Interview: In the lion's den
Wajeeh Lion talks Saudi gay rights, secret Muslim networks and Ilhan Omar
Saudi Arabia is now welcoming LGBTQ tourists. Hard to believe but true. The queer community is one of the most lucrative parts of the tourism market. In 2019, queer purchasing power or “pink money” reached $3.7 trillion worldwide including $218 billion in travel spending. Recently, the Saudi Tourism Authority updated its FAQ page:
Nice words but Saudi Arabia has no criminal code. Its laws are based on Sharia, which is based on the Quran, and so, based on the teachings of Muhammad in the Sunnah as well as the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, Saudi law punishes gay sex by death. In 2019, Saudi officials tortured five men until they confessed to being gay then cut off their heads and put one of the severed heads on a spike in a public square.
I recently spoke to Abdulrahman Alkhiary, also known as Wajeeh Lion, a journalist and human rights activist who specializes in anti-terrorism and US-Middle Eastern relations. He’s also a political dissident and Saudi Arabia’s first openly gay man.
Wajeeh left Saudi Arabia at age 12, studied economics and political science at Kansas State University and applied for asylum on the basis of his identity in 2013. When his family found out he was gay, they tried to send him home for conversion therapy.
Wajeeh currently sits on several humanitarian boards that help fight violence against LGBTQ people and the death penalty, among other causes. He is a political commentator and recently spoke to Wired about Saudi Arabia’s use of Twitter bots to harass activists and manipulate political narratives.
Wajeeh and I discussed his personal life story, his asylum appeal to former Kansas governor John Carlin and his counterterrorism consultancy for the 2nd Brigade Combat Team at Fort Riley. He also told me about the time he witnessed a beheading at the age of 10, the time he ran into Ilhan Omar at a gay bar and learned something you’ll never hear in the news, and the unseen Muslim networks operating in the United States today.
Wajeeh later sent me an important follow-up message about liberal Muslim thinkers and what it means to support people like Ilham Omar even if you disagree with her politics. You can follow Wajeeh on Twitter or visit his website.