“Dying of sadness or being murdered”, the LGTBIQ + community returns to the shadows in Afghanistan

Marwa married two days after Kabul fell into the hands of the taliban with one of his friends, gay. Now, this young 24-year-old lesbian is “terrified” and thinks of only one thing: going unnoticed.

“When the taliban they took power in Kabul, it was a nightmare, I cried, I stayed hidden at home “recalls the young woman in a voice note sent to AFP via WhatsApp.

“He told me: ‘The Taliban are going to come and kill me,'” Marwa’s little voice continues. His name has been changed for security reasons. “I ended up asking a friend to prepare the marriage documents” so that “I could go abroad again” without fear and, in the future, “leave the country”.

More than 20 years have passed since the first mandate of the talibanbut the memory of how they applied Islamic law and the brutality they exercised against the homosexuals continues to freeze the blood of the community LGTBIQ + (lesbian, gay, trans, bisexual, intersex, ‘queer’ and others) Afghan.

At that time, homosexuality, a subject that is still taboo in the country, was understood as a deviation and could be punished with the death penalty.

But the rise to power of pro-Western governments after 2001 was a slight inflection. Homosexuality was still considered a criminal offense, but the death penalty was often commuted to a prison sentence.

Still, the police continued to detain people LGTBQI +, who used to be victims of “discrimination, assault and rape,” according to a US administration report published in 2020.

From 2001 to 2021, “The LGTB community had many problems because of the police and society, but it had acquired a bit of freedom”, says Artemis Akbary, co-founder of the Afghan LGBT association, a refugee in Turkey.

“There were safe places where its members could see each other, like a cafe in Kabul where, every Friday, they met and danced,” he told AFP. That place was kept secret, but now, his friends can no longer “risk” going there, adds Akbary.

Stoned or crushed

Since they regained power, the fundamentalists have barely reported their intentions. But statements by a Taliban judge in July did not bode well for the community.

Interviewed by the German daily Bild, Gul Rahim considered that homosexual people should be sentenced to death by stoning or smashed against a brick wall.

More recently, information spread that a young homosexual man had been raped and beaten by men who had promised to help him leave the country.

In such a context, psychosis has only increased.

Many men and women no longer leave the house, and try to erase any trace of their previous life, both on social networks and on the street, warn the NGOs and the testimonies collected by AFP.

When the Taliban arrived, “we stopped leaving the house for two or three weeks,” admits Abdullah – not his real name – a 21-year-old homosexual from Herat (west). “Recently, we have gone out again, we try to have a simple appearance so that the Taliban do not identify us.”

“Before, we could wear ‘jeans’ and T-shirts, some homosexuals also used makeup. This is no longer possible “, Add.

The young man is also concerned that the advances of recent years are being reversed, such as the space that some magazines devoted to the question of gender or community rights LGTBQI +.

This encouraged them to “stay in Afghanistan and not leave, to strengthen the LGBT community here,” he stresses.

“No future”

Leave. Many took the step already at the beginning of the summer, when provinces and cities began to fall into the hands of the Islamists.

“Many people fled to Pakistan, some made it to Iran,” explains Arnaud Gauthier-Fawas, spokesperson for inter-LGTB France. For those who have stayed, “it is clear that the reopening of the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Repression of Vice is by far the most dangerous sword of Damocles.”

Marwa, who has not spoken to his family since three years ago revealed that he was gay and refused to be the victim of a rigged marriage, no illusions.

“For us there is no future. All LGTB members must prepare for a slow death, due to isolation, hunger, sadness, depression or stress, or to be killed by the Taliban or members of their family ”, claims.

“The Taliban have not changed, they just lie better than before,” he warns, addressing the international community.

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