Insider spoke with gay Afghans who described their lives in fear after the victory of the Taliban.
Taliban plans to apply a radical interpretation Sharia law that makes homosexuality criminal.
One Afghan activist said that gay people in Afghanistan will be "weeded-out and exterminated by the Taliban."
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Rameen*, a gay Afghan man, cried and said that his life felt like a "nightmare", ever since Kabul was captured by the Taliban on Sunday. "I just hope somebody comes and wakes up me from this terrible dream," the gay Afghan, 37, told Insider via phone call.
Rameen, who is a United Nations worker, was once a part of Afghanistan's "underground" gay scene.
He said that homosexuality was not illegal and that he felt safe going to Kabul's clandestine Karaoke Bar to sing and dance with members of the country’s hidden LGBTQ communities. Rameen said, "It was amazing and so much fun."
Rameen's life was turned upside-down in a matter of days. Rameen now lives in constant fear, and is afraid to see his three-year-old boyfriend.
Rameen, who was crying, said that "if the Taliban find out about us, then they'll sentence them to death." "I believe we will have to end our relationship."
Taliban fighters parade their flag in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Thursday, August 19, 2021. Rahmat Gul/AP
Rameen is also concerned that Ghulam*, a 21-year-old student, may not be able to see his partner again.
He told Insider that if he was caught, the Taliban would kill him.
According to the Taliban, they will enforce a strict interpretation of Sharia law. This would mean that homosexuality would be punished with death. Bild, a German newspaper, reported in July that a judge of the radical Islamist group had vowed to sentence homosexual men to death by stone or being crushed by a nine foot wall.
Ghulam is so afraid of being identified gay and sentenced to death that he has not moved from his home since the Taliban overtook him.
He said, "We can't go out because of our lives being in danger."
He said that he doesn't see any future in Afghanistan and has stopped his university studies. He stated that if he had the permission to travel to another country, he would not have stayed in Afghanistan for another second.
Continue reading: After their victory in Afghanistan, surreal videos show armed Taliban fighters riding bumpercars and a merry go-round.
Sayed*, a 36 year-old gay man hailing from northern Afghanistan's Balkh Province, said to Insider via Facebook Messenger, that he also desperately seeks asylum under the hardline Islamist regime.
He said that life has drastically changed in the span of one week. Sayed stated that he used to be able to meet face-toface with his partner and not feel ashamed.
Although technically, homosexual sex in Afghanistan has been punished with death for many decades. However, the UK Country of Origin Report on Afghanistan shows that it has not been used since 2001, when the Taliban's first regime was overthrown.
Sayed is worried that executions may become more common than during the Taliban's previous time in power. He stated, "It's obvious to me that as soon the Taliban learn that I am gay, they will execute me without even considering it."
Insider spoke out to Sayed that he hopes to live authentically in Canada as a gay man.
Nemat Sadat, an activist, fears that gay Afghans will be "weeded-out and exterminated by the Taliban." Nemat Sadat
Insider was told by Nemat Sadat that he is helping gay Afghans such as Sayed to apply for asylum in Afghanistan and leave the country.
Sadat, a political science professor at American University of Afghanistan in Kabul, was involved in the creation of a new LGBTQ rights movement in Afghanistan. He fled Afghanistan in 2013 after receiving death threats and a fatwa against him.
"It is not exaggerated to state that gay people will be weeded out."
He urges the international community and other organizations to quickly assist those most in need to escape persecution by the new regime.
He said that it was not exaggerated to predict that gay people would be weeded and exterminated in Afghanistan by the Taliban, much like the Nazis. "People have been messaging me to say that they have my passport and all my information. Please get me out of this country or I will die."
Hamid Zaher fled Afghanistan in 2001. Hamid Zaher.
Hamid Zaher (47), who was one the first Afghan men to publicly come out, said that while LGBTQ Afghans have always been at risk of violence and imprisonment from the authorities, these dangers pale in comparison with the cruelty and intolerance displayed by the Taliban.
After a brief stint in Afghanistan, he fled Afghanistan and was granted asylum in Canada in 2008.
Zaher stated that gay men were living in "very bad times" even though they are under the US-supported government. He explained that they were not allowed to be sent to jail or beaten before they could be taken into custody. "But now, if they arrest them, they'll kill them."
Najib Faizi is hopeful that other LGBTQ Afghans will receive asylum in the same way as him. Najib Faizi/Instagram
Najib Faizi (21), who calls himself the first drag queen of Afghan descent and left Afghanistan when he was 10, and sought asylum in Germany together with his older sister.
Insider spoke to Faizi that he doesn’t take his freedom for granted. "I am so happy here. I can do whatever I want. He said, "I'm free."
He still receives death threats from conservative Afghans for his public activism and remarkable social media presence.
According to the drag queen, he received desperate pleas from Instagram users over the past week. They hoped to one day live free and happy like him.
"I hope that others will be able to get asylum. I reached out to people in Germany, and they said that they must help LGBTQ people. He said that they needed help. They are not accepted by anyone.
"Now is the right time for governments to step in"
There is increasing pressure on countries to take in vulnerable asylum seekers fleeing persecution by the Taliban.
Rainbow Railroad, a Canadian charity that assists LGBTQ people escape oppression in home countries, issued a statement asking governments to accept vulnerable Afghan refugees.
The charity stated that "now is the right time for governments to step in and support LGBTQI+ Afghan refugees."
Canada plans to resettle more Afghans than 20,000, with a priority given to minorities such as LGBTQ activists and female activists.
Insider reported that the US will accept fewer 10,000 refugees this year than it did in 1975. In addition, less than 500 refugees were accepted from Afghanistan in 2021.
More than a dozen governors have asked President Biden for more Afghan refugees. Critics have claimed that the application process is slow and bureaucratic.
The gay people of Afghanistan have sent a clear message to Western politicians and bureaucrats. Ghulam said, "I hope that I get out here alive."
(* To protect their identities, the names of gay Afghans that Insider talked to have been changed
