of Oxford, has become the highest-ranking member of the Church of England to call for it to allow same-sex marriages, saying that clergy members should be offered the same affordance.
In his 52-page essay, Dr. Croft apologizes that his “own views were slow to change”, and said that any debate on same-sex marriage within the church should be “founded on love and respect”. Following suit, the bishops of Worcester, Dudley, Buckingham, Reading and Dorchester have joined him in speaking out in support of same-sex marriage in the Church of England.
🇺🇸 At Least One LGBTQ+ Candidate In Each U.S. State, A First In Midterms History
For the first time in US history, an LGBTQ+ representative from each of the country’s 50 states were in the run for the midterm elections this week — an almost 20% increase from the last elections. That’s 678 LGBTQ+ people who ran for seats in the House of Representatives and Senate on Nov. 8.
🇺🇸 U.S. Beauty Pageant Allowed To Reject Trans Contestants
Transgender beauty pageant contestant Anita Green
Anita Green via Instagram
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the Miss United States of America pageant couldn’t be forced to allow Anita Green, a transgender woman, to compete because it would violate its First Amendment.
Green had sued the organization in federal court in Portland last year after her application to participate in the pageant was denied. “It is commonly understood that beauty pageants are generally designed to express the ‘ideal vision of American womanhood,’” wrote Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke, a Trump appointee.
🇿🇦 Africa’s First LGBTQ+ Chamber Of Commerce Is Fighting Discrimination
Founded in 2017, PLUS is a South African LGBTQ+ business network and the first LGBTQ+ chamber of commerce on the continent.
South Africa legalized same-sex marriage in 2006, but queer people still face significant stigma. A 2016 report found that seven out of 10 South Africans felt homosexual sex and breaking gender norms was “wrong”. LGBTQ+ business owners feel the effects particularly strongly. For example, Zimkhitha Guma, the manager of PLUS, gives the example of a chef’s food business, which experienced a sharp drop in support after the chef came out.
PLUS aims to support LGBTQ+ business owners by hosting networking events and advocating for LGBTQ+ inclusion and diversity in companies.
🇺🇬 First Northern Uganda Pride Takes Place As A Display Of LGBTQ+ Resistance
It has not been an easy few months for the LGBTQ+ community in Uganda. In August, the government shut down a prominent LGBTQ+ rights group. Critics say the move is a “witch hunt” against queer people. Gay relationships in the country can still result in life prison sentences.
Against this difficult backdrop, the first Pride in Northern Uganda took place this week with the support of Pride Uganda. LGBTQ+ people from the Northern and Western Nile regions of the country came together as a display of resistance and as a celebration of queer talent.
In the words of one of the organizers: “We were scared putting this together but it was more terrifying to not be true to ourselves.”
🇦🇷 Collect ‘Em All! Photographer Creates “Sticker Album” Of Argentine LGBTQ+ Sports
Émilien Buffard's spoof sticker album "Sport Friendly: ¡la cancha de la diversidad!"
For a year, Émilien Buffard, a French photographer based in Rosario, Argentina, has traveled through the country to meet and shoot pictures of more than 500 players belonging to 18 LGBTQ+ sports teams. The result is a book, Sport Friendly: The Field of Diversity!, which revisits the traditional sticker album and features athletes from 12 disciplines, from tennis to martial arts and rugby.
The project was conceived as a way to promote diversity in the sports where discrimination is still very present. “What I hope is that this dialogue about diversity in sport opens up through cultural institutions and the media. Maybe we're missing the next Messi because he's gay,” Buffard told Argentine medium Presentes.
OTHERWISE
• “I am a bisexual and non-binary Muslim and my connection to Islam has never been an easy journey,” Rayyan Aboobaker writes to coincide with Islamaphobia Awareness Month.
• By drawing the portrait of a loving LGBTQ+ family, TIME tells the story of discrimination faced by the community in Thai society.
• Gay Times speaks with Betty Mayeya, the manager of Stonewall Football Club, which is for women and non-binary people, about the importance of opening up football to everyone.
• Advocate tells us everything about the U.S. Trans Survey (the largest survey in the country specifically geared toward trans and non-binary people) and why it matters.
LGBTQ Plus
LGBTQ+ International: Rainbow Flag On Putin Peak, Lula Relief — And The Week’s Other Top News
- Halloween arrests in Malaysia
- Mounting tensions ahead of Qatar World Cup
- A defiant Johannesburg Pride
- … and more
✉️ You can receive our LGBTQ+ International roundup every week directly in your inbox. Subscribe here.
TW: This content may address topics and include references to violence that some may find distressing.
🇧🇷 Brazil’s LGBTQ+ Community Let Out Sigh Of Relief As Lula Beats Bolsonaro
Lula in Rio de Janeiro
commons.wikimedia.orgThe election of left-wing politician Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva as the new president of Brazil has been welcomed by the country’s LGBTQ+ community.
Although Lula has not been outspoken about LGBTQ+ issues, he has previously attended Pride events and spoken in support of LGBTQ+ rights. According to Pink News, for Brazil’s LGBTQ+ community, anyone would be better than Bolsonaro — a politician who openly said he’d rather have a dead son than a gay one.
Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch, said President-elect Lula should start working on a plan to "reverse Bolsonaro’s harmful policies in the areas of public security, the environment, and women’s, LGBTQ+, and Indigenous rights, among others," particularly as the country has experienced a significant rise in anti-LGBTQ+ violence.
🇺🇦 The Unexpected Effect Of The War In Ukraine On The Country’s LGBTQ+ Rights
A petition requesting the legalization of same-sex marriage in Ukraine has garnered more than 28,000 votes on the government’s online platform, out of the 25,000 required to be examined.
