The media plays an important role in shaping public understanding of intersex people. While African intersex advocates have long been telling their own stories through books, documentaries and other organisational work, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reporting has helped bring some of these voices to international audiences. This article highlights three BBC stories that shed light on the realities, challenges and resilience of intersex people across Africa.

Julius Kaggwa — Uganda

“Becoming Julius: Growing up intersex in Uganda” (2017) is the personal story of Julius Kaggwa, from being raised as Julia to becoming Julius, one of Africa’s leading intersex activists. The piece explores his childhood, stigma, school experiences, identity, the journey into advocacy and the family he has built. It is both deeply narrative and an important story on how intersex advocacy in East Africa began. The story is beautifully illustrated by PositiveNegatives for the Open Society Foundations. Julius Kaggwa is the Founder of Support Initiative for People with Atypical Sex Development (SIPD). You can read the full BBC story here.

Mphatso Sakala — Zambia

The short documentary, “Being intersex: I wanted to be my true self” (2019), produced by BBC Africa’s Life Clinic, explores Mphatso Sakala’s story of disclosing his truth to his childhood friend who became a sister, Miriam. The film explores the emotional impact of secrecy, family expectations, self-discovery and the courage it takes to live openly in a society where intersex people often face misunderstanding and stigma. He shares a deeply personal story of his intersex journey, especially the reality that comes with being different from the rest, being assigned female at birth and eventually embracing their authentic identity. The journey is not about becoming someone else but about living genuinely. Sharing his story publically, Mphatso helps challenge stigma and encourages greater understanding of intersex people in Zambia and across Africa. Mphatso is the Founder and current Executive Director of Intersex Society of Zambia (ISSZ). Watch the BBC documentary:

James Karanja — Kenya

Kenya was the first African country to recognise intersex as a gender category in their 2019 population census. In this BBC article, James Karanja narrates his childhood story as an intersex person born in Kenya unselfishly sharing the struggles of an intersex child and their family and explaining why being counted matters. James was assigned female at birth and raised as Mary because his family and the health care providers were uncertain how to classify his sex. As he grew older, his body developed more typically male characteristics, leaving him to navigate confusion, stigma and rejection within his community. Through self-discovery and advocacy, he embraced his identity as James Karanja and became a leading voice for the intersex rights in Kenya. The timing of the BBC story is significant as it coincided with Kenya’s historic decision to collect data on intersex people during the national census, making the country the first in Africa to do so. For James, this was acknowledgement that intersex people exist and deserve equal access to services, legal protection and public policy. By weaving James’ personal story with Kenya’s landmark census, the BBC demonstrated that behind every policy milestone, there are real people whose lives have been shaped by invisibility and this should no longer be the way forward. Watch the BBC documentary here:

These stories have helped move public conversations beyond myths and misconceptions especially when told right. While no single media outlet can capture the diversity of intersex experiences, because they go way beyond just these stories, responsible journalism can increase understanding, reduce stigma and encourage informed discussions about bodily autonomy and human rights. Continue reading these stories in our archive to experience wider realities of intersex lives. 

This article was written by our Intersex Content Contributor, Delphine Barigye

Valentin (middle name used to protect the activist) is a young Beninese person who was born and raised in Niger. His childhood was marked by stigma, misunderstandings, and many questions related to his experience as an intersex person. For a long time, he tried to understand who he was in a society where differences are often poorly understood. Over time, he learned to accept himself and transform his lived experience into a source of advocacy.

Today, his commitment is to raise public awareness about the reality of intersex people. He wants people to understand that being intersex is not a choice: it is how one is born. Through his testimony and his activism, he works towards greater understanding of human bodily variations, the fight against prejudice, and the respect for the dignity and rights of all intersex people.

To begin simply, could you tell me about yourself?

“My name is Valentin. I was born in Niger and grew up there, although my family origins are from Benin. My parents settled in Niger for professional reasons before I was born, and it is here that I have built my entire life. I am an intersex person, an activist, and the founder of Voie Divine, an organisation that raises awareness about intersex realities in Niger. My commitment was born from my personal experience. For a long time, I lived without truly understanding who I was. I faced stigma, mockery, insults, exclusion, and misunderstanding. Today, I work so that other intersex people can have access to the information, support, and acceptance that I sometimes lacked during my childhood and adolescence.”

