Since the Taliban takeover, LGBTQ lives in Afghanistan have been terrorized by honor killings, torture, sexual violence, and legal and extralegal extermination. A coordinated countrywide gay genocide is taking place, forcing recognizable or outed LGBTQ individuals to go into hiding to survive. The crisis is potentially huge, with over a million LGBTQ Afghan people between 14 and 35-years old, the primary target of the Taliban. Despite the peril, Western countries have failed to prioritize the evacuation and resettlement of queer Afghans, with less than 1% of those evacuated since 2021 being self-identified LGBTQ people. While some organizations and individuals have been working to help LGBTQ Afghans escape, such efforts are minuscule compared to the need, leaving many individuals facing self-deliverance or suicide as their only escape from the genocide.
Since the August 2021 Taliban takeover, LGBTQ lives in Afghanistan have been dehumanized, terrorized, and systematically targeted by honor killings, torture, sexual violence, and extermination, both legal and extralegal. Despite the magnitude of the crisis, it has received little attention from the media, activists, and Western governments. A coordinated countrywide gay genocide is taking place, forcing recognizable or outed LGBTQ individuals to go into hiding to survive. The crisis is potentially huge, with over a million LGBTQ Afghan people between 14 and 35-years old, the primary target of the Taliban.
Despite the peril, Western countries have failed to prioritize the evacuation and resettlement of queer Afghans, with less than 1% of those evacuated since 2021 being self-identified LGBTQ people. In the face of such apathy, some organizations and individuals have been working tirelessly to help LGBTQ Afghans escape. For example, Michael Failla, a 70-year-old from Seattle, has been involved in helping more than 100 LGBTQ Afghans escape and is helping dozens more in hiding. Joe and Frank, two gay men from San Francisco and Los Angeles, respectively, have started a volunteer rescue effort called “Freedom Connection USA.” Rainbow Railroad, a well-known NGO anchored in Canada, has also turned its focus on LGBTQ Afghans and has brought 220 queer Afghans to Western countries in 2022 and recently announced the resettlement of 600 more LGBTQ Afghan refugees in Canada. However, such efforts are minuscule compared to the need, with Rainbow Railroad having 6,000 requests for help.
For those LGBTQ Afghans who cannot escape the country, self-deliverance or suicide can be a way to escape the genocide. It is a dire situation, with young queer Afghans facing death by the Taliban simply for being who they are. As the crisis continues to unfold, it is time for every sector and strata of the LGBTQ community to unite around this issue and work together to save the lives of young queer Afghans. It is time to hear the cries from Afghanistan and to take action before it’s too late.