Activist rejects ‘white saviour’ label, says he protested in Qatar by request
Gay rights activist Peter Tatchell has rejected recent criticism by a rights activist in Egypt who objected to Tatchell’s visit to Qatar last fall to protest Qatar’s mistreatment of its LGBT citizens.
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Tatchell rejected key assertions contained in the essay on the website of the Egyptian human rights research institute Cairo52, in which activist Nora Noralla stated that protests by Tatchell and other Western LGBTQ+ allies were launched without local support. He denies that.
Tatchell’s protest, she stated, was “slammed by some of the region’s activists as nothing but Western-centric white savior activism”. In rebuttal, he says the protest was requested by local activists and was hailed by them as “the single most effective action they have ever seen”.
In the months leading up to World Cup matches in Qatar, the essay stated, Westerners’ protests jeopardized Middle Eastern sexual minorities by making LGBTQ+ rights seem like a Western export being imposed on the Muslim world.
Noralla added that, before Tatchell’s protest, he “was in contact with LGBTQ+ people residing in Qatar, who requested that he wouldn’t do such a stunt for their safety.” Tatchell acknowledged that “a small number of Qatari LGBTs objected to my protest but they are not representative and have no mandate to speak for LGBT+ Qataris”. His protest was requested by a diverse “group of clandestine Qatari human rights defenders with whom I have been working for over 10 years”, he said.
Noralla’s essay was republished on the Erasing 76 Crimes site on Jan. 21 under the headline “‘ ‘Self-centered Westerners turned LGBTQ+ people into World Cup losers’ “.
Tatchell issued the following statement on Jan. 23. It is published here in place of his earlier informal response that was included with the first version of this article.
The truth about my protest in Qatar
By Peter Tatchell
What Nora Noralla wrote was ill-informed, making false claims without a shred of evidence.
Contrary to what Nora claims, I did the protest at the request of a group of clandestine Qatari human rights defenders with whom I have been working for over 10 years. They are a mix of feminists, labour rights activists, humanists, LGBTs, minority ethnic campaigners and democratic reformers. They asked me to protest and were delighted with what I did. I acted on THEIR initiative in solidarity with THEIR struggle.
I was not acting as a “white saviour” as Nora claims. I reject white saviourism. I was supporting brave Qataris who asked for help but whom my critics declined to support.
Nora seems to not understand the concept of international solidarity and how important it has been to so many struggles, from anti-apartheid to the freedom struggles in Ukraine, Iran and Hong Kong. I have been supporting other activists across the world – at their request – for nearly 60 years. They say international solidarity is important and valued.
It is true that a small number of Qatari LGBTs objected to my protest but they are not representative and have no mandate to speak for LGBT+ Qataris, many of whom supported what I did. These critics wanted no protests, which is exactly what the Qatar regime also wanted. No protests would have given the tyrant rulers a PR victory. Is that what we wanted?
In contrast to what this article states, the Qataris I worked with say there has been no harm, damage or adverse consequences for anyone in Qatar as a result of my protest. The Qataris who attack me ought to be more worried about security breaches by some of their members and the fact that their encrypted group is allegedly infiltrated by Qatar state security.
I am told that my protest in Qatar generated a huge and helpful human rights debate inside the country and was reported by over 5,000 media outlets worldwide. This exposed the Doha dictatorship and its many diverse human rights abuses to a global audience of nearly a billion people. The Qatari activists that I collaborated with say that in terms of highlighting the tyranny of the regime it was the single most effective action they have ever seen.
Nora’s article is flawed and insulting to non-LGBT+ Qataris who are who are also oppressed. She is wrong to intimate that my protest was just about LGBT+ rights. It was not. I also protested against the abuse of women and migrant workers – and the victims of many other human rights abuses. I raised these diverse issues in the hundreds of interviews I did in the days and weeks after the protest.
Contrary to what is suggested, I publicised the Human Rights Watch report on LGBT+ persecution in Qatar and my protest helped get it more coverage.
The idea that I knew my Western privilege and passport would protect me is nonsense. Westerners have been beaten, jailed and murdered by the Qatari regime. Not long before I staged my protest, three Qatari human rights defenders were sentenced to life in prison for supporting a protest. I was terrified of going to Qatar and feared that I might suffer a beating and jail time. But my commitment to amplify the concerns of Qatari human rights defenders overrode my fears.
The escalating homophobia in Iraq and Kuwait had nothing to with my protest. It is driven by internal factors and pressure from the viciously anti-LGBT+ Organisation of Islamic States.
The World Cup is over but I am continuing to campaign for human rights in Qatar, alongside inspiring Qatari activists, as I have done for the last decade and more.
Thank you.
Peter Tatchell
www.PeterTatchellFoundation.org
* Documentary, Hating Peter Tatchell, about my 56 years of campaigning, is out now on Netflix. Trailer: www.TatchellMovie.com
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‘Self-centered Westerners turned LGBTQ+ people into World Cup losers’