When you look back, what are the earliest memories you have of growing up and understanding yourself?

“When I think back to my childhood, what I remember most is a feeling of being different that I could not explain. From a very young age, I noticed that certain things in my life were different from those of other children. I asked myself many questions about who I was, but I could not find answers. At that time, I knew nothing about being intersex. I only knew that there was something I did not understand about my identity and my body. This feeling of not being like others stayed with me throughout much of my childhood.”

As a child, how did you experience your body, your identity, and the way people around you responded to you?

“My childhood was marked by many questions about my body and my identity. I felt different without being able to explain why. I was simply looking to be accepted like other children, but this was not always easy. The way others looked at me had a significant impact on me. Some people saw me as different, and this sometimes resulted in mockery, insults, or rejection. As a child, I did not understand why this was happening to me. These experiences sometimes affected my confidence and pushed me to search for more answers about my identity.”

Were there moments in your early life that confused you, or made you feel different before you had words for it?

“Yes, several moments deeply marked my childhood and adolescence. Some memories remain particularly painful. I remember that some people tried to forcibly check what was underneath my clothes or underwear because they had doubts or questions about my body. These situations were extremely humiliating and traumatic for me. I did not understand why I had to go through this. I also remember being pointed at, insulted, or publicly identified as someone different. On several occasions, I experienced physical or verbal violence because of this difference that others perceived. Some people would hit me or mistreat me because they did not understand who I was. At that time, I did not yet have the words to describe what I was experiencing. I only felt confusion, sadness, and sometimes loneliness. These experiences deeply influenced my life journey.”

Who were the most important people around you growing up and how did they shape how you saw yourself?

“The most important people in my life were members of my family. Despite the difficulties I experienced outside, I was fortunate to have a family that accepted me as I am. Their love, support, and presence allowed me to continue moving forward even during difficult moments. They helped me understand that my value did not depend on the opinions or judgments of others. Without their support, it would have been much more difficult for me to face the discrimination and violence I experienced.”

At what point did you begin to understand that your experience had a name or meaning beyond your personal story?

“I began to truly understand my experience in 2023. For many years, I only knew that I was different, but I did not understand why. I had many questions that no one seemed able to answer. I then began my own research to understand who I really was. It was through this research that I discovered intersex variations. For the first time, I found information that matched my lived experience. I also started watching videos, listening to testimonies, and reading stories from intersex people from different countries. By listening to their experiences, I recognised myself in many of their stories. This helped me understand that I was not alone and that other people were living realities similar to mine. This discovery gave meaning to many experiences I had lived through since childhood but had never been able to explain.”

How did that discovery affect you emotionally at the time? Was it a moment of clarity, struggle, fear, or something else?

“This discovery represented a major turning point in my life. At first, I felt an immense sense of relief. After years of questioning, I had finally found answers. Understanding who I was brought me an inner peace that I had never experienced before. At the same time, this discovery made me reflect on all the difficulties I had gone through: the humiliations, insults, violence, and discrimination. It was painful, but it also helped me understand that these experiences did not define my worth. From the day I understood who I truly was, I developed greater confidence in myself. I stopped being ashamed of my difference. Today, I walk with my head held high. I am no longer afraid of other people’s opinions or judgments. On the contrary, this discovery gave me the strength to affirm myself, defend my rights, and transform my personal experience into a commitment to support others. It was this awareness that led me to create Voie Divine. Through this organisation, I want to enable other intersex people to find the information, support, and understanding that took me so many years to obtain.”

How did your identity as an intersex person influence that journey in any way?

“While growing up, I did not know that I was an intersex person, but I felt that I was different from others. For a long time, I searched to understand who I truly was. It was through my own research that I discovered my intersex variation. This reality influenced my life journey, especially because I experienced stigma, insults, mockery, and rejection from primary school through university. Despite these difficulties, I was fortunate to have a family that accepted me as I am.”

When you think of “home” now, what does it mean to you?