In spite of being currently in the middle of an open war with Russia, Ukraine is becoming more and more aware of LGBTQ+ issues. According to Maksym Potapovych, the representative of the NGO KyivPride, the context of military operations has actually materialized issues surrounding the equality of LGBTQ+ people, or lack thereof. Under current rules, if an LGBTQ+ soldier gets admitted to intensive care after a bombing, then “their partner won’t be allowed to gain access to the wounded."
Still, Potapovych notes signs of progress. The army’s high command, for instance, has pledged to ensure that there is no discrimination in the military. Iryna Nirsha, the coordinator of the NGO Ukrainian LGBTQ+ Military for Equal Rights, highlights that more than 200 military personnel wear a military chevron featuring a unicorn — a symbol of being LGBTQ+ in the army.
The Ukrainian military isn’t the only beacon of hope in such dire times. Even the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches, a staunch opponent of the LGBTQ+ community in the country, has stopped open homophobic rhetoric during the war.
⚽️ As Qatar World Cup Nears, Anti-LGBTQ+ Rhetoric And Calls For A Boycott Rise
Outgoing Brazilian President Bolsonaro visits a Qatari stadium in November 2021
www.flickr.comAhead of the 2022 Soccer World Cup, which is scheduled to kick off in Qatar on Nov. 20, anti-LGBTQ+ voices within the country are being met with increased calls for a boycott:
• Qatari journalist looks forward to “clean” event amid LGBTQ+ boycott
In light of calls from members of the LGBTQ+ community to boycott the World Cup, Abdulla Alemadi, a Qatari journalist, claimed the country is “not honored to welcome such abnormal ideas and tendencies” and that he is looking forward to watching a “clean sporting event without homosexuals”. He added that it was a “blessed moment” that members of the LGBTQ+ community would not be attending.
• Australian team voices concerns
Australia has become the first country to publicly voice its concerns about Qatar’s poor human rights record, including the criminalization of LGBTQ+ people in the country, saying the “suffering” felt by migrant workers and their families caused by the World Cup “cannot be ignored”.
• LGBTQ+ supporters told to limit PDA
Fahad bin Mohammed Al-Attiyah, Qatar’s ambassador to the UK said football fans should be “mindful of the norms and cultures of Qatari society” during the World Cup, and can engage in hand holding, but should refrain from more intimate public displays like kissing.
This message was echoed by British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, who suggested on Wednesday that gay fans should keep the public displays of affection to a minimum while in Qatar for the upcoming games. He added that Qatar was making “some compromises in terms of what is an Islamic country with a very different set of cultural norms to our own,” and that “fans should ‘be respectful of the host nation.”
🇨🇴 Colombia Sees Rate Of LGBTQ+ Homicides Double From Last Year
Between Jan.1 and Oct. 20, there have been111 homicides and femicides against LGBTQ+ people in Colombia, according to the country’s Prosecutor’s Office. The number is more than double the murders in 2021 (47). The prosecutor emphasized that in Medellín alone, 13 homicides of gay men had been reported, which the authorities relate to online dating portals.
The shocking statistic was revealed at the launch of the first good practice guide for the investigation and prosecution of cases of violence against the LGBTQ+ population. The guide aims to outline a new, prejudice-free approach to investigation in Colombia, where such crimes are underreported.
🇦🇲 Despite Azerbaijan Clashes, Armenia’s LGBTQ+ Activists Carry On
Sx weeks after Azerbaijan’s Sept. 12 attack on Armenia, which resulted in nearly 300 deaths on both sides, activists from the association Pink Armenia gathered to discuss ways to protect and fight for the country’s LGBTQ+ community in spite of tensions escalating in the region. The NGO decided to proceed with its three-day Rainbow Forum, which saw more than 140 people meet in the country’s capital of Yerevan.
Formed 15 years ago to support members of the LGBTQ+ community, Pink Armenia has made it its mission to protect human rights and advocate for public policy changes in the country. Asked during the Rainbow Forum whether this was the right time to engage the Armenian government in LGBTQ+ activism, Lilit Avetisyan, chair of the NGO answered, “When is an appropriate time to talk about human rights?”
🇲🇾 Malaysian Police Arrests Crossdressing Halloween Partygoers For “Encouraging Vice”
In Kuala Lumpur, officers belonging to Malaysia’s Federal Territories Islamic Religious Department raided an LGBTQ+ Halloween party held at club RexKL in the capital, on Oct. 29.
After splitting the attendees into muslims and non-muslims, authorities arrested 20 people from the first group over offenses under Sharia law by crossdressing and “encouraging vice.” They were then taken to the religious police’s headquarters to establish their identity before being detained.
Among them, 18 were questioned about the LGBTQ+ event and have been asked to return for further questioning. An activist described the raid as "traumatizing and harrowing" and reported abuses during the arrest and at the station on his Twitter account. Several LGBTQ+ and human rights organizations, as well as Malaysian political personalities, have expressed their outrage and concern following what they consider to be a targeted operation on the community.
🇸🇰 Thousands Gather In Slovakia And Czech Republic To Honor Murdered Gay Men
Thousands joined protests to honor the memory of Matúš Horváth, 23, and Juraj Vankulič, 26, on the day of their funerals. The two gay men were fatally shot outside an LGBTQ+ bar in Slovakia on Oct. 20. Slovakia's president Zuzana Čaputová said, “I'm sorry that our society was not able to protect your loved ones.”
The killings led to several protests in the neighboring Czech Republic, with thousands of people gathering on Prague's Wenceslas Square on Oct. 26. The gun attack also prompted a member of Parliament to come out as gay. According to Pink News, protesters also placed blame on governments in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia for not moving fast enough on protecting LGBTQ+ people.
🇿🇦 Johannesburg Pride Draws Thousands Despite Terrorist Threat
Johannesburg Pride via Facebook
Thousands of people took part in the 33rd edition of Johannesburg Pride in Sandton last Saturday, the first in the South African city since the coronavirus pandemic. It took place despite warnings from the U.S. government of a possible terrorist attack targeting the event. Organizers chose to hold the Pride as planned, with heavy police and security presence, but the day passed without any disturbance.
