30 January 2023 — Book Review: “Envisioning African Intersex”, by Amanda Lock Swarr “Envisioning African Intersex: Challenging Colonial and Racist Legacies in South African Medicine” by Amanda Lock Swarr (Associate Professor, Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies, University of Washington) was…
June 2021 — Publication of ‘COVID-19: A Report on the Situation of Intersex People in Africa’ A report, ‘COVID-19: A Report on the Situation of Intersex People in Africa‘, authored by Obioma Chukwuike from Intersex Nigeria, was conducted between 12…
June 2020 — Kakuma Refugee Camp: Refugees Approach Victor Mukasa Again, Kenya In June 2020 the Ugandan LGBTQIA+ refugees in the Kakuma Refugee Camp reached out to activist Victor Mukasa, saying “Victor, we are dying, we are dying in the…
2018 — Study on Trans Rights Published, Tunisia In 2018, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung published a report on trans rights in Tunisia by Dr Habib Nouisser, titled ‘Sex Change in Tunisia: When Law Confiscates Identities.’ According to the study, “the Tunisian judiciary systematically…
2017 — The Proposal of The Intersex Model Law, South Africa The Intersex Model Law, proposed in 2017, was a draft law that the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria put together with the aim of protecting…
2017 — Publication of ‘Southern Africa Trans Diverse Situational Analysis’ In 2016, The Southern African Trans Forum, with the aid of Accountability International, undertook a situational analysis of the barriers faced by trans diverse people in Africa in accessing healthcare.…
2016 — Publication of ‘Ending Pathological Practices Against Trans and Intersex Bodies in Africa’ In 2016, South Africa’s Iranti, as well as the Global Action for Trans Equality (GATE), Asia Pacific Transgender Network (APTN), Stop Trans Pathologization 2012 (STP) team,…
August 2015 — ‘Uganda Report of Violations to Children and People Born Intersex or with Differences of Sex Development’ Report Launched, East Africa In August 2015, a report on violations to children and people born intersex or with differences of…
In August 2014, trans women from 14 African countries including Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe came together at a meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa to discuss a shared envisioning of the feminist movement and…
The Cape Town Declaration on Gender Incongruence of Childhood (GIC) was publicly released in June 2014, requesting the removal of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Classification of Diseases (ICD) diagnoses that pathologise gender diversity in children and youth. The…
In an important series of 5 episodes aired on 29 June 2014, LGBTQIA+ rights activist, Victor Mukasa, provided context to the violence in the Kakuma Refugee Camp, using his TV platform, Kuchu TV. The episodes highlighted that the central issue…
The Third International Intersex Forum took place on 29 November 2013 in Valletta, Malta and concluded on 1 December 2013. With the initial 3 principles decided on at the first Forum, and then extended during the second Forum, the ongoing…
We Exist, published by Trans Bantu Zambia in 2013, is a self-publication that serves as a powerful platform to give voice to the often marginalised and overlooked transgender community in Zambia. Through a collection of 21 short stories and poems,…
The publication, Sex in Transition: Remaking of Gender and Race in South Africa, by Professor Amanda Lock Swarr, published on 1 November 2012, takes the reader through the Apartheid times of South Africa, and how the lives of those who…
On April 18, 2010, a small group of activists from across Africa held a roundtable discussion in Nairobi, Kenya, during which they drafted the African LGBTI Manifesto/Declaration, which is also known as the Queer African Manifesto According to the Black Agenda Report,…
On 20 December 2009, The Gay and Lesbian Archives (GALA) and Gender DynamiX (GDX) launched the book, Trans: Transgender Life Stories from South Africa, in Cape Town, South Africa. It was first book of its kind on the continent. The…
In August 2009, the world was introduced to South African track athlete Caster Semenya as she won the 800m World Championships in Berlin, Germany and simultaneously came under public scrutiny over her eligibility to compete in women’s sport.
She improved on her 800m and 1500m records achieved at the 2008 World Junior Championships. The International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), now known as World Athletics, asserted that it felt compelled to carry out investigations on Semenya’s performance and sex after she improved her record by 25 seconds in the 1500m track event, and by 7 seconds in the 800m track race. They claimed that "this sort of dramatic breakthrough usually aroused the suspicion of drug use."
The Births and Deaths Registration Act, Act 51 of 1992 prohibited transsexual* people from having their sex status amended in the Births and Deaths Register unless they could provide proof that they were in their transition process prior to 1992. …