This is an issue that has followed me throughout multiple versions of RHEL, from 7.X, and now onwards to 9.X, with multiple versions of QEMU built against it, all while experiencing the same issue. I begin the RHEL build with a minimal install, with the Virtual Machine Host packages installed. I then go on to install the gnome-workstation group of packages, which allows me to run the xinit command to begin a desktop environment.