PR Helps Doctor Turn World Cup into a Global Stage for LGBTQ+ Visibility
Dr. Nasser Mohamed, better known as Dr. Nas, is the first openly gay Qatari doctor and a prominent global LGBTQ+ rights advocate who escaped persecution in his home country.
He uses his growing influence to highlight Qatar’s discriminatory treatment of LGBTQ+ people, and he wanted to use the World Cup as an opportunity to bring that issue to a global audience.
But he wanted to do it with love, and with the help of Bospar.
Challenge
The FIFA World Cup is one of the most-watched events on Earth. The tournament, hosted by Canada, Mexico and the U.S., is expected to attract a cumulative audience in the billions.
The doctor wanted to use this high-profile event to raise awareness of the criminalization and persecution that forces LGBTQ+ Qataris to go into hiding or seek asylum. So, Dr. Nas planned to attend the Qatar-Switzerland match in the Bay Area and host an event following the game, and sought PR support to generate maximum visibility in the media, on social media and overall.
Strategy
The doctor’s “Love is the Goal” campaign during the World Cup kicked off with Dr. Nas and Sen. Scott Wiener attending the match together in style to ensure the LGBTQ+ community was seen by World Cup fans worldwide. The senator wore a hot pink jacket while the doctor donned rainbow wrist ribbons and a custom-made, flowy version of a ceremonial Arab cloak. The cloak Dr. Nas wore had the words “freedom” and “love” emblazoned in gold.
To keep the momentum going, Dr. Nas joined forces with Pride House International, Pride House SF and SF Pride to host a dance party at The Mint in San Francisco. The “dance floor-meets-public demonstration” celebration featured an art installation, DJs and the debut of an original song they wrote featuring Debby Holiday. Proceeds benefited the Alwan Foundation, which Dr. Nas founded to fight for the rights of LGBTQIA++ people in the Gulf Region.
Rather than framing these efforts as a protest, the public relations team positioned it as a “joyful act of resistance,” emphasizing love and visibility as the response to places where people still must hide who they are. That framing carried through the coverage secured.
Bospar produced press releases and conducted related media pitching around the event, the entire global campaign and the activation with the senator. The PR team collaborated with the senator and his team to draft statements and get them out to media. At the same time, Bospar’s social media experts worked with Dr. Nas and the senator’s team to amplify their activities and message on social media by sharing images and a wealth of content.
The campaign was a success, yielding detailed coverage in a wide range of media, including
- Lavender Magazine, Linda reporting
- OutSmart, David Clarke reporting
- OutSports, Jon Holmes reporting
- Queerty, Johnny Lopez reporting
- San Francisco Bay Times, Joanie Juster reporting
- Sports Media LGBT+, Jon Holmes reporting
- The San Francisco Standard, Scott Ostler reporting
Dr. Nas also did three live TV segments, with NBC Bay Area, KQED and KTVU.
He was also a guest on a special Pride episode of the Football v Homophobia Podcast.
Janie McCauley of the AP then published a detailed feature story about Dr. Nas.
The client was thrilled with the continued, high-quality media coverage, and the reporter later contacted Bospar thanking our public relations team for making “an amazing connection!”
“The moment over the weekend was a success. We were able to be seen/heard through the absolute chaos of the world cup. THANK YOU.”
— Dr. Nasser Mohamed