“Someone threatening to kill us is very, very scary, but it's not the first time and sadly will not be the last,” Lethuxolo Shange, a 24-year-old doctor told Reuters. “So we're not going to let people terrorise us.”
🇹🇼 Taiwan Welcomes Back Pride After Two Years
An estimated 120,000 people participated in Taiwan’s first Pride event in two years, as the country relaxed strict COVID-19 restrictions.
The march, held on Oct. 29, was the 20th such event in the country and is one of the biggest Pride celebrations in east Asia.
🇷🇺 Russia’s First Trans Politician Resigns After Crackdown On LGBTQ+ “Propaganda”
Russia's first transgender politician, Yulia Aleshina, announced she was retiring from politics after deputies of the Russian Parliament unanimously supported a bill on a complete ban on "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships." The law makes it virtually impossible to protect LGBTQ+ rights in Russia.
"I have never been involved in this kind of propaganda, but I can't imagine how to continue my public political activity as an openly transgender woman," Alyoshina wrote on her Telegram.
🇰🇬 Activist Climbers Hoist Rainbow Flag On Kyrgyzstan’s “Vladimir Putin Peak”
A group of mountain climbers recently planted a rainbow flag alongside a Ukrainian flag on Vladimir Putin Peak. Located in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan, the landmark was named after the Russian leader in 2011. The group said this was an act of protest against Putin’s “homo- and transphobic, imperial and neo-colonial regime.”
The group is part of the Pink Summits visibility campaign. Its aim is for mountain climbers to carry a rainbow flag to the highest mountains of each continent. Last year, the mountaineers took photos of themselves waving a rainbow flag at the top of Mont Blanc in the French Alps. The initiative began in August 2018, when the Pink Summits team climbed Mount Elbrus, the highest peak in Eastern Europe and Russia.
The protest comes as Russian lawmakers voted last Thursday to expand the country’s anti-LGBTQ propaganda law. First introduced in 2013, the law bans the “promotion” of “non-traditional” families to minors. It also outlawed Pride marches and LGBTQ+ representation on TV or in books that might be seen by kids. Lawmakers have now voted unanimously to expand the ban to all ages. Russian citizens found guilty of breaking it face fines of up to 400,000 roubles ($6,500).
🇬🇧 "Heartstopper" Star Kit Connor Says He Was “Forced” To Come Out As Bisexual
UK actor Kit Connor
commons.wikimedia.orgKit Connor, the star of Netflix’s LGBTQ+ hit drama Heartstopper, has revealed on Twitter that he was forced to come out as bisexual. The English actor posted: "I'm bi. Congrats for forcing an 18-year-old to out himself. I think some of you missed the point of the show. Bye."
After Connor rose to stardom in Heartstopper, some social media users had accused him of “queerbaiting” — i.e. claiming to be part of the LGBTQ+ community for publicity.
The Gay Times has encouraged more nuance in discussions around sexuality: “The Twittersphere often attacks those playing queer roles but who aren’t open and loud about their sexuality. This leaves little room for nuance. And it’s a hell of a lot of pressure.”
🇺🇸 New Commercial For Sports Network ESPN Gives LGBTQ+ People A Courtside Seat
Professional sport is not the first thing that comes to mind when people think of acceptance for LGBTQ+ people. But a new commercial by sports network ESPN is trying to change that.
Titled “There’s No Place Like Sports: A Seat for Everyone”, the advert highlights the power of sport to bring diverse groups together. It prominently features LGBTQ+ people, a drag queen, and the rainbow pride flag.
🇦🇷🇵🇷 Miss Argentina And Miss Puerto Rico Get Married
Fabiola Valentin via Instagram
Mariana Varela and Fabiola Valentín, respectively Miss Argentina and Miss Puerto Rico, announced on Instagram that they had tied the knot in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Oct. 28.
Varela, 26, and Valentín, 22, said they’ve been dating for two years. The pair first met in 2020 during the Miss Grand International competition.
OTHERWISE
• Autostraddle asked its readers how they would define their sexual or romantic orientation, and my oh my, they did not disappoint.
• If you’re looking for LGBTQ+-friendly content to binge on Netflix, Gay Times has you covered.
• What exactly is queerbaiting, Out.com asks, and why are so many celebrities accused of it?
• In LGBTQ Nation, Missouri high school teacher Rodney Wilson reflects on how he founded LGBTQ History Month nearly 30 years ago, and what he’s doing now to keep raising awareness.
Geopolitics
Patronage Or Politics? What's Driving Qatar And Egypt Grand Rapprochement
Both sides have exchanged a flurry of trade delegations in recent months. The two heads of state have now met twice and informed government sources say the frequency of their meetings will only increase. And the evildoer label once affixed to Qatar has shifted to some other undefined group, with one Egyptian columnist urging the “evil people” not to “kill the awakening” in the relationship as an attempt to “keep Qatari investment away from Egypt.”
Ukraine effect
In many ways, the catalyst for the opening comes down to the economic crisis facing Egypt, brought on by the effect that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has had on the world economy. The outbreak of war sent investors in Egypt’s bond market fleeing to more secure havens, placing a significant strain on Cairo’s fiscal position as it must pay US$18 billion in debt servicing in the final two quarters of 2022. At the same time, a global inflationary wave has sent Egypt’s import bill soaring. This confluence of factors has seen Egypt facing a severe crisis in its foreign currency holdings.
To find a way out of the economic crisis and its political ramifications, Egypt has resorted to several channels. First, it has been engaged in long discussions with the International Monetary Fund for a new Extended Facility Fund loan, the lender’s funding program for countries suffering significant balance of payment issues that Egypt agreed to in 2016 and which began the country’s full enmeshment in the world economy and accelerated a host of austerity measures.
