LGBTQ ally David Beckham has reportedly inked a £10 million ($18 million U.S.) deal to be the media-friendly face of the vehemently homophobic Gulf state of Qatar and, understandably, a lot of people aren’t too happy about it.
Very disappointed to hear that #DavidBeckham has become the face of Qatar, where men can be punished with death for being gay
— Lee Marshall (@lee_sw8) February 8, 2021
The former England football captain, who once said he was “very honored” to be considered a “gay icon”, has been hired to help try and put a positive spin on Qatar’s terrible reputation towards LGBTQ people ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
In Qatar, same-sex marriage isn’t recognized and homosexuality is illegal and punishable by imprisonment, flogging, or even death. Sexual activity outside of marriage is punishable by seven years in jail. Cross-dressing or any speech considered offensive (including speaking in support of LGBTQ rights) is also against the law.
If the news broke by @AttitudeMag that #DavidBeckham is indeed the new face of Qatar for a fee over £10million then this is disgusting especially when you consider being #lgbtq+ is punishable by death in the country. Look forward to Beckham’s statement on this one!
— Richard Dunbar (@rdunbar83) February 8, 2021
The Daily Mail reports:
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Talks between Beckham’s advisers and the Qatari committee in charge of World Cup preparations have been ongoing for more than a year. After discussing options, including the sponsorship of his US soccer team Inter Miami, they are believed to have settled on a personal deal with the star. One Qatari source said: “This is a deal that is supposed to be top secret. It is being kept quiet until there is an opportunity to land it without David’s PR being affected too much. Well, that’s the hope anyway. Qatar are very much in his hands. There are concerns about his reputation but there is enough money on the table for the optics not to matter so much.”
Kate Allen, director of Amnesty International UK, responded to the reports by saying Beckham must be prepared to “speak out” about human rights abuses in the country.
“More needs to be done for this World Cup to leave a positive legacy and transform the human rights situation in Qatar, but the clock is ticking,” Allen said.
Beckham, who is worth an estimated £360 million ($500 million U.S.), declined to comment on the matter.
Graham Gremore is the Features Editor and a Staff Writer at Queerty. Follow him on Twitter @grahamgremore.
cuteguy
How is he a gay icon? Just bc he looks ok? This is why gay men will never have equal rights until they start demanding respect from those they idolize. Beckham doesn’t give to shiz about the lgbtq community if he’s taking blood money from Qatar. He should be ashamed but he will be too busy spending his money to give a crap
azianboy
Yup. His voice may sound like a girl but definitely not an ally!
Cam
IS he really an ally? What has he done to deserve that title?
Catholicslutbox
He married posh.
RyanMBecker
Beckham, his wife Victoria and his son Brooklyn have spoken out for gay rights. My guess is that his other children have expressed similar sentiments in digital media. Not only spoken out when asked, but have actually acted out for gay rights. Victoria, for example, celebrates Pride week at her stores. And Brooklyn once raised a lot eyebrows as a teenager when he wore a defiantly gay T-shirt, raising speculation about his sexuality. Beckham himself had consistently acknowledged and thanked his gay fans, even at the height of his popularity. In other words, he’s like many other straight celebrities who are celebrated as gay icons, e g. Cher and Madonna. Except that he’s a male in a semi-homophobic sport which made it more difficult to be vocal about being an LGBTQ ally, especially 2 decades ago.
Openminded
@Ryan, All good points but the way I read the article, he basically held out until the money got right. A true ally would step up and say “I have the clout and therefore I will gladly step up to help the LGBTQ community”. Bottom line, the games should never have been scheduled in Qatar. They don’t deserve the publicity due to their overall human rights policies (not just LGBTQ) and if not played there, nobody would be concerned with the “optics”. Just another case of what money gets done.
hansniemeijer
Disgraceful.
Jim
Ah, money talks!!
Am I the only one that doesn’t find him all that sexy?
DarkZephyr
I’ve always found him to be rather scrawny, but up til now I always found him likeable as a person. I have certainly changed my mind about that.
dhmonarch89
I remember seeing headlines for posts, ‘Beckham shirtless!’ and when you clicked on it- he has so many tats, it looks like he’s wearing a really ugly shirt. You can barely see his skin anymore. Once he covered himself- I lost ALL attraction to him, and that wasn’t huge to start with.
DarkZephyr
“Declined to comment”? Really? Well that tells me all I need to know.
barryaksarben
money . greed UGLY
amanwithanedge
he’s never been an icon to me.
Monkey1
This is the problem, gay “allies” smile at us and rattle off platitudes but really they don’t care. I never thought this guy was important anyway, but here you go, this is a gay “ally” for you. Most celebrites who are allies are full of it anyway, they just want the gay dollar.
tjack47
We must get a foot in the door. It’s still illegal to be straight in certain instances. Plus, he’s a Scientologist. What else?
