{"id":6353,"date":"1982-01-01T14:30:00","date_gmt":"1982-01-01T12:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/?p=6353"},"modified":"2025-10-15T15:16:29","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T13:16:29","slug":"1982-founding-of-the-phoenix-society-an-underground-network-of-transgender-and-transsexual-people-and-transvestites-and-crossdressers-during-apartheid-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/transintersexhistory.africa\/1982-founding-of-the-phoenix-society-an-underground-network-of-transgender-and-transsexual-people-and-transvestites-and-crossdressers-during-apartheid-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"1982 \u2014 Founding of the Phoenix Society, An Underground Network of Trans Women, Transsexuals, Transvestites and Crossdressers During Apartheid, South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South Africa\u2019s first gender-focused group, the Phoenix Society, was established in 1982 in the Apartheid era in South Africa. The Society was an underground network of transvestites, transsexuals, crossdressers and trans women. The Society was founded by Marlene, a white trans woman, and Mike, a white trans person. The organisation relied on secrecy, with members using pseudonyms, calling one another from public telephones, and opening secret postboxes to receive their trans-related correspondence, including the magazine, ‘FanFare<\/em>‘, the Society self-published. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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FanFare, Issue No. 28, May 1987<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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FanFare, Issue No. 25, November 1986, Christmas Edition<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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FanFare, Issue No. 31, November 1987, Christmas Edition<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Because of this secrecy, the Society was compelled to use creative means to reach members. Strategies included sending postage, such as newsletters (which the state considered \u201celicit communication\u201d owing to the contents) with a self-addressed envelope for ongoing communication of the placement of small advertisements in the classified sections of South African print media. This strategy was undertaken to find and connect transvestites, transsexuals, crossdressers and trans women across South Africa, and even, internationally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Joy Wellbeloved, the oldest known surviving member of the Phoenix Society, recalls:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIn 1985, I was sitting in the reception of my divorce lawyer\u2019s office reading letters to the editor of ‘Fair Lady’ magazine. A wife was looking for help for her husband who liked to dress up as a woman. The editor suggested that she contacted the Phoenix Society and provided a post-office box address in Parow. This was just what I needed! Through this, I met another person like me for the first time. Her name was Marlene.\u201d<\/h6>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This quotation is an excerpt from the chapter \u201cPhoenix Rising Above Isolation\u201d, from the book \u2018Beyond the Mountain \u2013 Queer Life in \u201cAfrica\u2019s Gay Capital\u201d<\/em>\u2019 (Edited by Dr B Camminga, Zethu Matebani; Unisa Press | DALRO; 2023).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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FanFare, Issue No. 22, May 1986<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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FanFare, Issue No. 23, July 1986<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Fanfare, Issue No. 27, March 1987<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Interview with Joy Wellbeloved, oldest known remaining member of the Phoenix Society<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In an audio interview with TIHA\u2019s Liesl Theron in 2016, Joy Wellbeloved, speaks about the creation of the Phoenix Society, the ‘FanFare’ <\/em>magazine, and the context for transvestites, transsexuals, crossdressers and trans women during Apartheid South Africa. Years later, Joy co-edited \u2018TRANS \u2014 Transgender Life Stories from South Africa\u2019<\/a> <\/em>(Edited by Ruth Morgan, Charl Marais and Joy Wellbeloved; Fanele, an imprint of Jacana; 2009). Marlene, who was one of the two co-founders of the Phoenix Society, has a chapter contribution in the same book.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The interview was conducted in preparation for the chapter \u201cPhoenix Rising Above Isolation\u201d. This chapter elaborates on how an underground network was formed during the era of apartheid in South Africa, when not only race and cross-racial relationships were policed, but sex, gender, and what was those years only defined as “homosexual” relationships, were severely policed too. The Phoenix Society formed this clandestine network, not only to avoid apartheid policing, but to provide people with a community, as there was no accessibility to online spaces before widespread internet use. The Phoenix Society organised by using mail boxes and “tickey boxes” (pay phones using coins on street corners; “tickey” refers to the nickname for the coin used). Download the chapter<\/a> and read more about this fascinating era. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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