By Pablo Vasco
The men’s World Cup has just started, so much of the world’s attention is already following the magical ups and downs of the ball, from now until almost the end of the year holidays. And that has its logic, given the enormous global popularity of football, which is also driven by all kinds of advertising campaigns and other multimillion-dollar businesses that surround the sport, especially in international competitions.
One of the issues that has been arousing controversy is that of the very harsh Qatari legislation towards LGBT people. But before going on with that, we want to point out another very painful issue, which the mainstream media hardly talk about or directly lie about: that of the 6,500 workers -almost all immigrants from poor countries- who gave their lives in the construction of the stadiums since 2010, when Qatar was chosen to host the championship. Suffice it to say that the Qatari government, with the complicity of FIFA, shamelessly claims that only three workers have died…
Punishment for being the way you are
Qatar is a confessional state, with Sunni Islam as the official religion. The Qatari law establishes for homosexual, bisexual or transsexual persons penalties of up to ten years in prison, fines and also mandatory “conversion therapies”. And if the law punishes in this way, obviously the police detain, beat, torture and even deny medical assistance and legal defense. Instead of respecting it, Qatar criminalizes one of the most elementary human rights, inherent to every person: the right to free sexual orientation and gender identity.
By the way, as the Qatari government, under pressure, now seeks to avoid major scandals and give the world a certain image of “freedom and modernity”, some officials have stated that they will not ban rainbow flags in the stands or the use of LGBT signs. But they will not tolerate any display of affection outside the closet. We will see what happens.
But Qatar is no exception. Today, 69 of the world’s 195 countries still criminalize homosexuality: one in three. Seven have the death penalty: in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Yemen, Brunei, regions of Somalia and Nigeria, and in Iraq by non-state actors. In four other countries capital punishment persists as an interpretation of sharia (Islamic law), but is not applied: Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan and Mauritania. In Gambia, Uganda and Bangladesh, the punishment for homosexual relations – consensual and between adults – is life imprisonment. In Iran, which this year has already executed four men for this reason, a homosexual kiss has a penalty of 60 lashes… An inhuman aberration that must continue to be fought.
Solutions of substance, not pinkwashing
However, in other countries, the non-existence of criminalization of sexual diversity behavior is not equivalent to the automatic recognition of rights by the State. In Argentina and elsewhere, where progress has been made, it has been due to the struggle and mobilization of the LGBT community for years and sometimes decades.
In the specific case of Qatar and its anti-gender rights regime, FIFA, which already organized the previous World Cup in the Russia of the homo-hating dictator Putin, kept absolutely silent. Instead, 13 of the 32 participating teams have so far announced that their captains will wear rainbow armbands and eight of them have already confirmed it: Belgium, Wales, France, Denmark, Holland, Germany, England and Switzerland. But the supportive attitude of these delegations should not confuse anyone about the role of their governments and states, which implement austerity plans and defend patriarchal capitalism. In these same European countries it is necessary to continue the struggle so that the rights won by women and LGBT people become effective, progress is made in new rights and sufficient budget is applied to public policies in this regard.
Pinkwashing exists on the part of states and governments. Pinkwashing is making some eventual political gesture or taking some low-cost measure to show themselves as respectful of gender rights, but in order to hide class exploitation or other forms of oppression, whether imperialist, racist or anti-immigrant. Also, sometimes, to disguise state funding to the Catholic Church or other reactionary and anti-rights cults, which are functional to the ruling bourgeoisie because they defend class conciliation and male chauvinist prejudices.
An extreme case of pinkwashing is that of Israel, which boasts of being an LGBT “paradise” while daily committing apartheid and genocide against the Palestinian people. In this sense, for example, we support the decision of the organizing committee of the Pride March in Buenos Aires, which our party is part of along with dozens of other groups, not only to boo Qatar but also to not allow the Israeli embassy to participate in this massive event because that state violates human rights.
As revolutionary socialists we participate in unity and without any sectarianism in the struggles of the LGBT and feminist movements in general, while we consider them part of a higher political struggle to change the root of this system, which is the origin of all violence. In its crisis, capitalism increasingly attacks all rights, as evidenced by the regression of abortion rights in the United States. That is why we fight for a just and supportive system, socialism, where each person can freely develop their sexuality and all their other capacities. Including, of course, the right of any player or spectator to kiss his or her partner, in any soccer stadium, in Qatar or in any other country in the world.