The Xulhaz Mannan Murder: A Heart-Breaking Portrait of Bangladesh’s Impunity

LGBTQ rights activist Xulhaz Mannan was brutally murdered in 2016 in his Dhaka home. He was the editor of Bangladesh’s first LGBTQ magazine, “Roopban,” and worked tirelessly to spread a message of diversity, love and human rights. The investigation revealed that members of the banned militant group Ansar al Islam attacked him—and although six individuals have since been sentenced to death, several suspects remain at large. The state’s lack of responsiveness, the protracted legal process and the lack of safety place minority, free-thinking people increasingly at risk in Bangladesh. The murder of Xulhaz Mannan underscores our urgent need for collective protest and awareness to secure justice and establish the civil rights of the LGBTQ community.