Last spring, Dr. Nasser Mohamed made history, with an interview he gave to british newspaper the independent: He was the first Qatari to accept his homosexuality, in a country where it is illegal.
A few months later, in the midst of an ultra-controversial World Cup, he laments the attitude of federations, players and fans on the subject, while homosexuality is punishable by prison in Qatar. If the death penalty is not pronounced, it is still theoretically applicable.
“Today I am still the only LGBT Qatari who dares to say clearly on camera that I am gay,” he tells BFMTV.com. “This is how the whole society in Qatar lives in fear.”
“I freaked out right away”
Settled in the United States since 2017, Nasser Mohamed says he “grew up in a very traditional and very conservative environment,” “very focused on family values,” in Al Wakrah, a city an hour south of Doha.
“I knew since I was a child that I was gay, but honestly I had no words for it,” explains the doctor. “I only spoke Arabic, I had no access to the internet, to any form of LGBT visibility. I had no way to describe how I felt. I was alone with it.”
The real trigger came when he was in his early twenties, during a trip to the United States as part of his medical studies. The young man enters a gay bar. That’s when he really realizes that he’s gay. He no longer feels capable of assuming the arranged marriage with a young woman who awaits him when he returns to Qatar.
“At that moment it was obvious to me,” says Nasser Mohamed. “There I knew immediately that I was in danger, because I know what it means to be different in Qatar. I grew up there: it is my family, the society I know”.
“I knew exactly what to expect if people found out I was gay. So I was scared right away,” says the 30-year-old, who explained to the independent that he was convinced that he would go “to hell, that (his) life was over or that “(he) would be killed if anyone knew about it.”
“That is the most difficult part, it is waking up every day with fear in my stomach, living in fear every day, even at home”, he tells us again. “You can’t be scared your whole life. It’s exhausting.”
In Qatar, “no one will come to help you”
Once his “coming out” was over, Nasser Mohamed explains that his parents immediately wanted to seek “treatment” for his homosexuality, accusing him of having been perverted by Westerners. He says that since then he has decided to leave his country and his family behind.
In Qatar, if you are LGBT, “you must shut up, at the risk of becoming a target, being persecuted, abused, losing everything,” he develops.
“No one will come to help you,” he continues. “The reality is that you can’t be completely yourself. You have to choose. And I couldn’t choose, or I was an empty shell, and not a real human being.”
The young man claims to be “still afraid” today, both for him and for his relatives who are still in Qatar. “I know that (the Qatari authorities) don’t like to be challenged,” he said.
“It’s not a matter of respecting cultures”
From San Francisco, where he now lives, the young doctor finds the debates surrounding the organization of the 2022 World Cup “very hard to bear”. FIFA, which has been silent for a long time on the subject, finally dissuaded the teams to wear “One Love” armbands, under penalty of “penalties”. If the organization ensured that rainbow-colored flags or clothing would be accepted in stadiums, they have in fact been confiscated on several occasions by security forces.
For Nasser Mohamed, these questions are often posed in a too distant, “almost philosophical” way. “Even the bracelet, which in the end was a rather weak message, even that they could not be worn,” he laments.
The doctor evokes here the case of Western teams, including France, who refused to wear the bracelet in support of the LGBT community, alleging thatyou have to “show respect” to the organizing countryin the words of the captain of the Blues Hugo Lloris.
“It’s not about respecting cultures and traditions!” Nasser Mohamed responded indignantly.
“It has nothing to do with that,” adds Nasser Mohamed. “It’s like these women who are currently being massacred in Iran, it has nothing to do with Islam. It is the abusive behavior of a dictatorship.”
“Don’t come here to play football and make the problem worse”
For him, when sports organizations, teams and players refuse to take a political position, “it’s like saying ‘it’s not my problem’.” They are the ones who are going to play football and expose Qatar to the world. By saying nothing, they paint the people who oppress us as virtuous people. It’s troublesome.”
“If you don’t want to be part of the problem, stay home!” he urges. “Don’t come play soccer here and make the problem worse.”
The Qatari compares these debates around the World Cup to a big social dinner that would be organized at the home of a rich couple who would abuse their children, but who wanted to take advantage of this party to establish their status.
“It’s like the guests come to this party knowing that the children are being abused. Some would philosophize about this dinner while the children continue to be abused (…) At the same time, the host would say ‘you come to our house and accuse us of abusing our children’, while others would relativize and suggest instead ‘focus on dinner'”.
Creating an LGBT Support Organization
Nasser Mohamed also responds to Emmanuel Macron, who called for “not politicizing sport” and opposed the boycott of the World Cup.
“If you think that football is not political, you are blind,” replies the LGBT activist.
“Sport is political, whether you like it or not. It contributes to economic growth, directs the image of a country in a certain direction. We are not the ones who politicize sport, it is already political”.
This exile in the United States does not hide his concern for the Qatari LGBT community once the World Cup ends. “When everyone is going to leave, (the authorities) risk going into overdrive and attacking the locals. And who will be there at that time to help? Nobody”, worries Nasser Mohamed. He is currently working to create an organization to support the LGBT community in the Arabian Peninsula.
Source: BFM TV
