Afghanistan’s LGBTQ+ may prefer death to life under Taliban

The Taliban arrested Samir, a 21-year-old gay man from Faryab province, for the first time back last November after he had been repatriated to Afghanistan from Iran. They abused him with homophobic slurs and sent private photos from his phone — of him in women’s clothes and with his boyfriend — to his family. “They told my family this was proof I was gay,” he said. He was soon released, but weeks later the Taliban returned and detained him again. This time the abuse was physical — he was tortured so severely that he’s now deaf in one ear. “After this happened, my parents disowned me and threw …

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