Trans Hope was founded in 2017 by Sazi Jali. Trans Hope was formally registered on 6 June 2019, making it the first trans-led organisation in the province of Kwa-Zulu Natal in South Africa. Trans Hope seeks to raise awareness about gender and gender identity and create an environment that is safe and inclusive for gender-diverse people.
Sazi Jali saw a need within the community to not just help the members of the support group but to provide support and services to the transgender and gender-diverse community in the KwaZulu-Natal province as a whole. In 2019, with the encouragement of Prof. Zanele Muholi and Dr Chris McLachlan, Trans Hope was registered as a Non-Profit Organisation,
The dream was to mainstream gender diversity in the community through providing safe spaces within both public and private institutions, and to give trans and gender-diverse communities access to education and advocacy. Part of the aim of Trans Hope was to not isolate trans people, so the board and working team included a number of cisgender individuals to assist in the fight for the mutual understanding of diversity within the greater community, to ensure the acceptance of trans and gender-diverse people through creating awareness, and to provide education about trans and gender-diverse issues and to advocate for their human rights.
“We empower our community by providing knowledge about LGBTQIA+ issues and health care. We educate schools, clinics, hospitals and churches in order to provide a safer place for transgender and gender diverse people. We also provide training and conduct workshops.”
Vision
To advance the constitutional rights for the LGBTQIA+ community, ensuring they have a safer space within but not limited to the Republic of South Africa.
Mission
Trans Hope seeks to:
- Increase knowledge about gender identity and sexual orientation expression as well as sexual characteristics (SOGIESC).
- Create safe spaces for people who are gender diverse, through killing stigma against LGBTQIA+ people by building our community and empowering them with understanding about the diversity of humankind.
Objectives
- Create a safe space for queer people within the cishetoronormative spaces.
- Fight the anti-gender group to ensure communities are empowered with knowledge.
- Highlight issues that the trans communities face.
- Advance economy to the transgender community.
- Mainstream gender diversity.
- End GBV (gender-based violence) and hate crimes.
- Create awareness about equality.
Trans Hope in the media
- LGBTQIA People in SA Are Under Siege
- KwaZulu-Natal Doing Well Compared to Other Provinces, But Some Health Services Still a Challenge
- Home Affairs Commits to Addressing Transgender Concerns