“For me, ‘home’ is above all a place where I feel accepted, respected, and safe. It is also the place where my family, my points of reference, and the people who support me are found. Although my family origins are from Benin, Niger is the country where I grew up and where I built my identity. Therefore, this is where I truly feel at home.”

Activism & Leadership Journey

When did you first begin to see yourself as an activist, not just someone living your own experience?

“I truly began to see myself as an activist in 2023, after discovering my intersex variation. Before that, I was mainly on a personal journey of understanding myself, without considering myself as an engaged advocate or activist. It was when I understood that my experience was not isolated and that other intersex people were living similar realities that I felt the need to take action. The creation of Voie Divine marked the concrete beginning of my activism, with the objective of raising awareness, providing information, and supporting intersex people in Niger.”

What does leadership mean to you in this context?

“For me, leadership is not about directing others, but about serving, listening, and opening pathways for understanding. It is the ability to transform a personal experience into collective action to improve the lives of others. In my context, leadership also means having the courage to speak about a subject that is highly taboo, carrying the voices of people who are often invisible, and creating a space where they can be recognised and respected. It is a commitment that requires responsibility, humility, and perseverance.”

What have been some of the risks or fears you have had to navigate?

“The risks are multiple and connected to the social and cultural context of Niger. The first is the strong stigma surrounding intersex variations, which remain very little known and often misunderstood. People engaged on this issue are sometimes automatically associated with the LGBT community, which leads to social judgment and prejudice. In this context, even though no law directly criminalises certain identities, social perceptions remain very negative. This can make awareness work difficult and limit opportunities for public action or official recognition. There is also a constant fear of being misunderstood, rejected, or reduced to a single label, whereas the work being carried out is primarily about human rights, dignity, and raising awareness about intersex variations.”

What keeps you going on difficult days?

“My main motivation comes from my own experience. I grew up without understanding who I was, living through confusion, stigma, and sometimes violence. I do not want other intersex people to go through the same suffering in silence. In 2023, I began connecting with international and regional organisations working on intersex issues. These encounters greatly strengthened my commitment. I particularly collaborated with AIM (African Intersex Movement), led by Obioma, as well as CIA, led by Loé Petit in France. These organisations supported me greatly in building my activist journey and in strengthening the structure of Voie Divine. AIM allowed me to participate in a research committee on intersex people in West Africa. As part of this work, we were invited to Nigeria for training on research methods and approaches adapted to intersex realities. This experience was very educational and helped me better structure my activism. Today, my motivation also comes from the belief that every person deserves to be informed, respected, and recognised in their human dignity. Every step forward, even a small one, represents a victory for the intersex community and for the awareness work we carry out through Voie Divine.”

Voie Divine

At what point did Voie Divine begin to take shape in your mind or in your life?

“Voie Divine began to take shape in 2023, shortly after my discovery of intersex variations. For many years, I had lived with questions about my identity without truly understanding what I was experiencing. In 2023, through my personal research, I finally discovered intersex variations and understood who I truly was. This discovery marked a turning point in my life. I began watching videos, reading testimonies, and following the journeys of other intersex people around the world. For the first time, I recognised myself in the experiences of others. I understood that I was not alone and that what I was experiencing had a name. At the same time, I realised that in Niger, very few people knew about this reality. I began asking myself how many other people were living in silence, confusion, or suffering without access to information. It was at this moment that the idea of creating an awareness-raising organisation began to emerge.”

Was there a specific moment, experience, or frustration that pushed you to create it?

“Yes. My personal journey was the main motivation behind the creation of Voie Divine. Since childhood, I had faced difficult situations. I experienced insults, mockery, stigma, and rejection because of my difference. Some people even tried to forcibly check what was underneath my clothes because they did not understand my body. I was also a victim of physical violence simply because I was perceived as different. For a long time, I had no explanation for what I was experiencing. When I discovered intersex variations, I understood how essential information is. I then promised myself that other people should not have to spend as many years as I did searching for answers about their identity. I decided to create Voie Divine in order to provide information to intersex people, raise awareness in society, and create a space where people concerned could come together, share their experiences, and support one another.”

Why the name “Voie Divine”—what meaning does it carry for you?

