For the first time in over a decade, the FIFA World Cup is coming to a country that respects basic human rights. But, because that country is the United States, the “LGBT community” has to get its victimhood points in while it still can.Pride House International is bringing its “Pride Houses” to San Francisco for the World Cup. According to the group’s website, “A Pride House is a venue welcoming LGBTIQ+ fans, athletes, and allies during large-scale international sporting events. Typically, they are places where visitors can view the competition with others, and learn more about LGBTIQ+ issues in sport.” It is just what real sports fans want: lectures about politics while trying to watch some guys kick a soccer ball into a goal.
Whatever your thoughts, you could at least argue that such a venture had a place for the past two World Cups, held in Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022. Of course, there were no Pride Houses established in those countries for those events, since they are true authoritarian nations. (Qatar’s “justice system” even reserves the option to impose the death penalty for homosexuality).
The idea that “LGBT rights” are under any particular threat in the U.S., though, is utterly laughable, as is the idea that the city that most desperately needs a Pride House is San Francisco. According to a trustee for Pride House International, “The United States is a real nightmare, in terms of queer travelers and ICE raids and racial profiling.” For the cynical, this looks like an LGBT organization trying to co-opt the immigration debate for its own purposes, since ICE raids and racial profiling have absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with being gay.
