Curated by FG contributor Samiha Hossain Illustration: Mofu/OC Media Queer sex workers in Azerbaijan face systemic discrimination by national and law enforcement agencies, while also struggling to find acceptance within the larger queer community. Matan, 19, was forced to resort to sex work at the age of 17 to make ends meet. They describe how many of their peers struggle to find a place in the larger queer community–so they only have each other to rely on. Once a sex worker acquaintance of theirs received counterfeit money from a client and when he took the money to the bank to convert into the national currency, he was detained by the police, demanding money to release him. Other sex workers banded together and saved him by paying ₼5,000 ($2,900) to the police under the guise of a fine.