James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, has advised LGBT football fans attending the World Cup in Qatar to “show a little bit of elasticity and compromise.” He urged supporters coming from England and Wales to have “respect for the host nation,” where same-sex behavior is prohibited, in an interview with LBC on Wednesday.
Within hours, the official spokesman for the prime minister declared that LGBT World Cup supporters shouldn’t be required to “sacrifice who they are” if they travel to Qatar.
Mr. Cleverly’s comments were dubbed “shockingly tone-deaf” by Labour. When asked how the government was promoting LGBT equality in Qatar in a separate interview with Sky News, the foreign secretary reinforced his message. He stated: “These are Muslim-majority nations, and their cultural foundations differ greatly from ours. I believe it’s crucial to respect the local culture when traveling to another country.” LGBT organizations have criticized the choice to hold the World Cup in Qatar, a nation where homosexuality is punishable by death.
Credit: BBC News | Jasmine Andersson
Photos | Unspalsh | Christian Lue | Manny Becerra | Aiden Craver |