However, those negotiations have dragged on, with the two sides haggling over several conditions, including the size of Egypt’s external debt, the management of the value of the Egyptian pound, ending key commodity subsidy programs, the military’s overarching control of the economy, and promises that none of the money will be used in construction endeavors, according to several sources informed of the talks who have spoken to Mada Masr in recent months. How willing Egypt is to agree to the IMF’s conditions will dictate the size and timing of the loan it receives.
In early July, before further delays set in, an Egyptian official spelled out the government’s approach: “It is clear that the IMF deal is not moving as fast as we had hoped. Our focus now is to work on attracting Gulf investments.”
Gulf investment
However, courting Gulf investment, Egypt’s primary second channel for financing, is not a purely economic affair. Political, diplomatic and security sources who spoke to Mada Masr in the weeks leading up to Sisi’s visit to Qatar document a growing sense of frustration at the highest levels with the compromises Egypt has been forced to make with one of its main traditional allies in the United Arab Emirates in order to secure vital economic support.
One source went so far as to describe the UAE’s activities in Egypt as more of “a patronage presence” rather than “foreign investment.” And for the administration, the sources say, it is in Egypt’s interest to allow for Qatari investment and pursue Qatari-Egyptian cooperation on areas of mutual foreign policy interest to counterbalance the UAE’s influence.
Frustration with the UAE starts with its refusal to provide the unconditional support that Egypt has depended on since 2013. Gulf deposits to the Central Bank of Egypt played a significant role in supporting foreign currency reserves and stabilizing the value of the local currency between 2013 and 2014.
During that period, the Egyptian government received large, exceptional cash flows from the Gulf, with Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait committing to $24 billion in deposits to Egypt as well as financial and in-kind grants and project aid money. And during the Egypt Economic Development Conference held in March 2015, GCC countries committed to another $12.5 billion.
There is no chance for Egypt to manage its debt crisis without losing some of its best assets.
But through the years, Gulf deposits have decreased gradually, to the point that the remaining deposits at the central bank sat at $15 billion at the end of 2021.
According to data released at the end of August by the central bank, Egypt obtained $3 billion from Qatar in short-term deposits as well as $10 billion in similar deposits from Saudi Arabia and the UAE during the first quarter of 2022, but the central bank did not clarify when their repayments are due.
“The traditional ‘lenders’ have lost their appetite for coming to the rescue in the old way of providing aid or introducing reserves,” says a government official. “What they want to do now is buy strategic assets. The trouble is that they are buying the kind of profit-making projects that the government should have worked to upgrade and expand. However, realistically speaking, there is no chance for Egypt to manage its debt crisis without losing some of its best assets.”
The selling off of assets serves two purposes for Egypt. In the first case, it will allow for liquidity for vital debt servicing. And in the second, it will help shore up “the real reserves” in the central bank that the IMF is requiring as evidence of Egypt’s ability to make good on its debt obligations, says an informed Cabinet source.
Traditionally, the Cabinet source continues, the IMF has always required an informal third party to loan agreements with Cairo that would act as a guarantor by transferring over a percentage of the total loan value to Egypt. For the 2016 and 2020 loan, the guarantor was the UAE. However, the UAE has refused to act as the guarantor in the current loan negotiations, prompting Cairo to ask both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, who have also refused, according to the source and a second Cabinet source.
UAE shopping in Cairo
What is worse, two government sources say, the UAE has actively lobbied the IMF to take a hardline stance in negotiations regarding the military’s involvement in the economy and in favor of the full devaluation of the pound.
Egypt, government sources tell Mada Masr, was hoping to put off the devaluation of the pound until after it received the first tranche of an IMF loan in order to prevent the fall from being that steep. But that doesn’t seem fully possible now.
Sarah Saadeh, a macroeconomic analyst at CI Capital, believes that the “attractiveness” of Egyptian assets for Gulf investors “depends on two sides of the picture: the first is the price of the pound, with its attractiveness naturally increasing as the price of the pound decreases. And the second is the valuation of the assets themselves.”
“It may be the optimal situation for Gulf investors to wait for the pound to drop more sharply to take advantage of both sides of the picture, but, in practice, this does not seem realistic, because a sharp drop in the pound will most likely only happen with the signing of the agreement with the IMF,” she says. “The stock market will rebound dramatically with the announcement of the signing of the agreement, which means a rise in the valuation of assets in a way that reduces their attractiveness. The best time to seize opportunities will be right before the signing of the agreement.”
Beyond the assets’ prices, there is increasing unease in some quarters about the sheer volume of acquisitions that the UAE has been making, particularly in terms of land in the east of Egypt close to the Suez Canal, according to security reports shared with the highest levels of the executive that Egyptian government sources have seen.
Ultimately, the idea that was circulated in these quarters was that there is no harm whatsoever in opening up for Qatari acquisitions because that would actually send a clear message to the UAE that, as much as it shrugs Egypt off, Egypt would also look for alternatives.
“At least with the Qataris, things are clear,” says another government official, pointing to the transactional nature of bilateral ties with Qatar. “Whereas with the Emiratis, we thought we were allies, and then suddenly it was clear that we were not.”
Stronger economic relationship
Qatar and Egypt have been slowly building out a stronger economic relationship over the past year.
According to data issued by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics in Egypt, the value of Egyptian exports to Qatar amounted to $4.5 million in 2021, compared to $395,000 in 2020, an increase of over 1,000 percent, while the value of imports from Qatar rose to $40.3 million last year, compared to $25 million in 2020.
But economic cooperation is still likely to see a major jump, as Egyptian officials are in talks with Qatari counterparts for more than US$15 billion in investments before the end of the year, according to another government official. This includes stakes in the Eastern Company for tobacco manufacturing, Vodafone, the United Bank of Egypt, and other companies in which Saudi and Emirati investment funds have made acquisitions.
