Polish tourist arrested in Qatar for 'being gay'

Remember when banned ex-Fifa President Sepp Blatter was first asked about Qatar's ban on homosexuality, and how that would affect gay visitors to the 2022 World Cup? The feeble-minded bureaucrat speculated that it would surely be fine, just so long as gay people didn't have gay sex while they were in gay-hating Qatar.

Qatari police - tools at the ready
to stop the big gay threat in 2022

Even supposing that this would have been enough to reassure a single gay fan that Qatar will be the place to take a fun football holiday in six years time, it seems that it's not just practicing homosexuality that will be viewed by the Qataris as a crime. An 18-year-old Polish 'social media star' named Luxy claims that he was arrested in Qatar at Doha Airport in June on suspicion of being gay. He was imprisoned for two months before a judge - after lobbying from the Polish Embassy - granted his release, fining him €3,700 (it's not clear for what, exactly).

According to a report in the San Francisco Daily News, Luxy (his social media name) was visiting Qatar for the second time when airport security detained him on the grounds that there were problems with his visa from a previous visit. They confiscated his phone, scrolled through his pictures, then arrested him an hour later. They asked him if he was a man or a woman.

"They kept telling me I am a prostitute," Luxy is quoted as saying in the report. "I am from a bad family and they laughed at my Instagram photos. They told me some Qatari guy made the request to arrest me because I put his naked photo on Instagram." They reportedly gave him the chance to 'co-operate' by luring and meeting other gay men so that they could be arrested. Luxy declined this delightful offer.

Released from Doha Jail after 63 days, Luxy was re-arrested at his hotel two days later "for wearing makeup on Snapchat and Instagram". He was given the option to be deported. Unsurprisingly, he felt that he'd outstayed his welcome with the future World Cup hosts. His case is not yet closed, and he is banned from entering any Gulf Cooperation Council member states.

Why are so many nations obsessed with the apparent threat from homosexuality? How many instances in history have there been where sexual behaviour of any kind threatened the power of the state? Why would any state want to waste resources mixing itself up with the sexual lives of consenting adults? 

It brings to mind homophobes who repeatedly bring up the topic of how much they hate gays. Hey, why do you keep mentioning that? Can it be that the entire Qatari government and security sub-structure is secretly gay? Oh boys, put down those big hard truncheons, come in from the desert and let yourselves go - I can already picture Luxy as your guest MC at Qatar 22's Big Rainbow Fan Mile.

Update, September 1. Here is a statement from the Polish Embassy in Qatar that contrasts in some details with the detainee's story:

"A Polish national nicknamed Luxy, aged 18, was detained at Hamad International Airport in Doha on 06 July 2016 on a charge of money extortion, blackmail and assault on a Qatari national’s privacy on line (cyber-related offense) – not of being homosexual or due to a minor visa irregularities. His arrest has not been reported to the Polish consular services by the Qatari Police (which is by and large a standard practice in Qatar), until the detainee’s family information received a week after the actual detention. Polish consular service has never reported Mr Luxy missing. I visited the detainee in jail (remand over Criminal Investigation Department, not a prison) several times and found the arrest conditions decent and correct, what was also the opinion of the detainee. No irregular behaviour of any Police officer was reported to me by the detainee. Eventually 'Luxy' was released in mid-August on bail and allowed to leave Qatar national territory although, to my knowledge, the investigation is still underway."

Blatter Manages To Speak Sense On Human Rights In Qatar

Blatter - has he actually started thinking?

This is going to sound like the kind of thing we’d pretend FIFA President Sepp Blatter uttered in the name of satire. But he actually said it, to CNN. Yes, Blatter managed to address the issue of human rights without shoving his toes in his own maw. On the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, he said: “If the principles of human rights will not be respected, then this could be a problem. We will push Qatar to make sure the World Cup will be played in such conditions that other World Cups have been played and that human rights are respected.”

Let’s hope he’s not talking about Argentina 78. And naturally, the Scepticism Radar at WCHR world headquarters began to howl like a distressed mongoose. Is this just placatory PR to make up for his sad remarks about homosexuals abstaining from sexual activity while at the WC, and his admission to the Zürich-based Sonntagszeitung that he hadn’t even known that homosexuality was illegal in the Gulf state? Or has Sepp been subscribing to our feed and belatedly realised that the governing body’s mission could become more noble than merely making cash from man’s ability to kick a round ball?