“The name “Voie Divine” reflects the fundamental values of our organisation. The word “Voie” (Path) symbolises the fact that we all have different paths in life. Every person is born with their own story, reality, and journey. Some people are born with particular characteristics, such as intersex variations, which influence their life experiences. This word therefore represents the different paths that each person takes to understand themselves, accept themselves, and find their place in society. The word “Divine” refers to faith. It expresses my belief that, despite our differences, we are all creations of God and made in His image. We do not choose the characteristics with which we are born. For this reason, every person deserves respect, dignity, and acceptance. Through this name, we want to share a message of hope, respect, and recognition of the value of every human being.”

When you first started, what did you imagine it would become?

“When I started, I primarily imagined a space for information and awareness raising. I wanted intersex people to have access to the information that I myself had struggled so much to find. I also hoped to create a community capable of bringing together intersex people in Niger so that they could exchange, share their experiences, and support each other. I dreamed of an organisation that would contribute to reducing prejudice, raising awareness among families, and promoting respect for the rights of intersex people. Even today, I hope to see Voie Divine become a recognised organisation that works with communities, institutions, and partners to improve understanding of intersex variations in Niger.”

What were those early days like when Voie Divine was just beginning?

“Voie Divine was officially created on 2 June 2023 in Niger, only a few months after my discovery of intersex variations. The beginnings were modest. We had few resources, but we had a lot of motivation. We started by sharing information, raising awareness among those around us, and organising awareness activities. Little by little, we began making our mission known and drawing attention to a reality that remains largely unknown in the country. Since the beginning, we have particularly focused on awareness activities in order to make the voices of intersex people heard and promote a better understanding of their realities.”

What challenges have you encountered?

“The challenges have been numerous and continue today. The first challenge is that intersex variations remain a very taboo subject in Niger. Many people do not know about this reality or prefer not to talk about it. Prejudices, misconceptions, and stigma make awareness work particularly difficult. Another major challenge concerns the formalisation of the organisation. Currently, Voie Divine continues to operate informally. We have begun steps to obtain official recognition, but we have encountered several obstacles. Some people consider intersex issues to be too sensitive or too delicate to allow the organisation to be formally recognised. This situation limits our possibilities for development and access to certain partnerships or funding opportunities. Financial difficulties are also a considerable challenge. To date, Voie Divine does not have stable funding. We often use our own personal resources to carry out activities. Every first Sunday of the month, we organise awareness activities using our own means. Despite our commitment, the lack of funding greatly limits our ability to reach more people and develop our programmes. Today, Voie Divine suffers greatly from a lack of financial resources, even though the need for information and awareness raising is significant.”

Did you ever doubt whether it would continue?

“Yes, I have had moments when I doubted several times. The financial difficulties, the lack of official recognition, and the many obstacles linked to prejudice can sometimes be discouraging. However, whenever I think about my own journey, the years of confusion I experienced before understanding my identity, and the suffering I went through, I find the motivation to continue. I also think about intersex people who are still living in silence, isolation, or misunderstanding. Knowing that our work can help someone better understand their reality or feel less alone gives me the strength to continue this mission. Despite the challenges, I remain convinced that Voie Divine has an important role to play in raising awareness, providing information, and defending the dignity of intersex people in Niger.”

If we were to understand Voie Divine today through your eyes, what would I see?

“Through my eyes today, we would see a complex reality, between difficulties and hope. On one hand, intersex variations remain very little known in Niger and are strongly surrounded by taboos. When the issue is discussed, it is often misunderstood and interpreted in different ways: some people talk about deformity, abnormality, a curse, or even a spirit depending on their beliefs. This lack of information contributes to strong stigma against intersex people. In this context, many intersex people live in silence and fear. Some hide themselves to avoid family or social rejection. Others have experienced very difficult situations from birth, ranging from abandonment to violence or violations of their dignity. Although these realities are rarely documented, they exist and reflect the vulnerability of intersex people within society. On the other hand, I also see gradual change through awareness raising. People are beginning to ask questions, seek understanding, and reconsider their perceptions. Voie Divine contributes to opening a space for dialogue, information, and recognition, even though the journey is still long.”

Who are the people you are mainly working with?

