Fundraiser for Afghan LGBTQ+ Community Raises Thousands
Since the Taliban retook Kabul this weekend, efforts to help support minority communities who now face the stark reality of clerical fascism have exploded into public consciousness. One GoFundMe raised over $20,000 in just 72 hours. 5 days after it was first set up, the total now sits at $32,000.
It was set up by Bobuq Sayed, an Australian-born writer of Afghan diaspora, and their friends Qais Munhazim, Wazina Zondon and Ahmad-Bilal Askaryar.
“A few friends and I decided to raise money because there are very few services targeted towards supporting LGBT people in Afghanistan. There are very few avenues for safety and refuge available for Afghans now,” Sayed said.
“Disclosing queerness and/or being visible is quite dangerous at the moment, especially in the arduous process of crossing borders to seek asylum.”
The LGBTQ+ community hasn't necessarily enjoyed much support in Afghanistan in the last 20 years, but it has been much better than life under the Taliban, who promised the death penalty for such acts. One judge has already promised that the death penalty will return - either stoning, or being crushed to death.
“Many fear a return to the previous era under Taliban rule twenty years ago when women were not allowed in school past year three, music and dance were banned, and the slaughter of Hazaras, LGBT people, and for ‘immoral acts’ was commonplace,” said Sayed.
Many Afghan people are unable to escape as the Taliban crunch down on exit routes from the country and refugees struggle to get visas to leave.
One queer Afghan stuck in his home in Herat told Sayed: “Taliban are searching houses, killing people. I hear rockets and gunfire. I wish I had the means to escape. We have no electricity, running water or food.
“Tell the world that I am trying to survive but if I couldn’t make it, at least tell my story – a story of a queer Afghan in a war zone that wanted to live.”
“One member of our group was born and raised in Afghanistan and is connected to underground LGBT communities across the country, which is who we plan to send money directly to as soon as we reach our goal,” said Sayed.
You can donate here.
Read related myGwork articles here:
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