Strictly's John Whaite joins fury over Qatar World Cup 'Endorsing human rights violations'

express.co.uk:

Strictly's John Whaite, who is a passionate advocate for gay rights and has spoken on the thorny topic in the past, posted a topless photo of himself to draw attention to his political cause.The ballroom star stated that Qatar is set to profit by $17 billion from hosting the World Cup, but that he's unconvinced by the country's notoriously harsh attitude towards LGBT rights.The 33-year-old flaunted his bare chest in a cover pic on Instagram, which he released to 305,000 followers.He captioned the teaser photo: "If this picture has grabbed your attention, I urge you to swipe and read."Violations of human rights should not be endorsed (arguably funded) by organisations like FIFA."Getting fired up over the situation, the dancer continued that he wanted to discuss the World Cup due to how "painful" the actions of this year's host country are to him."First of all, I'll give this a little financial context - Qatar is set to profit by about $17 billion from the World Cup," he began.Then he challenged: "Is that acceptable, given the alleged track record of human rights violations?"According to Human Rights Watch, between 2019 and 2022, six LGBTQI+ individuals were repeatedly and severely beaten, and there were five cases of sexual harassment in police custody."There are also reports of trans Qatari women having their heads shaved and makeup forcefully wiped off at the hands of the authorities."He also elaborated that the political issues brewing beneath the surface in the sport have not been limited to solely "queer people".He claimed that the "so-called Kafala system" is also said to disproportionately affect the rights of migrant workers, in spite of law reforms back in 2020."Migrant workers who built the stadium have suffered.