“Voie Divine is currently mainly carried by me, with the support of a few close people who share the vision of the organisation and accept me in my commitment. We also work through exchanges and collaborations with organisations and networks engaged on intersex issues at regional and international levels. Among them, I can mention the African Intersex Movement (AIM), led by Obioma, and CIA, led by Loé Petit in France. These relationships have played an important role in my activist journey, particularly in terms of training, research, and strengthening my engagement. The organisation is still informal, with a small team based on trust, personal commitment, and the desire to raise awareness.”

What kinds of support or interventions are most needed?

“Voie Divine needs several types of support in order to strengthen and develop its work. The first is financial support. Currently, the organisation operates with very limited resources and relies largely on personal contributions. We organise awareness activities every first Sunday of the month, but they are financed through our own resources, which limits their reach and consistency. The second is institutional support. At present, Voie Divine is not yet formally recognised, particularly because of the sensitivity of the issue within the Nigerien context. The process of formalisation is difficult, which limits opportunities for partnerships and development. There is also a need for capacity strengthening, particularly in awareness raising, research, and advocacy, in order to improve the impact of the work being carried out. Finally, social support is essential to reduce stigma and promote better understanding of intersex variations within society.”

Can you share a moment where you felt the work made a real difference for someone?

“One of the most significant moments in my journey happened during an awareness activity, when we were sharing stories and information about intersex variations. A person approached us and recognised themselves in the experiences that were being described. After several discussions and conversations, this person stated that they were intersex. This moment was very powerful because it showed the direct impact of awareness raising and the importance of creating spaces for listening and information. Sometimes, these spaces allow people to put words to what they have been experiencing silently for a long time. However, a few months later, this person returned and denied being intersex. I understood this situation as a possible consequence of social and family pressure, in a context where intersex variations remain highly stigmatised. This experience deeply affected me. It helped me understand the extent to which social pressure can influence people’s identity and their ability to speak about their experiences. It also showed me how difficult it can be for some people to accept and openly express their reality. Despite this, it strengthened my determination to continue awareness raising and to create safe spaces where people can express themselves freely, without fear or judgment.”

What kind of world are you hoping Voie Divine helps to build?

“We want to build a world where differences are no longer seen as abnormalities, curses, or reasons for rejection, but as a natural part of human diversity. A world where every child, including intersex children, is welcomed with respect, protection, and information. A world where no one is excluded because of their body, identity, or personal history. A world based on human dignity, acceptance, and social justice.”

Connection to the Wider Movement

How do you see Voie Divine fitting into the broader African intersex movement?

“I see Voie Divine as an emerging but essential initiative within the African movement for the defence of intersex people’s rights. Although the organisation is still young and operates informally, it represents an important voice from Niger in a space where intersex variations remain largely invisible and often misunderstood. Within the African movement, Voie Divine plays a grassroots role: documenting local realities, raising awareness among communities, and bringing forward the voices of intersex people in a context where they are often invisible. It is also a space of resistance and awareness raising in response to social and cultural taboos.”

How did you join the intersex movement? Are there connections or solidarities that have been important for you? 

“My entry into the movement happened gradually in 2023, after discovering my own intersex variation. While searching to understand my identity, I began connecting with spaces for information and organisations working on intersex issues. It was through these searches and exchanges that I joined several activist networks. I was particularly in contact with organisations such as AIM, led by Obioma, and CIA, led by Loé Petit. These organisations supported me in understanding the issues and building my commitment. I also participated in research and training activities, particularly through a committee on intersex people in West Africa with AIM. A training organised in Nigeria allowed me to gain methodological tools and better structure my activism. At the same time, my personal journey, marked by difficulties accessing employment, financial insecurity, and experiences of stigma, strengthened my commitment to this movement.”

The Reality of Intersex Lives in Niger

Through your work and experience, what have you come to understand about the realities of intersex people in Niger?

“In Niger, I have understood that intersex variations are very little known as both a medical and human reality. When they are known, they are often misunderstood or incorrectly defined. Depending on the person, it may be perceived as a deformity, an abnormality, a curse, or sometimes even as a spiritual sign or a “spirit”. There are therefore several different perceptions, but very little reliable and scientific information. In reality, intersex people often live in silence and fear. The majority prefer to hide in order to avoid judgment, rejection, or violence. The lack of information creates strong stigma and prevents many people from openly living their reality.”

