Nas Mohamed, the ‘first Qatari to publicly come out of the closet’

Nas Mohamed had to keep his homosexuality a secret for many years to survive in Qatar, his native country, despite the fact that “he knew it from a very young age.”

“I remember that I was about 11 or 12 years old and I already thought about it, but I didn’t know what it really meant to be gay,” says the man who is now 35 years old in an interview with BBC Mundo.

“I didn’t have access to anything. I didn’t have internet, there was no gay community in my city and I wasn’t exposed to anything. I didn’t understand what was going on with me.”

Initially she decided to ignore and repress any thoughts related to sex and her sexual orientation.

He preferred to focus on his medical studies and religion; he was then an “extremely religious” person who knew the koran by heart.

Thus he spent his adolescence and early adult life, during which he had only to ignore suggestions that he should get a wife.

“Many of us are pushed to get married very young, sometimes before the age of 20. For me, the hardest thing was trying to resist the pressure around me to get married,” she says.

“I had to give a good reason for not wanting to get married, so they wouldn’t get suspicious.”

It was during a trip to Las Vegas, at the age of 22, that he confirmed that he was “definitely” gay. He went to an LGBT+ nightclub and felt truly free for the first time.

“I realized that I had no tendency or desire to have heterosexual sex. I was in shock. Then I started reading and learning more about myself and what it meant to be homosexual,” he says.

But after returning to Qatar, he completely repressed the sexual desire that had aroused in him.

“I lived in constant fear. I thought I would be killed if anyone found out I was gay, if it became public. Honor killings are very tribal in Qatar. Some families do it, some don’t, and the government tries not to intervene.” “.

Upon finishing his degree in 2011, when he was 24 years old, Nas made the decision to move “temporarily” to the United States, where he would spend three years doing a residency to complete his professional training as a doctor.

Never comeback.

After completing his residency in a hospital in Connecticut and a research fellowship in the state of Pennsylvania in 2015, he applied for asylum in California, alleging the persecution he would face in his country due to his sexual orientation.

The end of the relationship with his family

But before applying for asylum, he called his parents to explain why he would never return to Qatar.

“I confessed to them that I was gay and that I didn’t feel safe at home, that I didn’t think I would ever go back. We had a big fight and then we talked a couple more times, but it never ended well,” Nas explains.

He says that sadly the relationship with his parents ended with the first phone call.

“Out of tradition and embarrassment, I imagine they’ve made up a story for our extended family. I don’t know what they’ve been told, but I guess now everyone knows the real reason why I left, thanks to my interviews.”

Nas Mohamed gained notoriety this year after speaking publicly about his homosexuality.

Many have given him the title of “the first Qatari to come out publicly”, after he gave interviews to different media.

World Cup Qatar 2022

He explains that he decides to come out now because they didn’t take him into account before.

But the World Cup being held in Qatar later this year has put the spotlight on that country and on all the allegations of human rights and minority abuses that are regularly reported in the Arab state.

At the beginning of the year, Nasser Al Khater, CEO of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, assured in a press conference that all fans will be welcome in Qatar, as long as they respect the country’s traditions.

“I would like to assure any fan, of any gender, (sexual) orientation, religion or race, rest assured that Qatar is one of the safest countries in the world, and everyone is welcome here,” he said.

“Public displays of affection are frowned upon, it’s not part of our culture, and that applies to everyone.”

But several associations, such as the European Gay and Lesbian Sport Federation, have complained that security guarantees for LGBTQ+ people in Qatar remain inadequate months before the start of the World Cup.

Being gay in Qatar

Nas affirms that he did not come out of the closet to tell his own story, but to make known that of all members of the LGBT+ community in Qatar.

“It’s very dangerous to come out when you’re Qatari and I’ve been preparing for this for months,” he insists.

He says that through his recent work as a spokesperson for the LGBT+ community in Qatar, he has realized how big the community is in his native country.

But they all hide their sexuality and are afraid to talk about it or confess it to anyone.

According to him, this is because in the Qatari police there is a team dedicated to “hunting” LGBT+ people and when they find a member of the community they take their phone and rummage through their contacts to try to locate others.

“I know gay people who don’t even know that others close to their circle are too, because it’s very dangerous for an LGBT+ person to meet another.”

Being gay is illegal in Qatar.

According to article 296 of its penal code, the penalties for same-sex sexual relations range from 3 to 5 years in prison or even death, although there is no evidence that death sentences have been applied for consensual sexual relations in private between adults of the same sex.

Nas affirms that within the Qatari gay community censorship reigns and nothing is transparent, but he assures that not everyone lives under the same conditions.

“There are LGBT people who live well. They are a lucky minority, because they are very rich, with very large families, or they are accepted assuming that it has to be a family secret.”

But he adds that even these people live with many limitations on what they can do and some often have mental health problems.

“Many of us did not have the same luck and horrible things happened to us.”

He still fears for his life

Nas says that although he no longer lives in Qatar, he still fears for his life. He has been showered with insults and death threats after making his homosexuality public.

“Even living here in San Francisco I don’t feel safe. Because there is a lot of hate and violence against us,” he continues.

He had to shut down almost all of his social networks to reduce the number of hateful messages he receives daily, except for an Instagram account that he uses as a platform for his activism.

But just as you receive hate messages, they also send you thanks.

“They thank me for being the voice of many people who cannot speak. I have been contacted by many people from the LGBT+ community and many allies from all walks of life in Qatar.”

“My own family would kill me”

The US government granted Nas asylum in 2017 after an intense legal battle.

Since 2015, he has made San Francisco, California, his home and says he could never return to Qatar.

“I would definitely be mistreated on arrival. I think my own family would kill me for what I’m doing. There are people telling me on Instagram that if I set foot there they will help me meet Allah,” he says.

The Qatari adds that he could also be prosecuted by the Qatari government for “breaking the law.”

Nas hopes that his story will inform many people of how “backward” Qatari society is in terms of freedoms and rights of the LGBT+ community.

And he calls on foreigners visiting Qatar during the World Cup not to hide, as he insists that visibility is important.

He also hopes it will help other gay and transgender Qataris have documented stories to show as evidence if they plan to seek asylum in other countries where they can live freely.

“We are a population that needs help and support. What is happening in Qatar does not affect only Qataris, but the LGBT+ community around the world,” he says.

“We need our rights to be universally respected, that wherever we go we are treated equally and as humans with rights, not as criminals. We need more voices.”

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