Original artwork description:

Dr Nas Mohamed is a gay Qatari who was forced to leave Qatar due to the country's oppressive laws for LGBTQIA+ people.

In his own words: “I do not wish to be anonymous. I already lost everything – my citizenship, my family and my financial security in Qatar. For us to change things for LGBT+ Qataris, we need more people to come out.

“Referring to us by anonymous names without faces enforces the view that we are doing something wrong that we need to be ashamed of.

“I would like to share my views with my name, as a physician and as a Qatari citizen that still has parents and siblings in the country. They need to know I am one of their own and am not a ‘western agenda’ as they refer to us” - from The Independant

I think as we watch this World Cup the very very least we can do is recognise that is it an attempt at sportswashing. It is an attempt to make us associate Qatar with a celebratory thing like the World Cup and overlook the country's brutal dictatorship.

All artist's profits from the sale of this portrait will be donated to The LGBT Asylum Project

Materials used:

Oil Paint

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