Faisal arrived at his family home and his father asked once more
why he remained resistant to marrying a woman.
In Saudi Arabia, the expectation is that men should settle down, get married and have children.
His father, a “powerful man” in the local community, made contact with a psychiatrist,
who Faisal says usually worked at a public hospital specialising in
the treatment of mental illness and addiction.
Faisal alleges that his father asked one of the specialists from the hospital to befriend his son.
He tasked the medic with the challenge of “working out” why his son had refused to marry. The medical
professional came to the family home, where Faisal eventually revealed that he was homosexual.
Then the “treatment” began.
“Torture” is a strong word, but that’s how Faisal describes the process of attempted conversion
therapy. The methods inflicted upon “patients” are physically vicious and psychologically cruel.
The psychiatrist started by asking Faisal to watch gay pornography
and masturbate. The catch, however, is that Faisal was ordered to multi-task;
specifically by vomiting at the point of ejaculation.
“When I was physically unable to vomit, the doctor suggested pairing the gay pornography
with videos of people vomiting. He provided a pill, too, that made me vomit almost instantly.
I feel like I am still traumatised.”
In October, Faisal noted the takeover of Newcastle United. Since then, passing
mentions have been made in news reports to the treatment of the LGBT+ community in Saudi Arabia.
And in this video, The Athletic’s Adam Crafton, from conversations with LGBT+ Saudis,
portrays the daily reality of their life in the Gulf state
and what the Newcastle takeover and the scrutiny that comes with it means for them.
Coverage of events in far-away places very often deals in the extremes.
We will sometimes hear people speak in caricatures about the Middle East,
as a place where gay people are thrown off buildings and heads get chopped off.
The daily reality in Saudi Arabia, however, is less dramatic.
Door-to-door police searches to identify any homosexuals are not standard practice.
It may be a surprise to some that Drag Race is available on streaming subscription platforms
in Saudi Arabia. Others find a way, too, to watch the American coming-of-age film Love,
Simon, about a high-schooler grappling with his sexuality. And the internet
provides opportunities that would never have been possible for those who came before.
Gay dating app Grindr is blocked in Saudi Arabia. But other apps,
such as Scruff and Tinder, are accessible.
The risk with dating apps is considerable,
though . The New York Times wrote in 2015 how a Scruff user in Saudi Arabia had
reported that police in Riyadh used the app to entice and then deport an acquaintance.
Others go on dates and are told stories about the fate of other gay men, such as
the one whose family discovered his anonymous Twitter account,
where he spoke about his sexuality, and beat their own child up before disowning him.
Amad, was told by one partner about a friend who had been entrapped via a dating app.
“The police used him to then out other gay individuals. If you cut a deal,
they set you free. It is a way for the community to turn on one another and a domino effect.”
The PIF did not respond to this allegation, insisting it is separate from the Saudi state.
Despite the alleged oppression by organs of the Saudi state,
it is a fear of the family, first and foremost, that most often arises in Adam’s conversations.
He’s told first-person accounts of differing levels of family mistreatment.
One trans woman recalls how she was battered by her uncle “in order to put some manhood” into her.
Another trans person on the call is too afraid to speak with their own voice but sends a message to
another contributor, asking them to explain how her family attempted to “pray the trans away”.
Faisal, the young man forced to masturbate to a video of people vomiting, continues his story.
He explains he told the specialist that in male same-sex relations, he is the active
partner during sex, referred to as a “top”, while the recipient would be a “bottom”.
In Saudi culture, Faisal explains, the bottom is perceived as the weaker and more feminine
participant, an object rather than a subject, and therefore requiring more severe intervention.
He adds that this reflects the state’s overall perception of what it means to be male or female.
Fatima, a trans woman, reveals that she “was sent to a mental health institute and given male
hormones to make me more of a man and therapists held sessions saying that being gay is a sickness.
“It was mentally abusive. They made me shave my head and cut my hair
to look more like a man, they made me grow my beard more to appear like a man.”
A second trans person tells a story about a day at school, when a teacher hauled them to
the front of the class and threatened to pull up their clothes to check what was underneath.
Sevag Kechichian, a Gulf researcher for Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) says:
“The legal system is still to a large extent under the control of, or given its authority by,
an interpretation of a religious system. I am not surprised to hear accounts of torture
or attempts to convert individuals by methods such as cure therapy.”
The alleged treatment of Suhail Al-Jameel has acted as a forewarning to others
who dare to be publicly different. He is a 25-year-old who spoke on YouTube
and has over 100,000 Twitter followers. Those familiar with his situation say he
had previously studied in California in the United States. He is now reported to
be two years into a prison sentence after posting a shirtless photograph on Twitter.
Hassan, a gay man, explains: “Suhail was first arrested in 2018 but he was released
on good behaviour. He was lured back to Saudi Arabia amid claims a relative was unwell.”
Al-Jameel is alleged to have been arrested again in October 2019,
and multiple reports on social media claim that the charge sheet included “cybercrimes”,
“homosexuality”, ”imitating a woman”, ”disobedience” and ”public indecency”.
He is also alleged to have received 800 lashes and now resides in a political prison. As the board of
the PIF (which now owns Newcastle) includes six government ministers, in addition to the Crown
Prince, there is loose hope that pressure in the United Kingdom could lead to his release.
The Saudi desire to impress economic partners overseas is highlighted by a remarkable allegation
that representatives of the government are believed to have reached out to leading
LGBT+ human rights organisation Outright Action International in order to request
resources to inform officials as to the best way to entertain
high-profile LGBT+ visitors working in the entertainment space.
Outright declined to comment formally when contacted by The Athletic.
