The Trans Intersex History Africa website is a space where African trans and/or intersex activists share our archival collections, memories, reflections and facts. It is the first and only growing record of the histories of our movements on our continent and in the African Diaspora in one archival space.

The project includes a timeline of events, contributions include the founding dates of the early trans and intersex organisations/groups, as well as individuals’ accomplishments in law and politics, and in sport, art, music and other private domains, along with contributions towards positive change for trans and intersex struggles for our human rights on the African continent and in the African Diaspora.

The Trans & Intersex History website (TIHA) was started by three African trans and intersex activists –  Julius Kaggwa (Uganda), Victor Mukasa (Uganda) and Liesl Theron (South Africa).

We have been actively involved in various ways and in various capacities before and during the inception years of the African trans and intersex movements as they are known today. Over the years of working with and alongside each other, we have become good friends and after many discussions we realised that we had a shared aim to combine all of the information that we have been part of and collected over the years and to present it on one platform that will be easily accessible to all who are interested. 

One of the main reasons behind the creation of this website was our passionate refusal to let the histories/herstories/theirstories of the trans and intersex movements in Africa and the African Diaspora become lost, or misunderstood, distorted, or misrepresented, all of which would weaken the current and future work of trans and intersex individuals and organisations on the continent and in the Diaspora. Having these influential moments told by African trans and/or intersex activists in their own voices is an essential part of empowering the African movements, enabling African trans and intersex people to share our lived experiences without having our stories silenced and rewritten from an anti-rights perspective. Nothing about us without us!

As we were part of the beginnings of the movements, in documenting these histories/herstories/theirstories in the voices of activists themselves as accurately as we can, we want to provide a clear understanding of the strength of African trans and intersex movements by documenting evidence of how long and how hard African activists and organisations have worked towards human rights for African trans and intersex people. 

Several scholars have built a canon of knowledge on the existence of homosexuality, same-sex relations and gender nonconformity in pre-colonial Africa. In a contemporary context, however, LGBTIQ+ history has initially remained largely silent about African trans and intersex people, especially during the times before the frequent use of the internet and social media and there is very little archiving or information available in the era around the time of the turn of the century.

Bearing witness to the events that helped shape and influence the African trans and intersex movements, and providing readers with the chance to bear witness to it, will strengthen the movements and prove that they are a force to be reckoned with — a force for change. 

This website is an ongoing project and invites contributions by trans and intersex individuals and organisations to share first-hand experiences about important moments that form part of those histories, herstories, and theirstories. We welcome content and information in any chosen language, as we are aware that communicating only in colonial languages creates barriers and denies the diversity and strength within non-English movements.

Watch this video where Liesl speaks more about TIHA’s work in relation to the history of the African trans and intersex movements. 

Read more.