Nasser Mohamed remembers well the phone call home to his mother seven years ago. He had moved to the United States in 2011 to complete his medical practice. He knew that this conversation was going to change his life. He had already been through his personal life crisis. Now he was going to tell his mother who he was and that he would never return to Qatar. He had no plan for life in the United States, but just had to make it work. When the mother learned that Nasser was gay, the reaction was that he had to receive treatment, either physically or mentally. She went through all stages of grief, denial, anger, negotiation. When he hung up, almost all ties to his homeland were cut. – Everyone who comes out has a risk of losing everything and everyone. And some of us do just that. I did it. I lost everything, but I got a whole new life that I would never have had. I would do it again, says Mohamed. Cut off all contact with the home country In Qatar, it is forbidden to be gay. Sexuality is taboo. According to the BBC, no people from Qatar have appeared in public as gay before Nasser Mohamed did so in May. It is in that country that the World Cup will be played in November, and thousands of supporters will travel to join the party. FEEDBACK: – They have varied from death threats to people who say I am a savior, a picture of someone who is about to save lives, says Mohamed about the feedback he has received since he appeared. Photo: Zachary Stauffer Nasser already understood around the age of 10 that he was not quite like the others. In his childhood and adolescence, he thought that starting a family and having children did not seem very interesting. At the time, he did not know what homosexuality was. Only when he moved to the United States in 2011 did he understand his own orientation. For a Muslim man from a conservative country, it was difficult to deal with the situation. – It was like completely forgetting the first 20 years of my life. I had to cut everything out, so I did not speak Arabic for several years. Now I am in a new country without any of my childhood memories, he says. Since leaving Qatar in 2011, he has not been back. He applied for asylum in the United States because he thought it was too dangerous for him to return. The application was granted. That’s why he’s taking the fight from San Francisco. – Right now, before the World Cup, the spotlight is on Qatar and it is so important that the light shines on all the problems. The asylum process was very difficult because Qatar is like a black box. The things that happen to us gays have not been told. And there is no evidence that we are being prosecuted, says Mohamed. FREEDOM: – There are definitely challenges for LGBT + people here too, but still: I live. I live in all sorts of ways. Photo: Zachary Stauffer news has presented the criticism from Nasser Mohammed to the authorities in Qatar. We have also asked the authorities in the country to give their views on how the life situation is for LGBT + people. They have not responded to our inquiries. Football party without a rainbow flag – Welcome Dr. Nas Mohamed, says a man wearing a blue suit jacket with pearls, colorful necklaces and a mask around his eyes. We’re at a pride event in San Francisco. Nasser is hired as the main speaker in the evening. In the middle of the district, which in the United States is a symbol of LGBT activism, he is called up on stage to great applause. – It is an honor to stand here and talk and at the same time feel safe, says Nasser from the stage. The difference from the home country of Qatar could hardly have been greater. The land he had to flee from and cut all ties to before he dared to stand up. The country where he is a criminal for being who he is. The country that has invited the whole world to a football party in November. He wants to use the spotlight to improve conditions for gays in Qatar, and he tries to get Qatar to recognize that there are gays in the country and that loving whoever you want is a human right. That is not the case now, he claims. LGBT CAPITAL: San Francisco was one of the first cities in the United States where the LGBT community grew. Photo: Zachary Stauffer – Rainbow flags are virtually illegal in Qatar during the championship, while FIFA posts rainbow colors on its Instagram account during Pride Month. What is going on? If you are going to mean something, you really have to mean it. Do not just pretend that you care about human rights and then help legitimize the sports laundering that is happening in Qatar, says Mohamed stated. That Mohamed stands out as the first openly gay man from Qatar can have a domino effect, believes Stephen Adom, general manager of Skeiv Verden Oslo og Viken. – It can mean far too many. There are probably many who have felt the same feelings themselves and have been in the same situation. There are probably many who work underground to change the laws and the situation. Just seeing someone stand out means a lot to those who do not dare or are in the process of standing up, says Adom. Several times in recent years, FIFA has promised that gays are welcome to the World Cup this winter. At the same time, news, SVT and DR revealed just over a month ago that several World Cup hotels refused gays to reserve rooms. And the head of security in Qatar has said that rainbow flags will be taken away from the supporters for the sake of the supporters’ own safety. – People must feel that they are not criminals when they go there, and they must feel that they are not criminals in their homes. This applies not only this year, but always, says Mohamed. PRIDE: Nasser Mohamed was the keynote speaker at a pride event in San Francisco last weekend. Photo: Zachary Stauffer To attack NFF The latter is also a sting to the Norwegian Football Association and the Norwegian Minister of Culture. In a case in VG earlier this year, they suggested that the so-called “gay law” should be suspended for four weeks during the World Cup. It does not appeal to Mohamed. He thinks it is an arrogant attitude of the NFF, and gives an example. – Imagine that you are at a dinner party and you know that the parents hit the children with sticks. There are many who are invited to the dinner. You do not go there and demand that the children should not be beaten one night, so that your own children will feel safe. You say that children should not be beaten with sticks at all. – So you do not support the proposal? – For 28 days? What happens afterwards? Is it okay to harass again after 28 days? It should not be like that. Attitudes towards human rights should be the same all the time, we must stand up for them and fight, we cannot negotiate human rights. This week, the Norwegian Football Association (NFF) has visited Qatar. The program included meetings with the authorities, the World Cup committee and workers in the country. Nasser calls it arrogant if one works to suspend the gay law only during the World Cup. The football president understands that criticism. – It’s not just arrogant. It is frightening and catastrophic to get into such a situation. Even if it is put on hold for 28 days, you will still be at risk of the situation escalating. The police are used to dealing with this as a crime, says Klaveness. In DOHA: Lise Klaveness has this week been in Doha for the second time, among other things to address legal certainty for LGBT + people in Qatar. Photo: n20403 She herself is married to a woman, and will not give up working for the rights of LGBT people in Qatar. – Here we come to a great risk situation during the championship and put the environment under pressure afterwards. It will be important for all federations that are involved in this matter, but also Norwegian and other authorities, to follow this environment after the championship. For it will be an even more vulnerable group, perhaps, if one has lifted such a discriminatory law during the championship, Klaveness believes. The Minister of Culture does not want to respond to the criticism from Nasser Mohamed, but State Secretary Henrik Thune in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs explains that Norway has several times been clear about human rights violations in Qatar. – I understand Mohammed’s frustration over the situation. The fact that the authorities choose to suspend the so-called “gay law” for 28 days is a small move in the right direction. We are clear in our message that the human rights situation in Qatar must be improved. We must continue to exert influence through the channels and interfaces we have. We have raised human rights issues with Qatar both in the UN context, in the ILO, in direct dialogue and contact with the authorities and through the media, says Thune.
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