A representative of football fans in Germany has called for Qatar, the host country to host the 2022 World Cup, to change its “strict anti-homosexuality” laws.
At a human rights conference in Frankfurt, Germany, hosted by the German Football Association, Darion Minden spoke directly to Qatar’s ambassador, Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani, telling him: “I am a man and I love men, please do not be shocked, I have sex with other men.”
Minden, a representative of the German federation of fan groups, raised his tone: “Please get used to it, or stay away from football, because the most important rule in this sport is that football is for everyone.”
Minden appealed to the Qatari ambassador to abolish all his country’s penalties related to gender identity, including the death penalty.
A representative of Germany’s association of fan and ultra groups went on stage to speak to the DFB’s conference on human rights in Qatar ahead of the World Cup.
Here’s his personal speech on LGBT rights in the country, addressed directly at Qatar’s ambassador to Germany. pic.twitter.com/ODYZrsYWyq
— DW Sports (@dw_sports) September 19, 2022
Qatari law punishes homosexual acts with the death penalty, as Islam is the state religion.
Recall that Doha Promised to welcome LGBT foreigners The World Cup Finals, which start on November 20.
The Qatari ambassador’s response to Minden has not been publicly disclosed, but the ambassador has previously complained that the human rights issue has become a distraction.
In a related context, the Qatari gay doctor residing in San Francisco, Dr. Nasser Mohammed, launched a petition urging the World Football Association and Qatar to protect the rights of LGBTQ people from Qataris and visitors.
According to the petition’s website, the Qatari government is already warning LGBT visitors to avoid showing their sexual orientation in public and threatening to confiscate rainbow flags.
but Qatari officials and an enemy That gays will not be discriminated against during the World Cup.
“The emergence of the local LGBT community in Qatar, and addressing their issue, are absolutely essential,” Mohamed wrote in an editorial in August in Outsports magazine, then continued, “I am doing my part to speak up.”
Meanwhile, leaders of eight World Cup teams, including England, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Wales, have pledged to wear anti-discrimination badges to highlight the human rights issue in Qatar.
Since 2014, former English women’s soccer player Casey Stoney, who is a lesbian, has criticized FIFA for awarding the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, and has vowed not to attend.
In 2018, FIFA launched an investigation after several articles dealing with LGBT issues were removed from the international edition of the New York Times in Qatar and other countries.
Recently, even unmarried football fans have begun to report refusing to book hotels due to the state’s laws against sex outside of marriage.