Should openly gay athletes boycott QATAR 2022?

[marylander1940]

Gay soccer star Josh Cavallo would be 'scared' to play World Cup in Qatar (metroweekly.com)

OP note: I don't blame him... 

 

[+ purplekow]

Preparing for the Olympics requires amazing dedication and drive.  Gay people are not just gay people, they are complex beings with many facets to their being.  Some would be willing to sacrifice all that work to make a statement in not attending and some would sacrifice everything else just to compete.  There is no wrong decision here.  They should follow their heart and their mind and do that which feels most right to them. 

[+ purplekow]

As a side note, their are at least 6 ads on Rentmen.com for escorts in Qatar.  

[+ sync]

If I were a person with decision-making influence with Josh Cavallo, I would tell him it's a definite no-go.

He is very young, and there will be other competitions.

[mike carey]

16 hours ago, sync said:

If I were a person with decision-making influence with Josh Cavallo, I would tell him it's a definite no-go.

He is very young, and there will be other competitions.

That's true. At the moment it's not an issue as he's not in the Socceroos squad. However, he faces a broader dilemma. Australia has to qualify in the Asian Confederation, so many of its games are in the Middle East. In a 'normal' qualification round we potentially face home and away games in Saudi Arabia, Oman, the UAE, Qatar and Iran, and this year due to Covid travel restrictions we have also played 'home' games in the UAE. Granted they are fly-in fly-out encounters not the six weeks that the finals could involve but if he's not prepared to travel to those countries it limits his value to the squad.

I have to wonder, however, how much real danger do the laws in those countries pose to members of visiting professional sports teams. Is it likely to be any more dangerous than Russia, host of the last World Cup where there are aggressively homophobic policies and public attitudes, but homosexuality is nominally legal.

[+ sam.fitzpatrick]

22 hours ago, sync said:

If I were a person with decision-making influence with Josh Cavallo, I would tell him it's a definite no-go.

He is very young, and there will be other competitions.

There is no guarantee that there will be other competitions for him.  Look at all the athletes that missed out of their Olympics dream when the US boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics or Russia boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.  
 

I agree with @purplekow. If I was a person with decision-making influence, I would make sure he has all the information available including the personal risks of attending and the realistic impacts he would make by not participating to be weighed against his personal goals, the impacts he could realistically make by attending in person (and potentially speaking out against these policies while participating), and the sacrifices he would need to make to try to be selected to the national team in four years if that was truly a lifelong dream.  

[BSR]

2 hours ago, sam.fitzpatrick said:

There is no guarantee that there will be other competitions for him.  Look at all the athletes that missed out of their Olympics dream when the US boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics or Russia boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.  
 

I agree with @purplekow. If I was a person with decision-making influence, I would make sure he has all the information available including the personal risks of attending and the realistic impacts he would make by not participating to be weighed against his personal goals, the impacts he could realistically make by attending in person (and potentially speaking out against these policies while participating), and the sacrifices he would need to make to try to be selected to the national team in four years if that was truly a lifelong dream.  

I don't know enough about Josh Cavallo or even World Cup soccer to opine on whether or not he should boycott, but it feels like the horse already left the barn. 

FIFA sanctioned the Mexican national team by barring fans from attending 2 home games because the fans used a homophobic slur to taunt the opposing team.  At the same time, soccer's international governing body gives the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, a country which makes being gay a crime.  So apparently FIFA thinks it's horribly wrong to call LGBTs mean names, but throwing an LGBT person in prison for the simple "crime" of being gay is totally OK.

[marylander1940]

13 hours ago, BSR said:

I don't know enough about Josh Cavallo or even World Cup soccer to opine on whether or not he should boycott, but it feels like the horse already left the barn. 

FIFA sanctioned the Mexican national team by barring fans from attending 2 home games because the fans used a homophobic slur to taunt the opposing team.  At the same time, soccer's international governing body gives the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, a country which makes being gay a crime.  So apparently FIFA thinks it's horribly wrong to call LGBTs mean names, but throwing an LGBT person in prison for the simple "crime" of being gay is totally OK.

Giving Qatar the world cup was always a controversial choice specially considering the "slavery" of some of the workers building the stadiums. 

