Life for Afghanistan’s LGBTs Was Already Hard, Then the Taliban Came

For Sadaf Coco, a transgender woman, the news of the Taliban’s return was a panic alarm. The life she had built in Kabul disappeared overnight when she heard on August 15, 2021, that the group’s fighters were at the city gates. So, she and her boyfriend grabbed their little savings, rented a vehicle, and drove to an unknown destination. “I knew what awaited us if we had to stay: detention, torture, or death at the hands of the Taliban,” she said.

But life for 22-year-old Sadaf was challenging even before the Taliban neared Kabul. At birth, she was registered as a boy,  named Sayed Ashraf. When she reached puberty, her body began betraying her in new ways. She felt more and more different as time passed. “Physically, I was not growing like a normal boy and my thoughts and behavior were more like a girl,” she explained. “It also affected me emotionally and mentally. I preferred playing with girls and wearing their dresses.”