Crowdfunding campaign to help LGBT Afghans has already raised thousands of dollars
A campaign to support LGBT Afghans after the fundamentalist Taliban took over the country, founded by four members of the Afghan diaspora in Australia, has raised around $32,000 in a few days and is still growing, according to Pink News.
"A few friends and I decided to raise money because there are very few services in Afghanistan aimed at supporting LGBT people. There are now very few avenues of safety and refuge for Afghans. Coming out about one's orientation or identity is quite dangerous at the moment, especially with the difficult process of travelling for asylum," said Bobuq Sajed, one of the founders of the crowdfunding campaign . Many fear that the Taliban government of Islamic radicals will restrict the rights of women or girls, ethnic minorities or LGBT people, similar to the previous Taliban government over 20 years ago. According to Pink News, some leaders of the movement have already announced the return of Sharia law, including the death penalty for gays, for example by stoning.
Desperate LGBT people are trying to get out of Afghanistan, but many simply cannot. The founder of a crowdfunding campaign to support them, Sajed, has been in contact with several of them, one of whom said he is hiding in his home in the city of Herat from Taliban fighters who are searching buildings and killing people. Funds raised by the campaign will be distributed to trusted LGBT+ contacts in Afghanistan, helping LGBT people flee the country by paying for travel, passports, ID cards and temporary accommodation in the countries they flee to. Yet Sajed's fundraising is not the only one, with Canada, for example, pledging to help thousands of LGBT people in Afghanistan. You can donate to the fundraiser for LGBT Afghans now facing mortal danger in the country here.
