‘A virtual ath sentence’: Gay Afghans brace for uncerta future unr Taliban

Contents:

• GAY AFGHANISTAN: HOMOEROTICISM AMONG KABUL'S WARRRS
• GAY AFGHANISTAN, AFTER THE TALIBAN. HOMOSEXUALY AS TRADN
• GAY REFUGEE PLEADS FOR AMERINS TO HELP LGBT AFGHANS
• MEN OM AFGHANISTAN'S SECRET GAY MUNY SAY THEY ARE LIVG THROUGH A 'NIGHTMARE' AND FEAR THAT THE TALIBAN WILL EXECUTE THEM AT ANY MOMENT
• ‘JT LIKE THE NAZIS’: GAY AFGHANS FACE ‘EXTERMATN’ UNR TALIBAN
• ‘A VIRTUAL ATH SENTENCE’: GAY AFGHANS BRACE FOR UNCERTA FUTURE UNR TALIBAN

GAY AFGHANISTAN: HOMOEROTICISM AMONG KABUL'S WARRRS

(New York) – Lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr (LGBT) Afghans and people who do not nform to rigid genr norms Afghanistan have faced an creasgly sperate suatn and grave threats to their safety and liv unr the Taliban, Human Rights Watch and OutRight Actn Internatnal said a report released today. A Taliban judge told the German tabloid Bild shortly before the fall of Kabul, “For homosexuals, there n only be two punishments: eher stong, or he mt stand behd a wall that will fall down on him. ” A manual issued by the Taliban Mistry of Vice and Virtue 2020 stat that relig lears shall prohib same-sex relatns and that “strong allegatns” of homosexualy shall be referred to the mistry’s district manager for adjuditn and punishment.

A gay man said that Taliban members taed him at a checkpot, beat him, and gang-raped him, tellg him, “From now on anytime we want to be able to fd you, we will. He had to pass through checkpots and at one, an armed man shouted, “You are an izak, ” a rogatory term for gay people. The parents returned to Hamid’s hoe, sayg they had heard mors that Hamid was gay, and feared their son might have been killed bee of their relatnship.

Now Balkhi says that rare acceptance has put all their liv at risk, as the new Taliban learship Kabul unleash a wave of physil vlence and fear on Afghanistan’s gay, lbian and transgenr populatn.

GAY AFGHANISTAN, AFTER THE TALIBAN. HOMOSEXUALY AS TRADN

No official statement has been ma, but an terview wh Germany’s Bild newspaper July, one Taliban judge said there were only two punishments for homosexualy – stong or beg cshed unr a wall. Nemat Sadat, an LGBTQ Afghan thor who liv the Uned Stat, said the untry’s gay, lbian and transgenr cizens had helped the untry’s cultural life flourish the 20 years sce the Taliban’s last le.

LGBTQ people who spoke to CNN said while very few felt fortable or safe enough to be openly gay, lbian or transgenr before the takeover, many were able to quietly build liv te to their inti.

GAY REFUGEE PLEADS FOR AMERINS TO HELP LGBT AFGHANS

Hilal, a 25-year-old gay man, said he ed to have a boyiend and had even worked openly to advote for LGBTQ rights Afghanistan.

One gay man who has been touch wh Sadat, the US-based LGBTQ advote, said he told him he watched om his hidg place the ceilg as Taliban fighters beat the iend who had refed to divulge his lotn. Another gay man CNN is llg Hasan said he had been hidg a iend’s hoe Kabul for more than a month and was nng out of food and money. Hilal, the LGBTQ activist, said he was fur at the US ernment and other Wtern untri who he felt had abandoned him and other gay, lbian and transgenr Afghans.

And, a 25-year-old genr non-nformg gay person said they had tried to appear more mascule, but a Taliban fighter beat them wh a plastic pipe when they were seen walkg a street. “(Beg openly) gay, lbian, bisexual or transgenr Afghanistan is to risk abe, even ath, ” said Human Right Watch’s associate Asia director Patricia said the biggt threat often me om relativ. The Taliban’s Augt 2021 takeover of Afghanistan has led to ternatnal ncerns for the safety and livelihood of vulnerable populatns, cludg lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, queer, and tersex (LGBTQI) Afghans.

MEN OM AFGHANISTAN'S SECRET GAY MUNY SAY THEY ARE LIVG THROUGH A 'NIGHTMARE' AND FEAR THAT THE TALIBAN WILL EXECUTE THEM AT ANY MOMENT

He is gay, a nvert to Christiany and a member of the Hazara ethnic mory – three groups that have been historilly persecuted by the Taliban.

In public statements July, one Taliban judge said there were only two punishments for homosexualy – stong or beg cshed unr a toppled wall. “He was threateng to jump off a buildg bee he thought would be a ls paful way to die than gettg ught and behead by the Taliban as a gay man.

“The Taliban is well known to have executed many LGBTQ people when was power and there have been reports of gay men beg murred sce took over Augt this year, ” said Aws Jubair, director of the Aman Project, a Turkey-based group that advot for the LGBTQ muny the Middle East. In the two years between 9/11 and my vis to Afghanistan, my cursy about the untry’s gay life was also piqued. Details magaze discsed the homosocial standards of much of Islamic culture, based on separatn of the genrs, and reviewed Trolley Prs’ 2003 book “Taliban, ” which photographer Thomas Dworzak prented imag of effemate Taliban warrrs that he unearthed.

‘JT LIKE THE NAZIS’: GAY AFGHANS FACE ‘EXTERMATN’ UNR TALIBAN

” I wanted to go to Kandahar bee s homosexual reputatn seemed most pronounced, and Mohammed’s stori about the cy volved relatnships between grown men, rather than a man wh a youth, as seemed more mon elsewhere. Kandahar’s reputatn for homosexualy also me up discsns wh some young men I photographed Kabul’s Babur Garns pool.

‘A VIRTUAL ATH SENTENCE’: GAY AFGHANS BRACE FOR UNCERTA FUTURE UNR TALIBAN

At the pool, when I qutned the swimmers through my translator about the Taliban’s notns about body image, several ma a joke of the qutn, claimg that the old regime was ma up of gay men––Kandahar “playboys” as they lled them––who loved to see naked, even as Afghan men joked about the Taliban beg gay, they did not seem terribly put off by the subject of homosexualy. The owner Wais, an Afghan Amerin om New Jersey now back his homeland, knew I was vtigatg Kabul’s gay si, but I was not out to his staff. He played wh the mcl on my arms, parg them to his own, his other hand bbg his was when the 20-year-old man simply blurted out, “Munir said you like to do homosexual thgs.

I don’t thk I’ll fet those nights Munir’s hoe, but provid I thk only a ht at what homosocial and homosexual behavr means Afghanistan.