A group of Arab friends living in Qatar's capital Doha met up over cocktails and snacks last week, exchanging opinions as they flicked through profiles of gay men on dating apps Tinder and Grindr.
The phone of one flashed with a message from a suitor around the corner. The man in his 20s leapt up from the table, leaving to meet his date face-to-face.
Reuters spoke to four gay men in Doha - the Westerner, two Qataris plus an Arab from elsewhere in the region - who said they lived in the country, a magnet for foreign workers, because they had well-paid jobs, plus friends or family there. In fact, the four expressed worries about the wave of international criticism about gay rights in Qatar brought by the World Cup, fearing they could lose the freedoms they do enjoy should the opprobrium lead to a public backlash against the LGBT+ community once global attention moves on.
, some as recently as September, Human Rights Watch has said. The group also accused authorities of ordering some transgender women to attend conversion therapy. "When you're an LGBT person and don't get to experience being your full authentic self, then you just lose your sense of self," Mohamed told Reuters this month at a clinic he operates in San Francisco.
The four men interviewed by Reuters said that there were strong financial and career incentives to residing in the country, adding that life for gay people there was better than in some other places in the Middle East."If you're an expat, you're able to live your life like you want," said the 30-year-old Arab man. "At the same time, I know I can live like this because I am privileged. I know gay men in workers' camps wouldn't be able to live the same way.
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