Promoting equality and diversity to increase economic growth

Since the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in 2021, Outright International’s have interviewed LGBTQ+ Afghans in an effort to understand what it is to be queer under Taliban rule, and how groups like Outright can help.

“Since the Taliban’s return to power, we witnessed the excruciating deterioration of humanitarian conditions for LGBTIQ Afghans,” notes Maria Sjodin, Executive Director of Outright International. 

Outright International is an LGBTQ+ human rights organisation working globally to document and amplify human rights violations and advocate for inclusion and equality. Launched in 1990 by American activist Julie Dorf as the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, the organisation has since campaigned for equality in international law, achieved asylum for the persecuted, created awards and written dedicated reports. 

“No one should live in constant fear, discrimination, and violence simply because of their sexual orientation or gender identity,” Sjodin says. 

Alongside active persecution, women and queer Afghans are being denied access to basic human rights, including education and healthcare, leading to increasing numbers of the LGBTQ+ community in Afghanistan choosing to flee the country and become asylum seekers.  

“The Taliban’s undisguised hostility toward sexual and gender diversity doubles the risk level those Afghans face,” says Neela Ghoshal, Outright’s Senior Director of Law, Policy and Research.

Discrimination hindering education can have a lifelong impact, both socially and economically.

UCLA School of Law’s report on LGBT Poverty in the United States discusses how higher percentages of LGBTQ+ people live in poverty with 23% of LGBTQ+ people having lived in poverty in 2020, compared to 11.4% of the total US population living in poverty, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

“Among racialised groups, a higher proportion of Black, Latinx/Hispanic, Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islander (NH/PI), American Indian/Alaskan Native (AI/AN), and Multiracial people were experiencing poverty than White or Asian American (AA) people,” the report continues.

The underrepresentation of minorities in board rooms can be linked to their overrepresentation in groups including people living in poverty, suicide attempts and increased risk of harassment, victimisation and depression.