Q Toon: Red (or Pink) Carded

This is the week when I have to draw a cartoon before Election Day that won't get published until after Election Day, so its topic is far afield from the narrowly averted (or at least briefly postponed) fascist take-over of the U.S. government.

News reports last weekend warned that LGBTQ+ fans attending the World Cup in Qatar might risk arrest and prison if caught kissing in public. Homosexuality is still a crime there, and officials caution that one must be "respectful" of local mores.

I generally try to have inclusivity in mind when drawing these cartoons. Setting this cartoon at the World Cup certainly opened the drawing up to a multicultural cast of characters. I wasn't sure, however, if the Qataris would allow female fans to sit in the same section as male fans. And of course, there's the whole matter of how covered up any women in the stands would be required to dress in the desert heat.

So maybe the Swede in the back is a woman. Or not. Or possibly yes now, but not from birth. Go ahead and write your own back story for every character shown. Last time I checked, it's still a free country.

But you might want to confirm that for yourself.

Since drawing this cartoon, I've seen reports that Qatar is promising not to imprison same-sex soccer fans caught sharing a little peck, or holding hands, or even waving rainbow flags. 

Which still leaves open the risk from ticking off a bunch of Saudi hooligans, and you might want to steer clear of brick walls and piles of stones.

Q Toon: Have It Your Way

Congratulations to the U.S. Women's Soccer Team for winning the 2019 World Cup!

It has been customary for the the President to invite championship sports teams to the White House. The current occupant of the office, in his infinite folly, has taken to treating Superbowl, college football, and World Series victors to vittles from fast food joints.

Team star Megan Rapinoe announced at the outset of this year's games that she had no intention of accepting any invitation from the Trump White House. Now that the women's team has powered to victory over the rest of the world, no such invitation has been forthcoming, in spite of Mr. Trump's penchant throughout his career for surrounding himself with attractive young women.

Perhaps he will instead invite the men's soccer team, who lost to Mexico 1-0 in the men's final. We know the fast food spread will not include Taco Bell.

Q Toon: Q Wait

Kuwait has announced that it and other gulf emirates will institute medical test procedures to stop gays from entering their countries.

"Health centers conduct the routine medical check to assess the health of the expatriates when they come into the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] countries; however, we will take stricter measures that will help us detect gays who will be then barred from entering Kuwait or any of the GCC member states." -- Yousouf Mindkar, Director of Public Health at the Kuwaiti Health Ministry

Aside from Kuwait, the GCC member states are Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, and 2022 World Cup host Qatar. There is already pressure to move the World Cup over this issue.

Meanwhile, how exactly the Kuwaitis intend to screen for The Gay has yet to be revealed. Those intrepid animators at Taiwanese News depict these medical test procedures as being even more invasive than I dared to.