The State Department has pledged to evacuate vulnerable people from the country, but it is unclear whom they consider vulnerable and how many LGBTQ Afghans will be given the opportunity to leave. While homosexuality has long been criminalized in Afghanistan, advocates fear the situation for gay Afghans will become even more perilous under the Taliban, who may choose to apply the death penalty for same-sex conduct, which they reportedly did during their first stint in power from 1996-2001.
Among those seeking to flee are LGBTQ Afghans like N and Faraz. U.S officials expect 50,000 to 65,000 Afghans will seek evacuation in the wake of the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul, the country’s capital. State Department to evacuate him and his family. They are going from street to street,” he said, pleading for the U.S. “The Taliban is in search of the gay people.
He fears he and his family will be kidnapped and killed if they remain in Afghanistan. Faraz, who asked to be identified by only one name, is a 25-year-old gay man who said he fears for himself and his three sons.
