It might seem like a small thing. In the new Pixar film Lightyear, an origin story for the Toy Story character Buzz, two female characters share a kiss. But for LGBTQ+ people everywhere, this recognition of their lives on the silver screen, in one of the biggest films of the year, is a huge step forward.

And for 14 countries around the world, it is reason enough to ban the film from showing in cinemas.

One of these countries is QatarA small country on the Arabian Peninsula, bordering Saudi Arabia. Like its larger neighbour, it has experienced rapid economic development but maintained strict conservative religious codes., the Gulf StateThe name given to those states that border the Persian Gulf that separates the Arabian Peninsula from Iran. They are mostly oil-rich, religiously conservative countries. that is due to host the World Cup later this year. Now, the row over Lightyear has some asking once again if we have a moral duty to boycott the event.

Male homosexuality is illegal in Qatar. Gay men can face up to three years in prison. The government does not recognise either same-sex marriage or civil partnerships. And people in Qatar are forbidden to campaign for LGBTQ+ rights.

LGBTQ+ people have raised concerns about their safety attending the cup. The world's only openly gay top-flight football player, Josh CavalloAn Australian professional footballer whose coming out last year made him the only openly gay professional footballer., has said he would be afraid to play in Qatar.

The country has done little to reassure LGBTQ+ fans and players. Last year, Nasser al KhaterThe chief executive of the Qatar World Cup. He has been criticised for some of his remarks about the safety of LGBTQ+ fans in Qatar., CEO of the Qatar World Cup, informed them that they can feel safe there so long as they act conservatively. The tournament announced earlier this year that it would confiscate pride flags from spectators.

But the tournament's critics say there is another issue, too: Qatar's treatment of its migrant workers. Foreign workers, mostly from southeast Asia, make up around 88% of the population in Qatar. 

They will be the lifeblood of the World Cup, driving taxis to get fans to the matches and serving them in hotels and restaurants. They also built the stadiums, as they have built almost everything in Qatar in the last decades.

Migrant workers are often housed in overcrowded camps without adequate sanitation or water. Under the Kafala systemFrom the Arabic for "sponsorship", this is a system used to monitor migrant labourers in many Arab nations. It requires all such workers to have a sponsor in the nation in which they want to work. It has been criticised for making it easier to exploit workers., their passports are confiscated when they arrive in the country. Although they were given more freedom to leave the country in 2018, many are bound to long-term contracts working in appalling conditions.

It is estimated that more than 6,500 migrant workers have died in Qatar since the World Cup was awarded in 2010, many of them directly involved in building infrastructure for the tournament.

That is why some think other countries have a moral duty to boycott the World Cup. Some staff of the Welsh national football team have already decided not to attend this year.

Sporting boycotts have been effective in the past. From the 1960s onwards, many international sporting bodies boycotted South Africa over apartheidA system of legally-enshrined racial discrimination and oppression which existed in South Africa from 1948 until the 1990s. It denied non-white South Africans basic human rights.. It helped to draw attention to the country's racial discrimination laws.

But others think we gain nothing from a boycott. Neil Mooney, chief executive of the Football Association of Wales, has said that his team will use the tournament as a platform for discussing human rights abuses in Qatar, adding that it can be used "as a force for good".

Yes: The Qatar World Cup is stained with human blood and suffering. By choosing to play there, international football teams are complicit in the sportswashing of a brutal regime.

No: Boycotts might feel morally righteous, but they can have serious and unforeseen repercussions. International football is bound up with Qatari money; causing an incident might bring about the end of the World Cup.

Or... The whole problem is that money from brutal regimes has too much influence in football. It is not incumbent on fans and players to protest; the whole sport has to be cleaned up.