A multisided armed conflict has been raging in Libya since the country’s NATO-backed uprising ousted and killed dictator Moammar Gadhafi on Oct. 20, 2011. Lost from view as the media and nongovernmental organizations have focused on continuous cease-fire violations has been the targeting by extremist Islamist militias of LGBTQ+ individuals.
Libyan LGBTQ+ activists told Al-Monitor that members of their community have been victims of beatings, imprisonment and murder by the armed militia groups. “We risk kidnapping, torture or forced disappearance by militias. Most people of the LGBTQ+ community in Libya don’t have any hope that things will change for the better,” said an LGBTQ+ activist who asked to speak on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
