As the FIFA World Cup kicks-off in a couple days in Qatar, one issue on the front burner has been that of ‘human rights’ and the promotion and spread of homosexuality.
In recent years, there has been immense support for and solidarity with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer, LGBTG community, especially from the USA and UK Governments.
The English Premier League recently took the lead in using the most loved sport to promote gay.
The Rainbow Laces campaign began in 2013 spearheaded by the charity of Stonewall founded in 1989 by a small group of people who had been active in the struggle against Section 28 of the Local Government Act.
Section 28 of the Act was a piece of legislation that aimed to prevent the “promotion” of gay in schools – and though it stigmatised the LGBT community, it also galvanised them.
The Rainbow Laces campaign is designed specifically to promote lesbian, gay, bi and trans equality within sport.
The Rainbow Laces campaign kick-started in October with captains of the 20 Premier League clubs wearing rainbow-themed armbands.
Additionally, all is set for thousands of fans to take part in a huge lace-up in a nationwide support of LGBT athletes for “Rainbow Laces Day”, on November 24 with more than 75,000 Rainbow Laces already being sold.
Stonewall called on fans and athletes to be “active allies” within the game both off-pitch and on, and to play their part in ensuring that LGBT people feel included in sport.
The Rainbow Laces were created as a symbol of solidarity with the LGBT community within sport.
However, ahead of the kick-off of the World Cup this weekend, Qatar a Muslim State has said that even though “Everyone is welcome” to their country, “we are a conservative country and any public display of affection, regardless of orientation, is frowned upon. We simply ask for people to respect our culture.”
Qatar government has also been invited to comment on the claims made by Human Rights Watch, HRW, and in what appears like a compromise, the Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy had recently told CNN that the 2022 World Cup will “be an inclusive, safe tournament” and said “everyone is welcome, regardless of race, background, religion, gender, orientation or nationality.”
The fact remains that “Homosexuality is illegal, punishable by imprisonment and, if you’re Muslim, possibly even death in Qatar.
“Qatari authorities need to end impunity for violence against LGBT people. The world is watching,” said Rasha Younes of Human Rights Watch.
Under Qatari law, homosexuality is illegal and punishable by up to three years in prison and for this particular reason, FIFA has received backslashes for awarding the hosting right to Qatar.
Beckham’s fellow Qatar World Cup ambassador, Khalid Salman told a German outlet that homosexuality is “damage in the mind.”
HRW has also recently highlighted “arbitrary arrests and ill-treatment” of LGBTQ people in Qatar.
“There are just a few days until the World Cup kicks off, but that’s plenty of time for the Qatari government to end ill-treatment of LGBT people,” HRW said in a November press release.
“Qatari authorities should publicly condemn violence against LGBT people and formally recognize that having same-sex sexual attraction is not a mental health condition.”
Meanwhile, UK foreign secretary, James Cleverly has told LGBTQ+ football fans travelling to Qatar for the World Cup to “respect the law” of the host country, as the foreign secretary defended attending the tournament himself.
Cleverly said he had spoken to the Qataris about their legislation on homosexuality. He told MPs on the foreign affairs committee that while “we would always promote not just tolerance, but a real embracement of diversity”, the “default setting” for any Briton travelling overseas should be to “respect the laws of their host countries”.
And speaking to DAILY POST on this matter Dr. Wayne West, the Chairman of the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society ( JCHS) based in Jamaica and president of the Caribbean CAUSE which has membership in 15 Caribbean territories, said:
“The question of so-called LGBTQ+ rights is a matter of worldview, i.e the lens through which we look at and understand the world.
“As a theist, a Christian, the lens through which I look at the world is anchored in Genesis 1:1 ‘In the beginning God created heaven and the earth’.
“This is still the best and only plausible explanation for what we observe in and know about the universe, i.e that the universe is the product of a Being who has great power and great intelligence.
“In addition to the laws and remarkably finely tuned constants that make our universe possible, great intelligence is required to produce the DNA code, nanotechnology and information processing systems we see in living organisms (abiogenesis).
“It should also be noted that although universities and other institutions of learning claim that evolution is true, to the best of my knowledge, evolutionary biologists cannot cite a single example of the hereditary information for a new organ or body plan of an organism being produced by a process derived solely from the laws of physics.
“Belief in God is much more reasonable than lack of belief in God and these two beliefs are the major factors that frame worldviews in western nations. Most western nations are post-Christian and secular but the Muslim world and many other countries are religious, theists.
“Those who say that they lack belief in God do not say (they cannot) what caused the universe or why it is here but speak and act as though they are of the view that the laws of physics which describe the behaviour of matter is sufficient to explain all that we observe. They have no scientific proof of this.
“In the biblical worldview, human beings have rights because we are made in the image of God. The “Image of God” has rights to life, justice, property, respect for their marriage etc. LGBTQ+ persons have all the rights “the Imago Dei” has, as prescribed in the bible but they have no rights to the behaviours that are unique to LGBTQ+ lifestyles because they are both sinful and inconsistent with God’s design and purpose for the universe.
“In the secular worldview as supported by persons like Barack Obama and Joe Biden, rights come from human desires.
“This is the Genesis 3: 1 – 6 phenomenon in which human desires replace the Word of God as the basis for law, public policy, social order and human rights.
“In short we have different world views competing for being the basis for law, public policy and social order. A society has to choose one or the other. They are mutually exclusive as can be seen with the cases that arise when persons make efforts to force Christian bakers to show support for so-called same sex by baking cakes with pro-homosexual signage or transwomen in women’s sports, or efforts to indoctrinate children into the LGBTQ+ worldview with sexually nihilistic and anarchist behaviour and gender fluidity with Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE)
“The theistic Christian and Muslim worldviews are as radically different from the secular world view as communism and capitalism.
“When persons use their position as athletes to advance the LGBTQ+ lifestyle they are actually advocating for the secular worldview for law, public policy and social order.
“We would not allow athletes to advocate for capitalism or communism in sporting events. We should not allow athletes to advocate for secularism in sports.
“I would say that the course of seeking to impose the LGBTG ideology in sports is really seeking to impose a worldview for law and of the policy as well as social organisation in a country. I think that that should not be allowed.
“Just as we’ll not allow athletes to seek to impose capitalism on a communist country or communism on a capitalist country because of the radical difference in an organisational society that organised themselves according Christian or Muslim ideology as distinct to those that organised themselves according to circular ideology.
“It’s wrong for athletes to seek to impose their ideologies on societies. It’s wrong for them to do so during sporting events. I think we should stick to keeping sports neutral. In their own personal lives, if they choose to support a particular political ideology, I think that everyone should be free to do so. Sports should be kept neutral.”
Similar to the laws in Qatar, LGBT persons in Nigeria face legal and social challenges as homosexuality is illegal in Nigeria and punishable by up to 14 years of prison in the conventional court system.
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