Afghanistan's population is over 99% Muslim, and the country's
Constitution stipulates that Islam shall be the official religion. When publicly discussed, homosexuality is often linked with
prostitution and
pedophilia and the level of awareness about sexual orientation or gender identity is limited. In 2011, Afghan news reporters interviewed men who had LGBTQ-pride symbols on their vehicles, to find out that the men were unaware of the meaning of the rainbow flags and stickers, thinking that it was just another western fad, and began quickly removing the rainbows to avoid being seen as an LGBTQ people or supporters of LGBTQ rights. The US Marine Corps' handbook for Operational Culture for Deploying Personnel from May 2009 stated that "homosexual behavior is relatively common, but taboo, in rural Afghanistan, because there are no other outlets for normal sexual energies." In 2009, Afghan author
Hamid Zaher published a memoir,
It Is Your Enemy Who is Dock-Tailed, about his experience as a gay man growing up in and later fleeing Afghanistan. The book was released in English in 2012 under the title
Overcoming: Alone Against the World. In 2012,
Nemat Sadat, a human rights activist and former professor of political science at the
American University of Afghanistan, mobilized an LGBTQ movement and on August 22, 2013, he became one of the first public figures to come out as gay and campaign for LGBTQ rights, gender freedom, and sexual liberation. While gay Afghans may have been assaulted by certain state officers, the government at the time was not actively persecuting the community, and gay people could openly socialize in safe places. This situation changed after the Taliban takeover of the country in August 2021; CNN began corresponding with a 32-year-old gay,
Christian,
Hazara man who was then hiding in a house's basement in
Kabul with his younger brother to avoid capture by the Taliban. CNN confirmed the man's identity through human rights activists. The man, whom CNN named "Ahmed" for his safety, was seeking ways to escape the country. A survey revealed that the lives of LGBTQ people in Afghanistan have “dramatically worsened” under Taliban rule. The report by
Human Rights Watch recorded nearly 60 cases of targeted violence against LGBTQ people, which highlighted cases of violence, gang-rape and death threats.
Homosexual practices with boys Militia members generally do not have access to women, so boys are sometimes kidnapped to be humiliated and raped by adult men. Other boys become prostitutes for adult men, regardless of their sexual orientation. These men involved are sometimes called
bacha bazi in
Persian and seem to flourish in the big cities of Afghanistan, possibly due to poverty and the strict social taboos surrounding interaction between men and women. A law has been enacted prohibiting Afghan soldiers from having their "ashna" (lit. "friend") live with them. After the Taliban came to power in 1996,
bacha bazi was banned along with homosexuality, both carrying the death penalty. The young victims were often charged rather than the perpetrators under the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. In 2007, reports stated that the practice of
bacha bazi is still prevalent in parts of northern Afghanistan. This practice involves teenage boys being dressed in women's clothing and made to participate in dance competitions and engage in sexual acts. US-backed Northern Alliance warlords have been notorious for kidnapping trafficking and raping young boys ever since the fall of the Taliban regime, using the pretext of
bacha bazi, even though they bear little resemblance to the historical practice. Neither the U.S. Department of Defense nor the Afghan government took action against these crimes, despite being aware of these practices. and police officers were reportedly complicit in related crimes.
HIV-AIDS Prior to 2003, little or no HIV-AIDS education or treatment existed. As of 2008, the official number of people living with HIV-AIDS is 504, although the actual number is suspected of being higher, possibly in the thousands. Low literacy rates, weak infrastructure and traditional social mores make it difficult to introduce comprehensive public health education initiatives. Thus far, the bulk of the available resources have focused on fighting drug addiction and, to a lesser extent, the commercial sex industry. Yet, what little is reportedly being said about sexuality is in the promotion of
abstinence-only sex education programs. Efforts are being made to educate local and religious leaders in the hopes that they can legitimize greater public education. Likewise Article 27(D) of the Afghanistan Postal Law (1973) prohibits the usage of the postal service to exchange material that is "repugnant to public decency and morals." These two provisions could be used to censor the distribution of materials advocating LGBTQ rights or the general topic of sexual orientation and gender identity issues. In 2009, an Afghan man named Hamid Zaher published his memoir titled,
It Is Your Enemy Who Is Dock-Tailed. In the book, Zaher talks about growing up gay in Afghanistan, and how he eventually had to leave his country to avoid anti-gay discrimination. Because the memoir deals with homosexuality and is critical of homophobia, it cannot be distributed in Afghanistan itself, and Zaher's family has cut off all contact with him. == Human rights reports ==