Companies affiliated with Egypt’s most valuable asset, the Suez Canal, are also being subject to competition for acquisition between Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, according to informed government sources. These include Timsah Shipbuilding Company, Canal Harbor and Great Projects Company, Canal Mooring and Lights Company, Canal Naval Constructions Company, Canal Company for Ropes and Fiber Products, Suez Shipyard Company, Port Said Engineering Works Company, and Canal Company for the Nile Arsenal.
The UAE has become a major power broker.
During Sisi’s visit, the Sovereign Fund of Egypt and the Qatar Investment Authority inked an agreement for cooperation in ports, according to the presidential spokesperson.
However, the UAE has already made significant inroads in the canal and the vital Red Sea waterway.
The Gulf country has become a major power broker and the principal architect of the security framework in the fiercely competitive Red Sea, with bases in Berbera, Somaliland; Bosaso, Somalia; and several coastal ports in Yemen, where it had fought alongside the Saudi-led coalition since 2015. Abu Dhabi Ports recently took over the management of Egypt’s Ain Sokhna Port, and while Sisi was in Doha, the Emirati company acquired 70 percent of the Egyptian IACC Holdings’ assets, including majority stakes in two shipping companies operating in the Red Sea: Transmar and Transcargo International.
Egyptian-Qatari investment is not limited to the canal
According to another government official, Egyptian and Qatari officials also discussed extending a pipeline to transport Qatari gas through Saudi Arabia to Egyptian ports in order to speed up the transfer of Qatari gas supplies to European markets as well as to enable Qatar to benefit from and invest in Egypt’s gas sector infrastructure and achieve profitable returns from it.
Such a move would be a major boon for Egypt’s regional energy hub dreams, which have to this point heavily relied on the re-export of Israeli gas.
And beyond investments, the Egyptian side has requested a further deposit at the Central Bank of Egypt, as well as a financial grant to the Egyptian economy ranging between $3 and 5 billion to be provided over five years, but discussions are still ongoing in this regard, according to the same Egyptian official.
A Qatari source close to Emir Tamim bin Hamad confirms the discussions regarding the potential deposit in the central bank, putting the figure at $5 billion and indicating that it comes in light of the UAE’s “withdrawal.” However, Doha is insisting that a portion of the money go to social support, as it has “received reports” that “the Egyptian people do not always benefit from assistance.”
Officials in Cairo know very well that encouraging Qatari investments in Egypt is bound to be part of a trade-off. And the clearest political compromises will come with the Muslim Brotherhood and Qatari media.
At the construction of a new terminal basin in Sokhna Port, south of the Suez Canal
Reconciliation talks
Today, the Cabinet source, a government source, a political source and two security sources all say that reconciliation talks are subject to discussion between senior intelligence officers in both Qatar and Egypt — with inevitable progress expected to be made prior to the end of this year to encourage Qatari investments. The sources say that the investments are not conditional on fixing this issue but would be expedited if this matter is addressed.
According to the political source, who is close to intelligence quarters, Qatar might be contributing to the financial compensations that some Muslim Brotherhood members might otherwise pursue in courts of law overseas, thereby suspending any potential plans to sue the Egyptian regime.
Two Egyptian security sources confirm these talks, telling Mada Masr that the Egyptian side asked Qatar to help manage the reconciliation process, given the extreme sensitivity of the file amid the escalating economic crisis in Egypt, as officials in Cairo believe that Qatar can play the same role it played between the Taliban and the US.
The same security sources say that the Qataris encouraged Sisi and his delegation to make a political breakthrough by releasing a number of prominent Muslim Brotherhood leaders, especially the elderly ones, including Khairat al-Shater, Saad al-Katatny, Mohamed Ali Bishr and Mahmoud Hussein, as a way to facilitate the negotiation process between the authorities and the group. The Egyptian side promised to study this step first and lay the groundwork before proceeding with the negotiations.
Political tradeoff
The same government source says that the Qataris also requested that Egypt stop blocking access to Qatari websites in the country, most prominently including Al Jazeera and Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, which the Egyptian side promised to do in the coming weeks.
On the first day of Sisi’s visit, Qatari officials discussed with Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and intelligence chief Abbas Kamel the acceleration of procedures to reopen Al Jazeera’s office in Cairo and to release the channel’s imprisoned journalists, according to a government source.
But Egyptian-Qatari talks on media are not limited to Qatari outlets. Egypt, the government source says, received positive indications from the Qatari side for support of the series of new channels that the Egyptian intelligence-controlled United Media Services is planning to launch in the coming weeks.
Egypt also requested Qatari support in Ethiopia.
The two sides also have several areas of foreign policy overlap, especially in areas where Egypt has grown wary of Emirati intervention.
According to an Egyptian government source, officials in Qatar agreed to unify the countries’ positions on Libya and to support a push for a new presidential council while maintaining the Government of National Unity headed by Abdul Hamid Dbaiba, after the repeated setbacks suffered by the former Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha and his upstart government to enter the Libyan capital.
Egypt had provided backing to Bashagha’s bid to oust the GNU prime minister in large part as a plan by security bodies to cause chaos in the west of the country due to Cairo’s unease with the alignment between the United Arab Emirates and Turkey in their support of Dbaiba, Egyptian security officials previously told Mada Masr. Ankara and Abu Dhabi had backed opposing sides of the 2019 war in Tripoli but have increasingly found common ground in Libya and in their bilateral relations.
Egypt also requested Qatari support in Ethiopia, another major foreign policy arena where Egypt has seen itself working at cross purposes with the Emirates.
