Abstract
Delbar is uninterested in coming out. But when his queer sex life follows him home from college, he is exiled from his community of Afghan Americans and goes to live with his aunt in Istanbul. There, he discovers a vibrant, if embattled, network of dissidents, activists, poets, and heretics. Among them are Lief and his husband Mansur, who run a program for queer and trans refugees, and with whom Delbar soon develops a fascination. While Lief is away in Berlin, Delbar's connection with Mansur intensifies past the agreed upon limits of Mansur's open marriage. Secure in the company of another queer Afghan for the first time in his life, Delbar can reckon with his own gender and history. It is the cultural immersion in Islam, as well as Farsi and Turkish, both gender neutral languages, that cast his body anew. At the same time, the Turkish government's authoritarianism is accelerating, leading to raids on opposition factions, newspaper headquarters, and minority communities. When Lief returns and reveals that he is pregnant, a feature of his trans masculinity, Delbar is left deprioritized and fighting for a place in Mansur's future. The three of them, for a time, experiment with a triangular relationship model until the 2016 failed coup d'état suddenly militarizes society. Lief relocates to Berlin, leaving open the option for Mansur but not Delbar to come with him. Without the security of his chosen family, his aunt, or his partners, Delbar is left adrift.