7 June 2021 — Womandla! Webinar: History of African Trans and Intersex Movements (2010—2016) Presented
On Monday 7 June 2021, Julius Kaggwa and Liesl Theron, co-founders of the Trans & Intersex History Africa Digital Archive, presented a history of African trans and intersex movements between 2010 and 2016 as part of the “Feminism and Social Movements in the Global South: Queer Histories in the Global South” panel. This presentation was part of the first introductions to the Trans & Intersex History Africa Digital Archive, which the two speakers, alongside Victor Mukasa launched officially later in 2021.
Presentation abstract
Trans and intersex history line in Africa – a focus on Southern and Eastern Africa
LGBTIQ history has remained largely silent about African trans and intersex people, with the exception of scandalised depictions of trans women who are, according to the media in many African countries, only viewed as ‘female imposters’ committing fraud or reduced to a spectacle to be humored. Several scholars have endeavored to build a canon of knowledge on the existence of homosexuality, same-sex relations and gender nonconformity in a pre-colonial time, throughout Africa. This paper aims to bring voice to trans and intersex histories, accomplishments by individuals and organisations. The collection of data is an ongoing process the two co-authors embarked on to ensure these stories are told authentically by African trans and intersex activists. There is great opportunity to draw on connections made at this conference between scholars from the Global South and Global North to carry forward the preservation of a rich trans and intersex historical canon, led by Global South voices. The long-term working relationship between Liesl Theron and Julius Kaggwa developed in 2008 and superseded organisational alliance, geographical location and is a result of an activist relationship and fond friendship that crisscross “the personal becomes the political”. Theron and Kaggwa, the two founders of respectively the Support Initiative for People with Atypical Sex Development (SIPD), Uganda and Gender DynamiX (GDX), South Africa were on a pursuit for several years to find a home to publish their collection of African trans and intersex history. Our timeline is one of contemporary history with its first entry being 1980 and weave through the mid-2010’s with all the founding dates of the early trans and intersex organizations, individuals’ accomplishments in sport, art, music and other private domains as well as passionate contributions towards positive change for trans and intersex struggles on the continent.
