image source, Getty Images
Much of the controversy surrounding Qatar’s hosting of the soccer World Cup has centered on the rights of the LGBT community and the criminalization of same-sex relationships in the country. In the same Qatar, transgender people can be detained without any investigation or official complaint for “violating public decency”. Two transgender women from Qatar share their lives with the BBC.
“I’m very scared, but I want to let people know that we’re here too,” Shad says of her decision to live as a transgender woman. Shad’s real name has been changed to protect his identity, as has another person discussed in this article.
For his safety, we sent messages to him through an app that could not be deciphered by others. To make a video call to us, he moved away from his house and secretly called in another dark room.
Shaad showed off his hair, saying he was forced to style it like men. However, he did not reveal by whom he was forced.
Chest injuries
Also, he removed his shirt to show the wounds above his chest.
Shad said the injuries were from being beaten when he was arrested for “impersonating a woman”.
Authorities have asked Shah to remove breast tissue that has developed since she started taking the estrogen hormone, which she obtained without a doctor’s prescription from another country.
“I lost my job and my friends,” he says.
“I have been arrested and interrogated several times because of my identity. I have lost everything.” Shad said.
Qatar is one of 60 countries where it is illegal to be gay. Same-sex relationships are against the law in Qatar. Because they are considered immoral according to Islamic Sharia law.
Fines, imprisonment for up to seven years, and death by stoning are punishable. Also, there will be no record of capital punishment among them.
If the police suspect that a person has violated “social security” rules, the person can be detained without any investigation or complaint for “violation of public decency”.
Fear of arrest
Shad says he is in constant fear of arrest.
A recent report by the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch detailed the arrests of the LGBT community in Qatar. Transgenders have also been found to have been arrested for expressing their gender through clothes, hairstyles and make-up.
Shad avoids going to crowded places during peak hours of the day. This is because he thinks that someone will report him to the police.
Stating that she was arrested for wearing make-up and walking “like a woman”, she describes the State Security Service, an arm of Qatar’s law enforcement, as “a gang”.
“They will hold you captive and prevent you from telling others where you are. They will put you in a dungeon and treat you like a criminal,” he says.
“They will handcuff you,” he says, “to protect this community from us,” he laughs.
The BBC was unable to independently verify whether Shahd had been arrested, as he claimed. Because no official record of his arrest was given to him.
image source, BBC/GEMMA LAISTER
“Sex Reassignment Therapy”
Shaad says those who go to prison for similar reasons are sent to doctors for “conversion therapy”. But a Qatari government official denies that the government operates or licenses any such “gender reassignment treatment centers”.
“They say I will go to hell for my choice of gender. But I believe God made me this way,” says Shad.
“I am a woman. If I could have been a man I would have been. Then my life would have been easier.” said.
Asylum in Europe
The situation is even worse for Sara, another transgender. He has now fled Qatar and is seeking asylum in Europe.
He said he left everything there and left with only one bag containing his belongings and some cash.
“I was at a point where it was either kill myself or get out. Eventually I decided to leave.”
Sarah says she was forced to undergo sex reassignment treatment several times. But he doesn’t believe calls to boycott the World Cup against Qatar’s laws on homosexuality will work.
“Such laws exist in other countries. But they only raise voice about Qatar. They say Qatar should not host the World Cup.”
The chief executive of soccer’s governing body, FIFA, has called for a focus on competition rather than politics. However, various charities and organizations have continued to demand that any other country with anti-LGBT laws pledges not to host the World Cup in the future.
Qatar has “absolutely rejected” the claims of both Shaad and Sarah.
“Everyone is welcome” to the World Cup, a government official said. And “fans from all walks of life are coming together in Qatar to build bridges of friendship and break down barriers,” he said.
The official said that “Qatar will not tolerate discrimination against anyone” and that Qatar is one of the safest countries in the world. However, a recent report by Amnesty International refutes these claims.
Written with additional information by Julian Hajj.
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