I doubt FIFA thinks calling someone "ehhhhh puto" is worse than throwing a gay person in jail. 

One more thing, the FIFA world cup was celebrated in the USA in 1994 and some of the games where played in states where sodomy was still illegal and punishable with prison. 

[+ purplekow]

Jesse Owens went to the Berlin Games.   Sporting events may have impact far beyond the pitch, field, arena, rink, court, or gym.  

[BSR]

5 hours ago, purplekow said:

Jesse Owens went to the Berlin Games.   Sporting events may have impact far beyond the pitch, field, arena, rink, court, or gym.  

The difference is every spectator in the stadium could see that the legendary Owens was black.  On the soccer field, Josh Cavallo looks like any other player.

[+ purplekow]

2 hours ago, BSR said:

The difference is every spectator in the stadium could see that the legendary Owens was black.  On the soccer field, Josh Cavallo looks like any other player.

Kind of my point.  Jesse Owens could go in spite of the danger inherent in his being there and make a point just by competing.  Perhaps Mr. Cavallo can only shine a light on this discrimination by going and speaking out about it.  

[BSR]

7 hours ago, purplekow said:

Kind of my point.  Jesse Owens could go in spite of the danger inherent in his being there and make a point just by competing.  Perhaps Mr. Cavallo can only shine a light on this discrimination by going and speaking out about it.  

OK, I get your point.  Believe me, I'd love to see Josh Cavallo Instagramming and tweeting pictures of himself all around Qatar waving a Pride flag or wearing a big bold Pride t-shirt.  Since I imagine the Qatari government wouldn't like that much, I'd fear for his safety.  Hopefully, the supposed social justice warriors in FIFA, the ones so quick to penalize the Mexican national team because their fans shouted homophobic taunts, would support Cavallo's efforts and take whatever measures necessary to ensure Cavallo's safety. 

[BSR]

Gawd, how I hate virtue-signaling.  FIFA signaled its virtue by sanctioning the Mexican team for its fans' homophobic taunts yet knowingly, willingly, and all too gladly gave the World Cup to a country where being gay is a crime.  I can only imagine the mountain of cash that Qatar paid FIFA to ignore the nation's profound homophobia.  Don't pretend to care about LGBT rights when the only thing you really care about is money.

Dozens of Qatari hotels are refusing to admit LGBT guests or are telling them to avoid looking or acting gay.  Did FIFA honestly think sh*t like this wouldn't happen?  What else do you expect from a country that makes homosexuality a crime?!

I dont know if it's possible to strip Qatar of the World Cup and relocate it to another country.  Logistically I doubt it's a problem (World Cup starts Nov 21).  A number of European countries have the facilities and hotel capacity to stage the mega-event, plus would burst with joy at the chance to do so.  The hitch is that FIFA would have to forfeit the container ship of cash Qatar gave them.  If forced to choose between money and LGBT rights, the virtue-signallers in FIFA would take maybe a nanosecond to decide.

 

 

[jeezifonly]

He should do his research, and if he fears for his safety, stay home.   

[marylander1940]

 

I hope all the folks who will go to the world cup are aware of the strict laws in Qatar and won't end up in jail for being gay, showing too much skin, sex out of wedlock etc...

To censor THIS picture of Messi and his wife? 

[+ WilliamM]

11 minutes ago, marylander1940 said:

 

I hope all the folks who will go to the world cup are aware of the strict laws in Qatar and won't end up in jail for being gay, showing too much skin, sex out of wedlock etc...

To censor THIS picture of Messi and his wife? 

Sexy photo. He will be fine, definitely not showing too much skin

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

Gay athletes and spectators should do the opposite of boycott.  They should show up loud and proud.  If they boycott, then they're just opening up spots for more straight people to attend.  If they are out and proud, then the hosting country must decide how to react.  The hosting country's population may benefit from seeing openly gay people for the first time at the event and realize they are no threat.  Or the hosting country may decide they don't want the presence of openly gay people and refuse to host these prestigious events in the future.  Either way, the likelihood of those potential outcomes diminishes if openly gay athletes and spectators boycott the event.

Edited June 23, 2022 by Vegas_nw1982