<
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/nov/08/qatar-world-cup-ambassador-homosexuality>
"Remarks by a Qatar World Cup ambassador have been called “harmful and
unacceptable” after he described homosexuality as “damage in the mind”.
Khalid Salman, a former Qatar international footballer, made the comments in an
interview with the German broadcaster ZDF.
Asked about the fact that homosexuality is illegal in his country, Salman said:
“They have to accept our rules here. [Homosexuality] is haram. You know what
haram means?”
When asked why it was haram, or forbidden, Khalid Salman said: “I am not a
strict Muslim but why is it haram? Because it is damage in the mind.”
Salman was speaking in his capacity as an ambassador for the 2022 World Cup, a
role he shares with a number of football legends including Cafu and Xavi
Hernández. Organisers described the role of ambassador as “harnessing the power
of football to create positive social change in Qatar, across the region and
around the globe”.
Rasha Younes of the LGBT rights program at Human Rights Watch said: “Salman’s
suggestion that same-sex attraction is ‘damage in the mind’ is harmful and
unacceptable. The failure of the Qatari government to counter this false
information has a significant impact on the lives of LGBT residents of Qatar,
ranging from fuelling discrimination and violence against them to justifying
subjecting them to state-sponsored conversion practices.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