How are intersex children usually received in families or communities?

“The reception of intersex children is often marked by confusion and misunderstanding. At birth, families and communities may be shocked or disoriented when faced with sexual characteristics that differ from usual expectations. In some cases, this can lead to rejection, shame, or fear. Some families may be influenced by cultural or religious beliefs, which can increase stigma. However, there are also families who choose to protect and accept their child despite the lack of information.”

What happens when a child is born with variations in sex characteristics?

“When a child is born with variations in sex characteristics, the situation is often handled in silence and without appropriate support. There may be significant social pressure to quickly “normalise” the child or assign them an identity that conforms to society’s expectations. In some cases, medical or social decisions are made at a very early stage, sometimes without complete information or without the informed consent of the person concerned. This can have important consequences for their future life. There are also very difficult situations where children are abandoned at birth or hidden by their families because of fear of social judgment. In extreme cases, some people may experience serious violence or violations of their fundamental rights. These realities, although rarely officially documented, exist in certain contexts.”

What kinds of beliefs or myths exist around intersex people?

“Several myths still surround intersex variations in Niger. Some people believe that it is a curse, a divine punishment, or a supernatural phenomenon. Others describe it as a “deformity” or an “abnormality” without understanding that it is a natural variation of human sex characteristics. There are also beliefs that intersex people possess spiritual powers or are beings who are different from others. These perceptions, whether negative or based on mystification, all contribute to moving away from scientific reality and reinforcing stigma.”

What are the biggest forms of harm or exclusion you are seeing?

“Intersex people in Niger face several forms of exclusion. First, there is social exclusion, which appears through mockery, insults, rumors, and rejection within communities. This stigma pushes many people to live in secrecy. There is also family exclusion in some cases, when the birth of an intersex child is misunderstood or experienced as a source of shame, sometimes leading to rejection or isolation. On a medical level, some people may experience interventions or early decisions without adequate support or a complete understanding of their situation. Finally, there is significant psychological and identity-based exclusion, because the lack of information and experiences of rejection can deeply affect self-confidence, self-esteem, and the mental well-being of intersex people.”

Personal Reflection 

What support do you need?

“I am currently facing a situation of significant vulnerability. As an intersex person, access to employment is very difficult. In my experience, even when I have managed to obtain professional opportunities, I have sometimes been dismissed once my identity became known or was suspected. This reality makes my professional integration unstable and fragile. Today, I am unemployed, and this directly affects my ability to meet my basic needs, including paying my rent and managing my daily living expenses. I often find myself in a situation where I have to survive with very limited resources. During these difficult moments, I have received support on several occasions from people and organisations committed to this cause, particularly CIA, led by Loé Petit, which provided me with important moral and human support. This support allowed me to continue moving forward despite the obstacles. For a long time, I hoped that my professional situation would improve quickly and that I would be able to access stable employment. However, until now, this remains difficult, and I continue to live with financial instability. The limited resources I manage to obtain are sometimes used for my personal needs, but also to support the awareness activities I carry out through Voie Divine. Despite the difficulties, I remain committed to this work because it is essential for intersex people who continue to live with misunderstanding and stigma. Today, my main need is sustainable financial support that would allow me to stabilise my personal situation and strengthen my advocacy and awareness activities.”

How has this journey changed you as a person?

“This journey has deeply transformed me. For a long time, I lived without understanding myself, with a feeling of being different without being able to name it. The discovery of my intersex variation in 2023 was a major turning point in my life. It allowed me to put words to my experience, but also to understand that I was not alone. I have also gone through difficult experiences marked by stigma, rejection, and sometimes violence. These challenges shaped me and pushed me to transform my pain into commitment and action. Today, I see myself not only as a person directly affected, but also as an actor of awareness and change through Voie Divine.”

What parts feel the most healing or empowering?

“The most empowering aspects of my journey have been awareness, resilience, and meeting other organisations and committed individuals. Discovering intersex variations allowed me to understand my identity and give meaning to my experiences. Resilience helped me continue despite social, economic, and personal difficulties. My exchanges with organisations such as AIM and CIA also allowed me to gain knowledge, open myself to other perspectives, and strengthen my activism. Finally, every person who becomes aware or begins to understand their own reality represents something meaningful and motivating for me.”