Major stakes
The UAE has been a major backer of the federal Ethiopian government’s war against Tigray forces in the country’s north. While both sides had agreed to hold peace talks earlier this year after months of an informal truce mediated in large part by the Emiratis, fighting has erupted again in the last month. Open source data shows private charter flights between the Emirates and Ethiopia, believed to be Emirati military support, have kicked up again.
Beyond the war, the UAE is making a bid to increase its footprint in Ethiopian politics, as it has made a $20 billion economic development proposal to Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia in order to bypass the political deadlock over the filling and management of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, an Egyptian government official and an informed political source in the Gulf previously told Mada Masr. The deal, which has brought the three countries together for technical talks, would see the Emirates invest in projects across the three Nile Basin countries over the course of seven years, “establishing a mechanism that will make it impossible for any of the three countries to harm the interests of the other two countries,” the government official said.
According to the Egyptian government source, Egyptian officials encouraged the Qataris to reconnect with Addis Ababa in order to limit Emirati influence there, which Cairo has come to realize does not serve its interests.
In return for support in Libya and Ethiopia, officials in Egypt agreed to support Qatar’s efforts to sponsor the Chadian national dialogue between the transitional military council led by Mahamat Déby and armed opposition forces, according to the Egyptian government official.
Egypt took steps toward that end, with Sisi pardoning on September 13 Tom Erdimi, the nephew of former Chadian President Idriss Déby whom he has opposed since 2005. Erdimi had been held in an Egyptian prison since 2020, and he returned to N’Djamena shortly after his release.
Erdimi’s brother Timan, co-founder and leader of the Chadian Union of Resistance Forces (UFR), returned to Chad after a decade in exile in Qatar for talks billed as aiming to pave the way for democratic elections.
Comprising at least 40 rebel groups, Erdimi’s UFR signed a peace agreement on August 8 in Doha for talks that would pave the way for elections after 18 months of military rule in Chad following the death of former president Idriss Déby.
The UFR has long accused the Chadian government of having “negotiated” with Egypt to ensure the arrest and detention of Tom Erdimi.
Chad, which is in talks to restructure its external debt in order to clear the way for further financial assistance, owes one third of its external debt to commercial creditors, and almost all of that to Glencore, one of the world’s largest multinational commodity trading and mining companies.
While Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund sold off a large stake in Glencore earlier this year, it still holds a major stake in the Anglo-Swiss company.
LGBTQ Plus
LGBTQ+ International: Argentine Trans Icon Murder, Fleeing Russia, Bad Bunny Kiss — And The Week’s Other Top News
- The murder of Argentine pioneer trans activist Alejandra Ironici
- Gay Qatari speaking up ahead of World Cup
- Jacquemus’ lavish (and NSFW!) wedding
- … and more
✉️ You can receive our LGBTQ+ International roundup every week directly in your inbox. Subscribe here.
🇦🇷 Alejandra Ironici Murdered In Argentina
Alejandra Ironici, a 43-year-old Argentine pioneer trans rights activist, was murdered in her house in Santa Fe in the northeast of the country. The Prosecutor's Office is already investigating her death as transfemicide.
Argentine media Cosecha Roja reports: "Alejandra Ironici could be said to be first at everything. Or almost. She was the first trans woman to receive her ID and birth certificate with her name and self-perceived gender, the first to have a vaginoplasty, the first trans public officer in the province, the first to access a teaching position in a secondary school. The ‘almost’ is because she won’t achieve more firsts, more goals."
The death is a reminder that in Latin America, the life expectancy of trans women is 35-40 years.
🇯🇲 Rowdy Jamaican Premiere For Documentary On Being Christian And Queer
A homophobic interruption was not able to derail the Q&A session that followed the Jamaican premiere of the documentary With Wonder, which addresses the question of being Christian and queer.
After a member of the audience started making homophobic remarks, the speaker, Angeline Jackson, a Jamaican LGBTQ+ activist and intern Minister at the Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church, wrote on her blog how she was able to defuse the situation:.
“That moment of de-escalation gave me first-hand experience and a reminder of why part of my ministry is to [reach out to] anti-LGBTQ Christians. Not to change their minds, but to see if we could get to a mutual agreement on the inherent worth and dignity of ALL PEOPLE, including LGBTQIA people,” Jackson wrote on her blog.
🇶🇦 Gay Qatari Speaks Up For The LGBTQ+ Community In His Country
Nasser Mohamed, a a gay man born and raised in Qatar, has spoken out about LGBTQ+ and human rights violations in the very conservative country. He also raised the importance of highlighting the oppression in the country while it hosts this year’s FIFA World Cup.
Mohamed realized he was different at a young age but kept his homosexuality to himself, fearing for his safety. He left his country and fled to the U.S., where he could safely come out as gay. Indeed, being part of the LGBT community is considered a criminal offense in Qatar’s legal system and the media, controlled by the government, is heavily censored.
Now, as Qatar is preparing to host the World Cup at the end of the year, Mohamed wants to draw attention to what is happening there, especially when the Qatari government tells the press it will welcome LGBTQ+ people. He also hopes that his statement will encourage others to speak out.
🇺🇸 Florida Families Seek To Block “Don't Say Gay” Law
Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, which bans classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten through the 3rd grade, is being challenged. The plaintiffs in Cousins v. Orange County School Board have also requested a preliminary injunction, which would block the law’s enforcement while their suit takes place. Students, their families, and an association of LGBTQ+ community centers are part of the suit.
This is one of two suits that have been brought against the Florida law. And attorney generals from 16 states have already opposed Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
🇷🇸 Will Serbia Cancel EuroPride, Europe’s Biggest Pride Celebration?
EuroPride, the largest Pride event in Europe, will be "canceled or postponed", said Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić. The event was set to be held in Belgrade on Sept. 17. He cited the ongoing tensions with Kosovo as the main reason, but mounting pressure from right-wing activists and religious groups have influenced the decision.
