LGBTQ+ Afghans Risk Safety By Protesting Saying US “Left Us Behind”
February 2, 2023A group of LGBTQ+ activists in Kabul, Afghanistan's capital, held a virtual, in-house protest criticizing both the US government and US publications for leaving them to a life of persecution and death under the Islamic extremist Taliban government.
One of the protesters, a former senior state security worker named Qadam, said they wanted Western governments to assist and accept more LGBTQ+ Afghan refugees. The Taliban’s persecution has worsened since the group re-took control of the country following the August 2021 withdrawal of US military forces from the region.
Photos were shared via social media showing people holding banners with critical messages.
“We are exhausted by the US recklessness! TRUMP orchestrated the Taliban deal. BIDEN withdrew and left us behind. Stop punishing us,” one banner read. “We can not live here! There is no love in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan,” another sign read. “We want to live, not fight to stay alive!” read another.
Image Credit: Pixabay
Two other signs said that three US publications – The Daily Beast, The Washington Blade, and The New York Times – “betray” and suppress the voices of queer Afghans by not including the voices of the protest’s organizing groups and that of Nemat Sada, a human rights journalist and Afghani ex-patriate who fled the country after local Islamic clerics declared lethal fatwas against him following his public coming out as gay. He has compared the Taliban to the Nazis.
“The Daily Beast and Washington Blade continue to shun Nemat Sadat and activists from Behesht Collective and Roshaniya in their coverage of LGBT+ people in Afghanistan,” a tweet published by both groups read. “Let’s hope they start interviewing the voices who are authentic to the movement!”
According to LGBTQ Nation, photos of the banners shared online had the hashtags #LetUsLive #TheseAreMyLastWords and #WeAreAfghanLGBTQ.
The protest was organized by the Behesht Collective – a queer and trans group that provides mental health counseling, shelter, and evacuation to LGBTQ+ Afghan youth – and Roshaniya, a nonprofit for relocating persecuted Afghan queers.
“The US has shown no courage or leadership to stick up for universal human rights for LGBTQI+ Afghans,” a Twitter message posted by both groups declared. “We hope the US will change course and provide asylum protection for members of our community.”
Following the protest, several protesters moved to another Muslim country that still criminalizes same-sex sexual activity, but is safer than Afghanistan.
“The facts are as clear as day: the US did nothing for LGBTQI+ Afghans during the 20 years of US occupation in Afghanistan and continues to turn a blind eye to the savagery committed by the Taliban,” Sadat told the publication. He praised the protestors for holding their demonstration “under the noses of the Taliban.”
“Unless the US reverses course and proactively works with the Behesht Collective and Roshaniya,” he added, “we will witness the total annihilation of the LGBTQI+ community in Afghanistan.”
Before returning to power, Taliban officials promised to reinstate hardline Islamic Sharia law. One judge said that gay people would be prosecuted and executed by stoning or pushing a wall on top of them. US legislators begged President Joe Biden to do more to help LGBTQ+ Afghans before the withdrawal.
A report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) found life for LGBTQ+ Afghans has “dramatically worsened” since the Taliban regained control. The report found LGBTQ+ Afghans face increased threats, violent attacks, and sexual assaults from Taliban members and close friends, family members, and partners who either support the Taliban or fear retaliation if they don’t betray their LGBTQ+ associates.
In June 2021, during the worldwide outbreak of mpox [previously known as monkeypox], Taliban officials patrolled known gay urban areas to harass, inspect, and detain gay men under the guise of preventing an outbreak.
In October 2021, the Taliban murdered Hamed Sabouri, a 22-year-old gay medical student and sent a video of his death to his family. Sabouri was tortured for three days before being shot in the back of the head. His partner had previously been raped, beaten, and tortured with electric shocks. Sabouri’s family fled the country after his murder.
In December, Taliban enforcers publicly whipped Afghan men accused of gay sex.
Ten organizations – including the Human Rights Campaign, Immigration Equality, Rainbow Railroad, the Council for Global Equality, the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), and the Organization for Refuge, Asylum & Migration (ORAM) – asked the Biden administration to adopt their ten-point plan to help relocate queer and trans Afghan people to the US.
In August 2022, Behesht (the Persian word for “heaven”) held a similar virtual protest in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. That protest targeted the United Kingdom, urging the government to accept more LGBTQ+ refugees seeking asylum. The UK Home Office’s guidance for LGBTQ+ Afghan asylum applicants advised them to hide their sexuality and gender identities to avoid persecution.
HRW denounced the guidance as a violation of international law. The United Nations guidelines on refugees say that LGBTQ+ people should not be required to change or conceal their identities.
At the time, Roshaniya’s executive director said that it’s dangerous and illegal for LGBTQ+ people to assemble and protest under the Taliban regime, especially since the regime’s supporters may identify the protesters, putting them at risk of harassment, arrest, detainment, torture, and death by Taliban supporters.
“I know that they’re doing the right thing because there’s no other chance,” the executive director said in a live-streamed Facebook video. “This is a moment to speak up for themselves and for the rest of the community, for the world to listen to the world to see that we’re here, that we’re fighting for our brothers and sisters to have a chance to live.”
Read related myGwork articles here:
LGBTQ+ Afghans Struggle For Work And Food As Taliban Threats Grow
The Taliban Has A Sinister ‘Kill List’ For Afghanistan’s LGBTQ+ Community, Charity Boss Says
Boris Johnson Urged To Save The Lives Of LGBTQ+ Afghans As Evacuation Enters Final Hours
Emergency Fund Launched To Help Afghanistan’s LGBTQ+ Community
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