Educating Sepp Blatter

FIFA President Sepp Blatter’s weekend interview with the Swiss Sonntagszeitung was headlined by his announcement that FIFA will form an “independent” anti-corruption committee. So, the world’s football governing body has decided to slap on a condom several hours after completing full sexual intercourse.

Blatter - praying for enlightenment

In classic FIFA fashion, this initiative comes not from any sense that tackling corruption is the right thing to do. Rather, in Blatter’s words, its purpose would be “to strengthen our credibility and re-define our image in the realm of public relations.” For these must always be the prime motivations behind any moral undertaking.

The rest of the interview was the usual self-aggrandizing cant about how he had to struggle to survive from the moment he was born, how he went to a monastery in the Swiss town of Einsiedeln to pray for a successful World Cup in South Africa, and how the marching band in Visp – a ski resort where he owns a flat – apparently is prone to playing a Sepp Blatter March when they parade beneath his balcony (we’d be happy to provide some lyrics for their next procession). He also admitted to having “few genuine friends”, and aired his standard lament about “obsessive” journalists who insist on bringing up FIFA’s long history of corruption. Shame on them.

Brazil Shows Qatar The Way On Gay Rights

Rio beach boy may arouse Qatari interest

When Brazil hosts the 2014 World Cup, they will surely welcome a sizeable delegation from Qatar to large it up in fancy hotels, enjoy the best free seats at the biggest games, and generally whore around to embark on a serious fact-finding mission on the best way to host an international football tournament, while ensuring that their behaviour scrupulously reflects the central tenets of the Koran. During this doubtless instructive time, they may want to venture out and take a few notes on local lifestyle choices.

Brazil, under outgoing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, may have been criticised by both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch this year for its tacit support of dictatorships in countries like Iran and Cuba, but at least it has responded to public pressure on gay rights issues. Earlier this month, Lula and his Human Rights Secretary Paulo Vannuchi signed a decree to create the National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Council.

Blatter Should Apologise A Little Bit Harder

Deaf, or just plain dumb?

What are we to make of FIFA President Sepp Blatter’s apology late last week to anybody who “feels that they have been hurt” by his remarks that gay people who might want to visit the 2022 World Cup should “refrain from any sexual activities” while in Qatar?
 

The Associated Press reported that Blatter told hacks in Abu Dhabi on Friday he was sorry if anyone was offended by his comments. But being sorry for offending someone is not the same as being sorry for what you actually said. It’s like being sorry for getting caught taking bribes (to use an analogy that may have some resonance in FIFA circles).

Quote of the Month – Ban Ki-Moon Sets Sepp An Example

"Violence will end only when we confront prejudice. Stigma and discrimination will end only when we agree to speak out. That requires all of us to do our part; to speak out at home, at work, in our schools and communities." United Nations Secretary General Ban  Ki-moon calls for an end to violence and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons on Human Rights Day (Dec. 10).

FIFA President Sepp Blatter may like to read the quote and write it out 50 times as an example of Enlightenment 101, and the kind of considered, statesmanlike leadership he seems to be lacking at present. Then send a copy to each of the 70-odd FIFA nations where homosexuality is criminalised.

Quote Of The Day - Slapping Blatter Down

“We are talking about a very basic human right that is being violated. This is not a joke, this is a matter of life and death to people. Qatar and more than 70 other countries in the world still criminalize individuals for homosexual relationships, and some countries even punish them by death sentence.

“It’s disappointing to see that an organization [FIFA] that is promoting the game, which in its statutes condemns discrimination of any kind, is coming out with comments like this.” 

Juris Lavrikovs, communications director for the European branch of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, condemns FIFA President Sepp Blatter for his comments that gay fans visiting the 2022 World Cup in Qatar should "refrain from sexual activities". Full Associated Press report here.

Blatter Can't Bluff When It Comes To Sexual Politics

FIFA President Sepp Blatter was caught short yesterday when asked to comment on how gay fans could expect to visit the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, given that homosexuality is banned in the country. As always when asked to venture beyond political platitudes, the intellectually starved Blatter had no clue how to respond, so attempted a joke by saying that "they should refrain from sexual activities". Almost as enlightened as the time he advised women football players to wear tighter shorts to attract more fans.

Belatedly realising that his every chump-headed utterance is generally reported around the world, Blatter attempted to backtrack with some token eyewash about how "in football we have no boundaries". Which is presumably why no gay professional football player has outed himself since the late Justin Fashanu over 20 years ago. Surely nothing to do with the sniggering attitude of the game's leading functionaries.