Hamid Zaher (born 1974) is a

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

-based Afghan writer and gay rights activist. Zaher was born 1974 in the

Parwan Province Parwan (Dari: ), also spelled Parvan, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 751,000. The province is multi-ethnic and mostly rural society. The province is divided into ten districts. The town of Imam Abu Hani ...

. He studied pharmacy at

Kabul University Kabul University (KU; prs, دانشگاه کابل, translit= Dāneshgāh-e-Kābul; ps, د کابل پوهنتون, translit=Da Kābul Pohantūn) is one of the major and oldest institutions of higher education in Afghanistan. It is in the 3rd ...

and graduated in 1998. In 2001, he had to flee Afghanistan when his family started pressuring him to get married, due to Afghanistan punishing

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

via the death penalty. He arrived in Canada in March 2008. In 2009 Zaher published a book about his life and upbringing in Afghanistan called ''Overcoming: Alone Against the World''. In response, Zaher's family disowned him.

References

External links

Zaher's blog
Afghan expatriates in Canada Afghan writers Afghan LGBT people Canadian LGBT rights activists Canadian gay writers 1974 births People from Parwan Province Living people {{Canada-activist-stub