Last Sunday, protesters led by the clergy from the Serbian Orthodox Church marched against the event. The European Pride Organizers Associations' President Kristine Garina announced that the parade will take place in spite of the government's decision: "The right to hold Pride has been ruled by the European Court of Human Rights to be a fundamental human right," she said in a statement.
🇵🇷 Artist Of The Year Bad Bunny Kisses A Male Dancer At The VMAs
The MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) was a big night for Puerto Rican reggaeton artist Bad Bunny. The 28-year-old scored the Artist of the Year award, making him the first non-English-language artist to win that prize. During the onstage performance of his hit song “Tití Me Preguntó”, the singer shared a passionate kiss with one of his male backup dancers.
Bad Bunny has repeatedly shown his support for the LGBTQ+ community while also defying gender expectations. He refused to comply with traditional gender rules in clothing, preferring to “feel comfortable” with how he is and how he feels. He also performed in drag in the video clip for his 2020 song “Yo Perreo Sola.”
🇰🇳 Caribbean Nation Saint Kitt And Nevis Strikes Down Anti-Gay Law
The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court struck down Saint Kitts and Nevis sections 56 and 57 of the Offences Against The Person Act, which criminalized the “abominable crime” of “buggery” with a maximum penalty of 10 years of hard labor. The law hadn’t been enforced recently, but it justified a hostile environment towards LGBTQ+ people. The court’s verdict immediately went into effect.
According to The St. Kitts and Nevis Observer, the suit was brought by Jamal Jeffers, a gay man, and a non-profit organization called Saint Kitts and Nevis Alliance for Equality. Kenita Placide, executive director of the Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality, said.“This is a transformative journey and a step to full recognition of LGBTQ+ persons across the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States.”
🇬🇧 UK’s Home Office Data Reveals 3,000 LGBTQ+ Refugees Were Denied Asylum
Analysis of UK's Home Office data shows that 3,071 LGBTQ+ asylum seekers have been sent back to anti-LGBTQ+ countries since 2017. The Liberal Democrats underlined that among the number includes over 1,000 Pakistanis, 570 Bangladeshis and 381 Nigerians. In those three countries, queer people can be sent to prison for same-sex acts.
Among 1,050 inital decisions, only 677 people were granted asylum or another form of leave based on their sexual orientation claims, the data reveals. The figures only specify Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual claims, which could explain why the number of asylum seekers has dropped, said Sebastian Rocca, CEO of Micro Rainbow, an LGBTQ+ asylum charity. LGB applications were down to 415 in 2021, a fifth of their level in 2016.
LGBTQ+ organizations fear the Nationality and Borders Bill will only worsen the situation as it will criminalize people entering the UK without a valid visa or through "irregular routes''. Robbie de Santos, director of communications at Stonewall, said the government must "demonstrate international leadership on supporting LGBTQ+ asylum seekers" and make sure "all individuals who are held in detention have access to free, good quality legal support."
🇱🇸 First Trans Candidate Running For A Seat In Lesotho Parliament
sheriffmothopeng via Instagram
For the first time in Lesotho’s history, a transgender man is running for a seat in Parliament to represent the Thaba Putsoa district of Lesotho. Sheriff Mothopeng, an openly trans activist and archeology professional, will be the candidate of Revolution for Prosperity in the national elections that will be held on Oct. 7.
As a non-confirming person, Mothopeng wants to bring change and to promote acceptance in his country, where LGBTQ+ community members are still struggling to be accepted. He wondered, “If not us, then who will bring the change to our doorstep?”
🇷🇺 Sad But Safe, LGBTQ+ Russians Find Refuge Abroad
In Russia, sharing “gay propaganda with minors” has been banned since 2013. But before Russia invaded Ukraine last February, journalist Karen Shainyan was one of the best-known openly gay figures in Russian journalism, covering LGBTQ+ life. When the war broke out, Shainyan quickly joined protests against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion, but he soon realized his safety was in danger.
"I was put on the foreign agents list, which made my life in Russia dangerous and very complicated," the journalist told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. He now lives in Berlin with his partner. "I'm here because it's not safe to cover queer rights (in Russia) anymore.” Like him, many LGBTQ+ Russians, including journalists, lawyers and human rights activists, have left Russia since Moscow launched what it calls its “special military operation”.
🇮🇳 In India, The Plight Of Trans Women Asking For "Mercy Killings"
In India, a trans woman is seeking permission to undergo "mercy killing". Rihana Irfan cannot rent a house or find a job, despite applying to governmental housing programs and applying for interviews: "I am seeking euthanasia not because I am scared to live. It is because I don't have any other options," she said.
Irfan is not the first transgender woman to ask for euthanasia as a form of protest. In November 2021, Aneera Kabeer was fired from the only part-time job she managed to get after 14 interviews. She asked the state's legal aid services to grant her "mercy killing" in order to send a message. Kabeer caught the attention of the government and she got another job. In 2018, Shavani Ponnusamy also asked the state for euthanasia, after being denied a job by Air India.
The cases highlight the discrimination transgender people face in India, although the country's Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that they have the same rights as the rest of the population. Many transgender people struggle to access housing, healthcare or education and many end up relying on sex work or begging to make ends meet.
🇺🇸 UN Expert Worries That LGBTQ+ Equality Is “Not Even Within Sight” In U.S.
Calling on U.S. President Joe Biden to protect LGBTQ+ rights in the country, Victor Madrigal-Borloz, a UN expert on gender and sexual orientation-based violence, warned that “equality is not within reach, and often not even within sight.”
Madrigal-Borloz pointed out the dangerous backpedaling of the recent U.S. Supreme Court's rulings. He also expressed his fear that the legalization of same-sex marriage may be under threat.
🇫🇷 Stars Flock To French Designer Jacquemus’ Stylish Wedding
Jacquemus via Instagram
Celebrated French fashion designer Simon Porte Jacquemus tied the knot this past weekend with his partner Marco Maestri in the south of France, in a wedding that French LGBTQ+ magazine têtu described as “gay as f*ck.”
