The killing of Xulhaz Mannan, the editor of Bangladesh’s only lesbian-gay rights magazine, has shocked activists in Kolkata. Many of the community representatives told The Hindu that the LGBTQ community of Bangladesh is “under direct threat” from militant outfits. The names of the lesbian-gay rights activists are routinely published and they are hunted down and killed, the activists said.
“Facebook is regularly used to launch campaigns, targeting activists. Xulhaz Mannan’s murder was celebrated in a site and neither Facebook nor the government is initiating any action which is traumatic for them in Bangladesh and us in Bengal,” said Parjanya Sen, an academic.
“It is a desperate situation for us … we knew some of the activists who were our friends. It is frustrating that we cannot do much,” said Malobika, founder-member of Sappho for Equality, a LBTQ rights group.
