On the occasion of Pride Month, which is celebrated annually across the world for the entire month of June, U.S. Ambassador to Qatar Timmy T. Davis posted a tweet to mark the month and stressed the importance of treating all people with respect: "Happy Pride! LGBTQI+ people deserve dignity, safety, and joy, this month and throughout the year. One June 1, I reminded my staff @usembassydoha to treat colleagues and everyone else with respect."[1]
Ambassador Davis's tweet (Source: Twitter.com/USAmbQatar, June 4, 2023)
Davis's tweet sparked furious responses from the Qatari media and from public figures in the country, who accused him of supporting perversion and unnatural human behavior and of imposing his own values on Qatari society, which opposes them. As ambassador to Qatar, they argued, Davis should respect the religion and the customs of Qatari society and refrain from tweeting messages supporting the LGBTQI+ community.
This report reviews some of the responses to the U.S. ambassador's tweet:
Editor Of Qatari Daily: Honorable Ambassador, You Take Pride In Perversion And Perverts; You Should Respect The Laws Of The Country Where You Reside
The editor of the Qatari Al-Sharq daily, Jaber Al-Harmi, shared the tweet posted by the U.S. ambassador and responded: "[The fact] that you take pride in perversion and in perverts is your [private] business, honorable ambassador, but you should respect the laws and statutes in the country where you reside and the customs, traditions, values, and morality of the society in which you live. When others come to visit you [i.e. the countries in the West] you impose your laws on them and demand that they respect your values, while at the same time you [act as if you] are under no obligation to respect the values of the countries in which you reside. Respect [others], so that they will respect you."[2]
Jaber Al-Harmi's tweet
Senior Journalist: Is Behavior That Contradicts Human Nature Something To Be Proud Of?
Fahed Al-Madi, managing editor of the Qatari Al-Watan daily, tweeted in response to Ambassador Davis's tweet: "Is [sexual] perversion and [behavior] that contradicts human nature [and] the values and principles of the monotheistic religions something that you [i.e. the ambassador] think one should be proud of? Qatari society opposes these types of perverted behaviors. As the ambassador of your country [in Qatar] you are expected to also respect the religion, the customs, and the character of the Qatari society."[3]
Al-Madi's tweet
Retired Qatari Army Officer: Would You Agree To Our Breaking Your Laws In The U.S. As You Break Ours And Are Inconsiderate Of Our Religion?
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Mubarak Al-Hayareen, a retired Qatari Armed Forces officer, tweeted: "Honorable ambassador, if we were in the U.S., would you agree to our breaking your laws, whereas you, the ambassador of the U.S., the friend, in Qatar, violate our laws, our customs, and our traditions and are inconsiderate regarding what is forbidden to us and is forbidden by our religion!"[4]
Al-Hayareen's tweet
Qatari Journalist: One Shouldn't Display One's Sexual Proclivities In Public
A TV presenter on the Qatari Al-Araby channel, Omar Shiekh Ebrahim, tweeted: "Honorable ambassador, the display of sexual proclivities and the sex act in public is an indication that the person with such a personality is still [developmentally] at the pre-instinctual stage – that is, still [at a stage] preceding the animal stage. The natural place for the [sexual] proclivities and sex lives [of LGBTQI+ community members] is their bedrooms or living rooms, or on the couch if they wish – but not in the public space."[5]
Omar Shiekh Ebrahim's tweet
Social Activist: We Hope The Qatari Foreign Ministry Will Come Out Against The Remarks By The Ambassador
Qatari journalist and social activist Muhammad Ghanem Al-Muhandi also responded to Ambassador Davis's tweet, writing: "It is unfortunate that such remarks are published by [the U.S.] ambassador in Qatar – [remarks] that contravene its laws, its statutes, its customs, and its tradition. We hope that the brothers in the Qatari Foreign Ministry will come out against this issue."[6]
Al-Muhandi's tweet
Qatari Artist To U.S. Ambassador: If Your Purpose Is To Fight Against Islam – Get Out Of Here; If You Are Homosexual, Seek Medical Treatment
Qatari artist Khawla Al-Mannai posted a series of tweets in response to the ambassador's message. The first was Quran 49:13: "O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Surely the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous among you. Allah is truly All-Knowing, All-Aware."[7]
She added: "[U.S. Ambassador], we know that you read Arabic and are knowledgeable about the Quran, which is the reason you were chosen to be ambassador. You know that Allah destroyed the children of Lot because of their apostasy and their forbidden behavior. If your purpose is to oppose Islam, the Muslims, and Allah's book [the Quran] in a Muslim country... then we do not welcome you and we ask you to leave the Muslim lands of Allah. If you are a homosexual, [know] that homosexuality is an illness and we recommend that you see a psychiatrist. Go to your country and receive medical treatment and don't return before you are cured…"[8]
Khawla Al-Mannai (Source: Raya.com, October 6, 2019)
[1] Twitter.com/USAmbQatar, June 4, 2023.
[2] Twitter.com/jaberalharmi, June 4, 2023.
[3] Twitter.com/fahedalemadi, June 4, 2023.
[4] Twitter.com/GenAlkhayareen, June 4, 2023.
[5] Twitter.com/OmarAlchiekh, June 4, 2023.
[6] Twitter.com/alkhor_live, June 4, 2023.
[7] This verse was included in the opening ceremony of the World Cup held in Qatar in November 2022. A Qatari journalist explained that it was intended to convey a meaningful divine message to mankind in condemnation of the LGBTQI+ community. See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 10340, Qatari Journalist: The Quranic Verse In The World Cup Opening Ceremony Was A Qatari Message Against Homosexuality, November 28, 2022.
[8] Twitter.com/KMAAlmannai, June 5, 2023.
