By Somaia Walizadeh
Forced to Leave
When the Taliban took Kabul, Dayana Daneshwar’s life shrank to a series of calculated escapes — from her own home, from neighbours’ threats, from the stares that followed her everywhere. People linked to the Taliban called her “non-Muslim” and warned her family she would be taken if she was seen with her queer friends again.
“My soul was always Dayana,” she says, “but I was imprisoned in Yasir’s body. I walked in fear every single day. Even going out to buy bread was dangerous.”
A New Life, New Struggles
Dayana arrived in Germany in December last year after fleeing Afghanistan and spending eight months in Pakistan. She hoped for safety — and she found it — but she also encountered new challenges: discrimination from within certain Afghan, Arab, and Iranian migrant communities, and occasional prejudice in public spaces like train stations and supermarkets.
Despite this, she has become a vocal advocate against gender apartheid and for the rights of sexual and gender minorities. Through protests, public storytelling, and alliances with queer communities in Germany, Dayana is determined to raise awareness.
“I’ve promised myself that if I reach a safe place one day, I will tell stories, break sexual and gender taboos, and fight against rotten traditions and customs that limit human life. Every human being deserves a normal and humane life,” she says.
Growing up in a chamber of silence
Born into a strict, religious family in Afghanistan, Dayana knew from early childhood that she was different—but she had no words and no safe space to express it. By fourteen, she understood she was a woman trapped in a body the world saw as male.
She dressed and behaved as expected, wearing men’s clothes and going by the name Yasir, which appeared on her passport and official documents. She had no contact with the queer community and could not confide in her family.
Her only public role was as a radio presenter for a local station, where her programs covered everyday social issues like child-rearing and hygiene. Talking about LGBTQ people was forbidden. When the Taliban took power, the station was shut down.
“The only joy I had in that year and a half was gone,” she says. “My heart was broken, my dreams were shattered, and everything collapsed so quickly.”
The Breaking Point
Life for LGBTQ Afghans worsened dramatically under Taliban rule. Violence, threats, and harassment became routine. Dayana recalls hearing news of a trans person arrested and tortured, which deepened her fear. Friends, neighbors, and even relatives close to the Taliban warned her she could be arrested or kidnapped.
It became clear she could not survive in Afghanistan.
Crossing the Checkpoints
On 11 May 2024, dressed in men’s clothing, Dayana left Afghanistan in a car, passing Taliban checkpoints with her heart racing. She spent months in Pakistan before securing a visa to Germany.
The first days in her new home were filled with anxiety—but also an unfamiliar, precious sense of freedom. “For the first time, I could exist without fearing arrest or death,” she says.
Prejudice in Exile
Dayana quickly learned that discrimination didn’t vanish with exile. Much of it came from other migrants who brought with them the same patriarchal and intolerant mindsets she had fled.
“Some immigrants are more judgmental and insulting than others,” she says. “The mentality they brought from their countries hasn’t left their heads. It’s a vast mental distance between two worlds.”
From secrecy to Advocacy
In Afghanistan, Dayana’s activism was hidden. In Pakistan and Germany, it is public. She joins protests, works with queer groups, and speaks out for those who cannot.
“I will break taboos and fight rotten customs,” she says. “Every human being, regardless of gender or identity, is entitled to live.”
Her dream for Afghanistan is simple and radical: peace, freedom, and a secular, inclusive society. “The people of Afghanistan deserve to live without war, without humiliation, and free from the Taliban’s religious tyranny.”
Read also about Elina, a transgender woman living in Kabul under the arrest of her family. And about Idris, who was raped in prison and, after his escape to Iran, deported back to Afghanistan.
