GymCastic asked FIG about how they plan to protect participants at Worlds 2018 in Doha.
The official response from the FIG regarding LGBT gymnasts and staff in Qatar for the world championship:
“We understand your concerns with regards to LGBT gymnasts and staff at the 2018 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Doha.
However, as a FIG member and by hosting the championships, the Qatar Gymnastics Federation adheres to the FIG Rules that does not allow any kind of discrimination or any violation of human rights as per Article 2.2 of the Statutes and Article 1. of the Code of Ethics.
During the last ten editions of the Doha World Cup no incident has become known, where a gymnast, coach, official or fan has faced any mistreatment in this regard.
The same applies to World Championships of other sports that have been held in Doha, including the 2015 IHF Handball World Championships, the 2015 AIBA World Boxing Championships and the 2016 UCI Road World Championships as well as the annual ATP and WTA Qatar Open tennis tournaments.
As long as the participants, coaches, officials and staff, irrespective of their race, sex, language or religion, respect the law of the host country and abide by the rules, there is no reason to fear imprisonment.”
(via GymCastic #292)
Qatar talks about a commitment to human rights, but homosexuality is still illegal.
Richard de Mos, a member of the Dutch Parliament for the Freedom Party (PVV), has proposed that the Dutch football team play ( the 2022 FIFA World Cup) in pink, instead of the country’s national colour, orange, to protest the gay rights situation in Qatar.
I’m planning on going. I’ve found Qatar surprisingly tolerant in the past. 88.4% of the population is non-Qatari. It’s a very cosmopolitan place. Rapidly changing.
With Saudi Arabian finally liberalizing I expect we’ll one day see Gay marriage in Qatar.
