Afghanistan’s LGBT+ community have been forced to keep their gender identity and sexual orientation secret amid fears of intimidation at a social and even institutional level.
However, the arrival of the Taliban has ushered in a new form of brutality. With reports of summary executions, beatings and even rumours of militants duping gay men into meeting them with promises of safe refuge – many LGBT+ Afghans have fled the area, leaving their former lives behind.
Since the fall of Kabul in August and with extremists carrying out door-to-door searches to locate those they consider enemies of the ‘Islamic emirate’, many have been forced to change their location.