A source said they were unable to confirm or deny that a request came from the representatives of
the Saudi government but said Outright is not currently providing training to the Saudi state.
Saudi Minister of Tourism Ahmed Aqeel Al-Khateeb
sits on the board of the PIF. He was invited to comment on the perceived double standard
of welcoming overseas LGBT+ visitors while Saudi LGBT+ people are oppressed.
The PIF again declined to respond.
Amara continues: “By buying Newcastle,
the government is now going to have to answer for itself when accused of many
human rights violations. The whole world can help us by amplifying his treatment.”
The PIF and the Saudi embassy in London
did not respond to questions about the current status of Suhail Al-Jameel.
As evening becomes early morning, Adam continues to hear the stories.
The videos showing gleeful Newcastle supporters brandishing Saudi flags are discussed.
Zarah calls it “ridiculous and hurtful” on more than one occasion.
The people aren’t castigating those supporters, but seeking to educate them. They are conscious,
too, that the UK government appears to have increasingly warm relations with the kingdom.
“We are not asking for sympathy or pity but we do ask for a voice”, Zarah says. “We just want our
story to be heard as it really is. The truth is that it is heartbreaking to see people in the West
who celebrate the people behind this takeover, who celebrate our oppressors. We see videos of people
brandishing the Saudi flag or wearing a headdress. It just triggers a feeling of powerlessness.”
Another story: Amir and his parents moved to the US in his early teens but his family’s
religious devotion remained. In his early 20s, his parents quizzed him on his sexuality
and when he revealed he is gay, they took away his car and his phone. He was only allowed
to travel in their company. His mother even began to attend university classes with him.
“I was under the direct threat of kidnap by my parents,” he says.
Amir was fortunate, and smart. He had previously made local politicians and charities aware of
his precarious situation, as well as senior personnel at his university. It allowed them
to prepare an escape plan and a safe-house for the moment his parents uncovered his sexuality.
His parents returned to Saudi Arabia without him.
“I receive threats from people claiming to be Saudis,” he says.
“I was told I have a death sentence on my head. Somebody called me who claimed to
be from the Saudi government and essentially said,
‘You have two death sentences; one for being gay and one for becoming an infidel’.
I asked, ‘Would they stone me the first time and behead me the second time?’
I don’t know if it was a troll or someone really
from the government. It is an example of the bombardments I have been getting.
The PIF declined to comment.
Others search for a way forward.
Adam met a young woman in London who had fled. She recalls her first marriage, in which she says she
was repeatedly sexually assaulted. She says that when she walked out on her husband, cars rounded
on her on the highway and she was arrested. She was released when she agreed to return to him.
When her husband became bored of her, she says her father asked him to detail the ways
in which his daughter had caused the marriage to fail. Then she was returned to her family home.
Aisha, a lesbian woman, says: “I will never get married. I want my freedom.”
“But what is freedom?” Adam asks.
“Freedom is to be independent. Freedom is to pay my own bills, Freedom is to own my house.
Freedom is to want to play the role that society has prescribed to men.
I have a female classmate from school; she told me she wanted to do a major in law. Her mum said no
because if you are a lawyer, you work with men and to work with men is a sin and haram (forbidden),
according to Sharia law. She was made to believe that living her dream is a sin.”
In recent years, the Saudi state has sought to alter Western perceptions.
Mohammad Bin Salman has made progressive reforms. He lifted the world’s last remaining prohibition
against female drivers. He reopened cinemas and introduced pop concerts. Women there can now
travel without the permission of men but sources in Saudi Arabia cautioned how, in practice,
“it depends how repressive the male guardian is”.
Mixed-gender workspaces are now permitted, although, again,
many families who remain devout seek to limit the roles of their wives and daughters in public life.
More encouragingly, the “religious police” is increasingly inactive.
In 2016, it was decided that Members of the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and
the Prevention of Vice would no longer be permitted to chase suspects or arrest them.
Crimes could include wearing nail polish or listening to music.
Instead, they now report observations to security forces.
But Saudi progress is a riddle of contradictions.
In March 2016, the Saudi government objected at the United Nations (UN) to a motion to include
the condemnation of violence against LGBT+ people in a resolution opposing torture.
They argued the eradication of torture should not be used to “promote other issues”, while
they also protested the UN’s inclusion of LGBT+ rights in its 2015 Sustainable Development Goals.
Now, however, the country’s Public Investment Fund
owns an 80 per cent stake in a Premier League football club, where, on a corporate level,
expectations are only increasing to support inclusion of LGBT+ people.
Amanda Staveley, part-owner of Newcastle’s new-look set-up,
says the club remains committed to the Premier League’s Rainbow Laces campaign,
where clubs are expected to show support for the LGBT+ community.
Faisal is withering. He says: “The pinkwashing is nice, isn’t it? So it is, ‘We are going to
take money from those who torture us while wearing rainbow laces’? No, thank you. Not in our name.”
Human rights researcher Kechichian insists that “Western attention is necessary but insufficient
for change.” He adds: “But without it, those who are suffering are definitely worse off.”
Talk among LGBT+ Saudis turns to how English football supporters
might assist them. They suggest they could campaign for the imprisoned Suhail
Al-Jameel and others in his position. The impact of this, given the global visibility
of the Premier League globally, could apply pressure to the Saudi authorities.
Fatima concludes: “I believe the Saudi government
is motivated to improve its image on a world platform.
It may prove successful but it also provides a tool to ask questions about violations. This real
picture can apply pressure, stigma and influence public opinion. This could impact Saudi policy.
“Our government will always seek to paint it in a certain way; that is why we rely
on amplifying voices to give the true image of the LGBT community to the western world.”