WSnyder
It’s just greed. He already has ten’s of millions and this ‘paycheck’ will make no difference to his lifestyle or for that of his family. People who ignore what is right simply to increase their already vast wealth are just disgusting.
Donston
Who considers David Beckham a “gay icon”? Just because he’s a good-looking dude who did underwear photo-shoots and married Posh Spice? That’s a rather low bar. Beckham is one of the first “gay friendly” guys in sports. But that has a lot to do with his fame, who he married and that he could use his sex appeal to make money. I do think it’s time to put an end to this “ally” hype when it comes to public figures.
There’s already been a ton of “allies” who have indulged problematic shit for money and opportunities. There’s been many “allies” and “queers” who have said hateful or ignorant things. It’s time to stop placing people on pedestals for doing the bare minimum while being good-looking and ultimately doing what makes sense for their careers and bank accounts.
arie570
Yes, but there are also allies such as Wentworth Miller who chose being asked to do this type of publicity instead came out of the closet. So what’s wrong with having a few gay icons or allies. I don’t want to hear how it pushed him to come out and that he should have done that before. Although I agree in certain instances I though most people have decided when someone comes out as gay they should do it on their own timetable.
BoomerMyles
Gay icon? Beckham”s NOT all that!
BrokebackBob
He and his wife are both ignorant vapid posers and have always been dead to me. Am I being clear enough? I’m working on being more assertive.
Essie
I assert that you are absolutely right about these two. I’ve never understood how he is any kind of “icon” to the gay community or anyone else. And she is just VAPID as any one person can get. Whatever they do is for money. Dump their a$$es and move on.
As for Qatar . . . I would never go there or anywhere else in that area of the world because the leaders are all alike. They hate gays and women and anyone else who is different. I refused to ever again watch the WTA on TV because they have a tournament in Qatar that women citizens there cannot even enter the stadium to watch but Qatari men are allowed to gape at these young women in short tennis skirts to their heart’s content. They are all disgusting.
Wheelerman
I always liked Beckham…until now. He has more money than he and Snarky Spice can ever spend. This is a slap in the face of every LGBT person he ever claimed to ally himself to. Bye.
johnnymcmxxx
If the money is right enough, anybody can sell out. He’s a sell out. I hope he, that scarecrow b*tch of a no talent wife & their brood of kids will be very happy. They should move to Qatar.
RyanMBecker
I bet Beckham simply didn’t realize Qatar’s homophobic and regressive policies. Let’s be honest, many gays don’t even know because Qatar is simply not on our radars. An ideal outcome would have Beckham donating a significant amount of the earnings to LGBT causes and other causes that run counter to Qatar’s regressive laws. Furthermore, he can vocalize his support for the LGBT community even more during the FIFA campaign. Just silently wearing an LGBT t-shirt while attending the festivities will speak volumes, e.g. the HRCF’s yellow equal sign.
For those who doubt Beckham’s status as an LGBT icon, he’s no more or less an icon than many other straight celebrities who have earned the title, e.g. Madonna and Cher. And to his credit, he was a MAN in a macho semi-homophobic sport which made it much harder to vocalize such matters. Madonna, for example relied on the gay community for sales and inspiration, especially early in her career. And her demographics were decidedly gay-positive. Furthermore, she and Cher had/have visibly gay relatives (brother and daughter/son). Not so with Beckham. Supporting LGBT causes at the height of his career risked losing lucrative deals, especially in the Middle East and Latin America, where futbol was huge. Yet Beckham still acknowledged and thanked his gay fans throughout his career. That’s why he is a gay icon throughout the world.
He, his wife Victoria and his son Brooklyn have not only spoken out for gay rights, but have actually acted on it. Victoria, for example, celebrates Pride week at her stores. And Brooklyn once raised a lot eyebrows as a teenager when he wore a defiantly gay T-shirt, raising speculation about his sexuality (he’s straight). Beckham himself had consistently acknowledged and thanked his gay fans, even at the height of his popularity hey decades ago. It was a different time then, and even now, soccer is homophobic in many areas around the world.
So while we should question Beckham’s deal with Qatar, questioning his decades-long status as a gay icon is petty and ignorant. If we are to gay icons at all, he certainly qualifies. Rather than kneejerkingly condem a proven ally, activists should work on educating him.
dhmonarch89
there were MULTIPLE protests about Qatar being named host of the World Cup for their equal/human rights abuses. MANY LGBT groups protested… Beckham was part of the Federation that promotes the series- he HAD to have known about this.
DarkZephyr
When I first started reading the article, I was willing to give him a chance to show that he somehow didn’t know about their anti-LGBT laws, but then I read the part about how once this was brought to his attention he “declined to comment” and that was all I needed to know.
cutemikey
dhmonarch89, do you have proof that he knew, or that LGBT groups approached him about it? Beckham is not exactly educated nor political — and certainly not well-versed in gay issues. I consider myself educated and I didn’t know about any soccer-related protests against Qatar.
