U.S. Lawmakers Beg Biden to Help LGBTQ Afghan People

Content Warning: extreme violence and trauma against LGBTQ Afghan people

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U.S. leaders and legislators are calling on President Biden to evacuate LGBTQ Afghan populations, as violent attacks are carried out on the Middle Eastern country’s queer community.

Afghanistan has never been a queer-safe country—homosexuality has always been an imprisonable offense—but now, under rule of the Taliban, LGBTQ citizens are being captured and butchered in the streets.

Gabir is a 26-year-old gay man living in Afghanistan. He and his boyfriend had been dating for eight months. The two met at university, where they became friends and had dreams of moving to Europe to get married. But one day, after a dinner date together, Gabir headed home, only to learn later that just hours after their meal, the Taliban had picked up his boyfriend.

“The Taliban beat his boyfriend bloody, killed and dismembered him, and then threw his body parts in the street as a warning of how the Islamic militant group handles LGBTQ people,” LGBTQ Nation reports. “His boyfriend was 24 years old.”

Gabir received a phone call later from a person claiming to be with the Taliban. The person threatened Gabir’s life, as well as the lives of his family and friends. Gabir has since gone into hiding, dropped out of university, and cut off contact with his loved one’s to protect them and himself.

Mister @JoeBiden, @BorisJohnson, @JustinTrudeau, @USCIS, we are the LGBT+ of Afghanistan. Please help us before we are exterminated by the Talibans ! pic.twitter.com/m6dragDtW5

— Artemis Akbary????️‍???????????? (@Artemis_akbary) August 19, 2021

Taliban officers have reportedly started searching people in the streets and their homes, going through their possessions and cell phones to find any “evidence of queerness.” If found, the Taliban say that “by the authority of God,” they can shoot you in the street.

Pro-LGBTQ, American lawmakers feel they cannot simply stand by and witness these atrocities any longer.

Representative Chris Pappas (D- New Hampshire) is leading 63 lawmakers in pleading with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to help LGBTQ Afghans evacuate the country. Pappas and his coworkers have demanded the State Department extend its recently announced refugee admissions program to LGBTQ Afghans, all of whom are in immediate and direct danger.

“While we appreciate that the situation in Afghanistan is fluid, you have the power to protect the lives of countless LGBTQ Afghans from the horrors they face living under a regime that threatens their very existence,” Pappas’ letter to Blinken stresses.

The letter also received backing by the Council for Global Equality, the National Center for Transgender Equality, Athlete Ally, the Trevor Project, the Human Rights Campaign, Lambda Legal, PFLAG National and the National Equality Action Team (NEAT).

While U.S. progressives continue to push for immediate action, other nations and organizations are picking up the slack to help their queer family in Afghanistan.

Canada has announced its plans to resettle more than 20,000 Afghan citizens, emphasizing protections for LGBTQ people, women, and others typically targeted by the Taliban.

Rainbow Railroad, a global nonprofit that helps LGBTQ people escape persecution, has said it has received 50 requests for help from LGBTQ Afghans.

“We need to hold governments accountable to really support individuals,” Kimahli Powell, the executive director of Rainbow Railroad, tells TIME. “They’re going to need access to housing; they’re going to need access to emotional and mental health supports; they’re going to need access to resources. I think that’s the opportunity for individuals, civil societies, and governments to provide.”

After several Afghan GoFundMe sites were blocked by Taliban authorities, LGBTQ activists in the U.S. are urging people to donate and volunteer with groups like OutRight Action International, Immigration Equality, ILGA World, and Human Rights Campaign Global to provide queer Afghans with resources, shelter, and aid.

Not been tweeting recently… the news is so utterly desperate I’m at a loss. Anything positive I might like to talk about feels trivial. Just thought I’d post this article, one of a number I could have chosen. #Afghanistan https://t.co/E51ArNHcwQ

— Jane Hill (@JaneHillNews) August 21, 2021