Têtu shared details of the “joyous” and “over-the-top” celebrations, which included a huge wedding cake and some racy speeches, with Jacquemus quoted as telling his now husband: “I love your family, I love your values, [...] I love your sudden obsessions, I love your d*ck.”
Ahead of the ceremony, Jacquemus had announced he wanted to time the festivities with the launch of an initiative: a new T-shirt, the proceeds of which will be donated to the Urgence Homophobia association.
🇦🇷 Meet Karina Pintarelli, The First Recognized Trans Survivor Of Argentina’s Dictatorship
Trans activist and poet Karina Pintarelli is one of the few transvestites and transgender people still alive to recount what they experienced during Argentina’s dictatorship in the 1970s-1980s, She became the first trans victim of the regime to be granted monetary reparations for the persecution she endured.
You can now read in English an in-depth portrait of Pintarelli, courtesy of Buenos-Aires-based Agencia Presentes, translated from Spanish by Worldcrunch: Meet Karina Pintarelli: The First Recognized Trans Survivor Of Argentina’s Dictatorship.
OTHERWISE
• LGBTQ Nation takes a look at the history of queer slang, from the Victorian era codename for queer men “Miss Kitten” to “friend of Dorothy” in the 1970s or today’s “tea.”
• “Have you heard of non-binary Popeye Twitter?” Nico Hall explores how evidence of Popeye being genderfluid in the original comics threw the alt-right into a panic.
• Pride.com has a list of the 7 Queer Latinx TikTokers you should not miss.
• Don’t know what to watch? Gaysi recommends 5 brilliant short movies about women who love women on GagaOOLala, an LGBTQIA+ streaming service.
Economy
Dubai Delivery Riders Challenge UAE Royal Family's Absolute Power
This act was even more surprising considering that a week prior, Deliveroo workers had stopped working to protest against an announced price reduction on delivery runs. "In the early 2000s, we already had seen strikes on the Burj Khalifa worksite (an iconic skyscraper in Dubai)," observes geographer Delphine Pagès-El Karoui, a specialist in Arab societies at the Paris-based Inalco, the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations.
"What's new is the fact that we talk about it." Articles appearing in the local press are under the strict control of the authorities. "For one reason or another, they let it go," continues the researcher. These two episodes, even though they remained isolated and restricted, still question the viability of the country's development model where 10% of nationals are responsible for economic growth.
United Arab Emirates' foreign factor
During the foundation of the state in 1971, around 300,000 people lived in the territory following Bedouin traditions, with homes made of clay bricks and date palm branches. The United Arab Emirates developed themselves in a dazzling way on an oil windfall and the importation of labor in order to exploit it.
We come, we work, we make money and we leave.
Today, the population has reached almost 10 million people, 90% foreigners who are mostly Asian — 30% Indians and 13% Pakistani, according to embassy numbers. These immigrants usually work in construction (30% of the total workforce), as well as in the service industry (70.6% of jobs in 2020 according to the International Labour Organization).
“Here the social contract is clear,” says a Western diplomat. “We come, we work, we make money and we leave." So there is never any question of integration (the conditions of access to nationality are very restricted) and the financial opportunity is accompanied by a unilateral acceptance of these conditions. This makes for an authoritarian model that does not suffer any challenges.
Poor working conditions
Compared to the Indian average monthly salary of $170, the $964 dollar salary that Talabat claims to pay its delivery riders seems like a windfall. But considering the cost of living (Dubai is considered one of the most expensive cities in the world), the opportunity is quite limited.
“In our cultures, out of modesty, we will always say that the people who have left have succeeded, but this really only concerns people with diplomas," notes an Asian diplomat. "Service workers often return at the end of their first work visa, exhausted and without savings."
For a low-skilled migrant from the Indian subcontinent, there are no prospects for development. This is confirmed by the human capital index measured by the World Bank: It measures the economic and productivity potential of the various countries' investment in education, living conditions and health, and stands at 0.67 (on a rating scale from 0 to 1). While this is above the Middle East average, it is below the majority of high-income countries, which hover around 0.80.
Stuck in a paradox
For Delphine Pagès-El Karoui, “The Emirates are stuck in a paradox; They only exist through an extroverted development model, through labor, tourism, finance but are politically totally closed.” In a globalized economy, where it is no longer possible to keep individuals under censorship, how much longer is this viable?
The bicycle delivery drivers are contemporary social figures, with whom world public opinion can identify.
Marc Lavergne, a political scientist at the CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research), says "these strikes demonstrate a weakness, but they are not unexpected, the Emirates are not impervious to world movements." This expert on the Gulf also adds that “social media enables the spread of awareness on the issue of human rights, which was not possible just 10 years ago.”
Unlike the controversies that have risen in Qatar concerning the working conditions of employees on the construction sites of the soccer World Cup stadiums (which starts in November), "the bicycle delivery drivers are contemporary social figures, with whom world public opinion can identify," adds Marc Lavergne. And this is only because the clients of these services are also, in large part, immigrant workers from the Indian subcontinent, likely to support the cause of the strikers.
Challenging absolute power
Managing the risk could push the Emirates to make a few concessions. Unlike its neighbors, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the Arab federation has succeeded, until now, in protecting its image. All of this while being as authoritarian and having a leader, Mohammed Ben Zayed, who is just as brutal.
But it will be hard for the authorities to continue to ignore the demands of a more decent life for those who have contributed to building the country. It remains to be seen to what extent the system is ready to change.
Until now, all societal openings have been made in advance of the demands (religious tolerance, access to alcohol, visa requirements), but only on a superficial and surface level, which has never challenged the absolute power of the ruling princes.
EXPLORE OTHER TOPICS
News for the international mind.
Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch now