LAtvGuy
Elton John is his son’s godfather. That should sting a bit.
renzinthewoods
Why put it all on his shoulders? Why is a foul country like that even allowed to host the World Cup? If nations are allowed to participate in global events like the World Cup despite horrendous human rights abuses, why should we fault Beckham?
dhmonarch89
why is it when you use the correction feature- your post goes to ‘waiting moderating…’???? I misspelled official- went back and added an ‘i’ Ridiculous! I was saying… There was an out cry over Qatar hosting the World Cup, but it died down. Simply put, they paid the Soccer/Football Federation a HUGE fortune to get the Cup, and possibly bribes to top officials. They basically told protestors to go to hell/they didn’t care what we thought. Beckham was part of the process that gave the Cup to Qatar in the first place. There’s plenty of blame to go around and he DOES get some!
DarkZephyr
@dhmonarch89 Because of that very thing, I always just delete my comment and do it again rather than correct it, because you’re right. It always goes into moderation and I don’t think there is anyone who actually moderates these things.
Openminded
If speaking in defense of LGBTQ rights is also against the law, how will he be able to spin a positive vibe about Qatar human rights without risking going to prison? I could see this potentially going bad for him if the wrong powerful oil sheik wakes up on the wrong side of the bed while Beckham is promoting LGBTQ rights. If you can afford $18M to allegedly spin your bad reputation on human rights, you have enough money to have Beckham jailed for breaking the law, or worse.
Cam
Beckham doesn’t live there and Quatar doesn’t want to pick a fight with the EU, Britain, and now the U.S. for making it obvious that they’re jailing a celeb for not being homophobic.
Openminded
I’m assuming he would at some point be on Qatar soil and subject to being arrested if the wrong rich man wants him shut up. Of course the whole idea that this homophobic country wants to hire someone to show that they aren’t defies logic.
dhmonarch89
not surprised…athletes the world over go there every year to compete because they pay so well. Tennis players, track, swimmers, divers, etc. Money’s all that matters for a lot of these people- even the gay ones- Tom Daley regularly competes in the Middle East.
inbama
How self-righteous.
Let’s be honest: by most any Queerty reader’s admittedly shallow standards, he’s pretty much aged out of the “gay icon thing.”
storm45701
He’s totally not aging well, given his raisin face. Too much sun, David. Looks aside, does he need the $10 million? Really? Rather grotesque to sell your soul
Donston
I think he’s still a good looking enough guy. He’s clearly slowed down on the injections.
Alex_S
They have money. WTA, Women’s Tennis Association, which poses as pioneering organisation for diversity and women’s rights also have a megarich tournament there, although Qatar is also a place where women are treated like sh*t. But money doesn’t smell.
ShiningSex
HE’S OVERRATED AND SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF HIMSELF. PLUS VICTORIA’S FASHION LINE SUCKS
Essie
Her “fashion” line is entirely funded by David and it’s about bankrupted. Maybe that’s why he needs the money.
Den
All of those Gulf states have been actively courting tourism as they look to the future when their oil fortunes dry up (which apparently is not that far off.
There have been any number of cultural figures, including gay people who have gone there on PR junkets and spoken highly of the places as tourist destinations.
They should be loudly censured for that, and the human rights history of those places should be constantly noted.
However, the supposed death penalty for homosexuality in Qatar does not exist. It is a death penalty for ADULTERY, regardless of whether it is with same sex or opposite sex adulterers, and is only applied to Muslims. Homosexuality itself is punishable by 3 years imprisonment, whipping and a fine. Which is certainly backwards and uncivilized enough.
And apparently there are no known instances of the death penalty being applied to homosexuals.
However I fail to understand why any LGBT person would go to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Dubai (or any of the United Arab Emirates states) and risk horrendous punishment, regardless of how modern the cities might be, or how good the shopping is!
Even in the few countries where homosexuality is legal, the danger of discrimination or violence from individuals is very real. Even in Israel the Haredi are going to throw rocks at you if you accidentally stray into their neighborhoods and act “immodestly”.
Jon in Canada
He was never an ally. People just assumed he was because he married a Spice Girl. As for being the face of an anti-gay, puritanical Islamic nation, it comes as no surprise. It’s all about the money honey, principles or integrity be damned.
RandomGuy
So much for him being an “Ally to the gay community”, he’s just as greedy and attention-hungry as his wife.
Iona Lexiss
Many (many) years ago I asked my destined-to-be lifelong friend why he kept going to catholic church every week if he frequently left being so upset and rejected. He said ‘if you want to see change you have to be in the church to start making change happen.’ That really stuck with me. So, just for thought, being outside what needs change (at least this kind at this level) isn’t going to get you any leverage. You have to be on the inside to change hearts, minds or, AT VERY LEAST, try to assert change needs to happen. When I read sh#t like this I have to hope that there is a calculated purpose. If we find out this not to be the case…f#ck David Beckham. I’m willing to take a breath and see if this might happen.