17 February 2018 — Historic Meeting with Trans Members of the Deaf Community and Publication of ‘(Trans)lation?: Experiences of the Deaf Transgender Community in South Africa’ Report, South Africa
On 17 February 2018 by Iranti hosted a historic meeting with trans members of the South African Deaf community. The resultant report, ‘(Trans)lation?: Experiences of the Deaf Transgender Community in South Africa’, aimed to fill the gap in research on and knowledge about Deaf trans and LGBTQIA+ members of South African society. The Report covers the following Deaf trans advocacy issues in South Africa:
- Healthcare
- Sexual and mental health
- Trans-specific healthcare
- Access to justice and the State
From the Report:
“The emergence of Deaf people as visible members of the transgender community is relatively recent. In light of this very little research is available. Much of the work in this report then draws on work with transgender people; work with Deaf people and Deaf LGB/gay research, in an effort to fill some of this gap. It must be noted from the outset that this is far from ideal and that much more work needs to be done globally to address the absence of knowledge regarding the needs of LGBTIQA+ people who are deaf and/or have disabilities. It is widely agreed, as this report will attest to, that there is a distinct lack of visibility of Deaf transgender people globally. In turn, this has meant a limited availability of what is referred to as ‘survival literature’ -‐ any form of published academic, creative or visual material that validates existence. This is particularly severe when it comes to the public visibility of Deaf transgender people of colour.
This report begins by outlining Deaf transgender advocacy as it currently stands globally, followed by a mapping of the situation as it currently stands for Deaf LGBTQIA+ and transgender South Africans. With this background in place the report unpacks the Saturday meeting between Iranti and members of South Africa’s Deaf transgender community. This is followed by an overview of Deaf advocacy in Africa and then Deaf transgender advocacy in
South Africa specifically. The report then provides an overview of key issues, possibilities for future advocacy efforts and suggestions for immediate changes that might be made. Finally the report highlights some key concerns at the intersections of transgender and Deaf advocacy particularly regarding language and depathologisation.”
Read the full Report.