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Since the U.S. militarywithdrawal from Afghanistanin August ended America’s longest war, more than 120,000 people have beenevacuated or fledinfear of the Taliban’s return to power.
“LGBTQI people are the most vulnerable people in the most dangerous country,” saysNemat Sadat, a gay Afghan-American activist and novelist who taught political science and international affairs at the American University of Afghanistan from 2012 until 2016.
While homosexuality has long been criminalized in Afghanistan, Sadat describes how the LGBTQ Afghans gained visibility and acceptance before the Taliban takeover in August.
“It was growing exponentially,” he says of the community. Sadat, who came out publicly in 2013, now lives in San Diego. In an interview with PEOPLE, he gave the example of a household of transgender Afghans that were “living aSex and the Citylifestyle” in Kabul, the capital.
Sayed Khodaiberdi Sadat/Anadolu Agency via Getty
“Half of that group in that house were dancers, performing at weddings and other events and making a lot of money on tips. There are also makeup artists … working on television shows, people working in spas, working in the malls,” he says. “All living in one house and living their life really openly, publicly transgender people, not hiding. They’re very visible in society.”
Sadat also believes that under different circumstances that don’t include the Taliban, the LGBTQ+ community would have gained freedoms in the coming years. “Within 10 years they would have had full LGBT rights and marriage equality because the community is so vast,” he said.
Instead of pushing for and celebrating that progress, however, Sadat is now dedicated to helping the community as its members navigate life under the Taliban who, despite their claims to govern more moderately, were brutal when last in power in the ’90s.
After the military exited Afghanistan, American officials said they would continue to support diplomatic ways of helping Afghans leave the country — though such exits have run into repeated obstacles.
The risks of staying are very real, advocates say.
Sadat, who also participated in the panel, says the LGBTQ Afghans he is in touch with who remain in the country are “hiding in basements, in closets, on rooftops, doing whatever they can not to expose themselves.”
When asked about the efforts of the HRC and other advocate groups who haveurged the Biden administrationto adopt policies that would protect Afghanistan’s LGBTQ community, a State Department spokesperson sent a lengthy statement outlining the U.S. position and insisting the government had not abandoned Afghans.
“The United States is committed to the human rights and fundamental freedoms of LGBTQI+ persons. We know that in times of transition, LGBTQI+ persons often face heighten vulnerability to discrimination and violence,” the statement reads, in part.
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“The United States' commitment to, and support of, at-risk Afghans will continue, including, but not limited to, LGBTQI+ persons, women, children, journalists, human rights defenders, persons with disabilities, and members of ethnic and religious minority groups and other extremely vulnerable populations. Consistent with this commitment, the United States will continue to support LGBTQI+ Afghans,” the spokesperson also said. “That commitment does not have an expiration date attached to it, and we intend to hold the Taliban to that commitment.”
In the meantime, HRC’s Director of Global Partnerships Jean Freedberg, who moderated last week’s panel, said, “An exodus of LGBTQI refugees has commenced and will likely expand.”
Sadat is hoping some of his contacts are among those who are able flee the country. He has compiled a list of more than 500 Afghans from the LGBTQ community that he’s trying to help with his fundraiser.
Althoughsending money to Afghanistan right now is complicated, Sadat says the funds he raises will go to groups organizing flights out of the country — which are ongoing — and to Afghans who are able to cross the border on their own. They will need financial assistance to pay fees associated with applying for asylum in countries around the world, he tells PEOPLE, as well as for food and shelter in safe houses while their claims are processed.
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“Slowly there are LGBTQI Afghans who are starting to get out of Afghanistan, crossing into other countries in the region,” says Mark Bromley, an international human rights lawyer and co-founder of the Council for Global Equality, which advocates for inclusive U.S. foreign policy. Bromley spoke during the HRC panel about pushing the U.S. government to be ready on the ground in bordering countries to find and process refugees. “We can’t abandon them again once they manage to get out of Afghanistan,” he says.
Sadat’s list, which he says he compiled primarily through word of mouth, represents “the entire geographic makeup of Afghanistan. All 34 provinces are represented,” though the majority come from the country’s largest cities, like Kabul.
He sees their predicament as “last to be evacuated, first to be executed.”
“I’m trapped,” he says. “I promised these people a better future a decade ago. Like — it gets better, and now it doesn’t get better. I promised them I’d be their advocate and fight for them until they all get out, and all the doors are getting shut on me.”
source: people.com
