POSTPONED Queerness, privilege and football: a conversation about Qatar

This event is postponed until after the summer. We will come back with more information.

The safety of queer football supporters has been high on the agenda since FIFA announced that the 2022 World Cup would take place in Qatar.

Lise Klaveness (President of the Norwegian Football Association) and Anette Trettebergstuen (Minister of Culture and Equality) have been vocal on their expectation that the Qatari government commits to the protection of LGBTQIA+ supporters going to watch the games. Earlier this spring, they said they would not buy tickets for the World cup until the laws against homosexuality were temporary suspended.

Which queer people do the football president and minister seek to protect? Which of Qatar’s legal clauses are going to be suspended? What would such a suspension entail? And, perhaps most importantly: how would these actions affect Qatar’s local queer communities both during and after the games?

The goal of the conversation is to engage in a discussion of queerness while placing it in Qatar’s legal and religious context.

Panel:

Dhi Yazen Al-Obaide, activist and
vice secretary general of Salam organisation in Norway


Mari Norbakk
, anthropologist at CMI with experience from Qatar

in conversation with

Matthew K. Gichohi
, researcher and political scientist from CMI

Photo:
Autau/shutterstock.com