Much is known about Afghanistan’s political turmoil, and that is the main reason the country has been in the news for the longest time. However, not much has been said about the LGBTQ+ rights movement in the war-torn country, which is still trying to negotiate peace.

I recently interviewed Nemat Sadat, who is the first Afghan-origin person to openly come out as gay and campaign globally for LGBTQ+ rights. He has repeatedly been persecuted by the Afghan government and Islamists since he came out of the closet in 2013.

The Quint caught up with 40-year-old Sadat on the eve of the India launch of his debut novel, ‘The Carpet Weaver’. His first book is a tale of young homosexual love, set against the backdrop of the stormy decades of the ‘70s & ‘80s in Afghanistan. Here are excerpts from the interview: