Why on earth do some people think it’s okay to include USA with countries like Qatar?
USA isn’t perfect, but being gay isn’t punishable by jail time here.
USA isn’t perfect, but being gay isn’t punishable by jail time here.
Well, not since 2003, at least. For now.
In fact, there were offenders still being convicted for this in 2018 [1]
[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2018/02/1...
Or are you arguing the US isn’t perfect, in that case no country is.
Of course they're not at all comparable, but it is worth pointing out that Qatar is a very close ally of the US, and that close relationship likely enables some of their behaviour, or at least makes it less likely that they will suffer negative consequences.
Give it time. Texas and other Southern states currently seem to be in a race to see which state can out Nazi-analogy the other in regards to trans rights, abortion and religious propaganda in schools and those states historically also had (or still have) "anti-sodomy" laws.
Outright criminalizing all LGBT identity and speech literally just depends on whether the Supreme Court lets the states turn the ratchet far enough, which they seem willing to do. It would absolutely have popular support among much of the country.