When you imagine the future for intersex people in Niger, what do you see?

“I imagine a future where intersex people in Niger and across Africa will no longer have to hide or suffer in silence. A future where they will have access to information, respect, and dignity from birth. I also hope to see Voie Divine become a structured, recognised organisation capable of working effectively on the ground in awareness raising, research, and support. On a personal level, I hope to achieve professional and financial stability that will allow me to live with dignity and continue my commitment.”

If a young intersex person were listening to this conversation, what would you want them to hear from you?

“To a young intersex person, I would like to say that they are not alone. What they are experiencing has a name, an explanation, and above all, human value. It is important not to be ashamed of yourself, even if society can sometimes be harsh or lack understanding. Difference is not a weakness; it is part of human diversity. I encourage them to seek reliable information, surround themselves with caring people, and not remain isolated. A better future is possible, even if the journey may be difficult.”

Thank you for sharing your story so openly. Before we close, is there anything you feel is important that we haven’t touched on?

“I would simply like to add that awareness raising work is essential, especially in contexts where intersex variations are still very little known. Silence and ignorance contribute to the suffering of the people concerned. This is why Voie Divine exists: to inform, raise awareness, and give a voice to those who do not have one. Despite the personal, financial, and institutional difficulties, I remain committed to this mission because it is necessary and urgent.”

This interview with Valentin was conducted by our Intersex Content Contributor, Delphine Barigye.

In 2025, Sandra Dee Lentoor was one of the activists awarded with the 2025 Pride Heroes Award. Sandra founded the Fairy Godmother Project in 2014. The Fairy Godmother Community Project is involved with community upliftment in Hanover Park, one of the most gang-frequented areas in Cape Town.  One way the project makes a difference is as a vital outreach to elderly citizens of her community living in one of Cape Town’s most gang-riddled suburbs.  At weekly events, these vulnerable community members get treated to special luncheons hosted by Sandra.  

Evan Tsouroulis, the Cape Town Pride Marketing, Sponsorship & Parade Coordinator, said this about the Awards:

“The Pride Heroes Awards are a way for Cape Town Pride as an organisation to shine the spotlight on the unsung heroes of our community as well as to honour and recognise their contributions.”

(Source: Mambaonline)

“Legendary Hanover Park activist and drag icon Sandra Dee (Sandra Lentoor) was honoured for her decades-long commitment to empowering youth and celebrating queer visibility through The Fairy Godmother Project. Founded a decade ago, the initiative provides underprivileged matric learners with dresses, hairstyling, and makeup for their Matric Ball, while also engaging local seniors as ‘Fairy Godmothers’ and mentors. A former resident of District Six, Sandra has survived violence, prejudice, and apartheid-era persecution to become a beacon of hope and glamour. Through fashion, mentorship, and joy, she continues to transform lives and uplift her community.”

(Same source)

We interviewed Sandra in December in December 2023.

Published in January 2025 by Penguin Books, Tshiamo Modisane’s “I Am Tshiamo: My Transition to Self-Acceptance and Womanhood”, became the fifth South African trans memoir to be published, after “Always Anastacia: A Transgender Live in South Africa” by Anastacia Tomson, Landa Mabenga’s “Becoming Him: A Trans Memoir of Triumph”, Robert Hamblin’s “Robert: A Queer & Crooked Memoir for the not so Straight & Narrow” and Elise Bishop’s “Twee Lewens”.

“Growing up as Kgositsile, meaning ‘king’, Tshiamo Modisane always knew that she was a girl despite her assigned birth gender. This talented child of a pastor from KwaThema and Daveyton townships near Johannesburg was expected to conform to conservative black culture’s expectations for a male, and would endure censure and even abuse from family, friends, peers and strangers into adulthood. Yet Tshiamo began making courageous choices at the age of five, a journey of both self-doubt and self-belief that culminated in gender-affirmation surgery in her thirties. With sass, faith and baked-in confidence from her family ties to the entertainment world, she successfully transitioned from male to female while navigating a career as an actress, celebrity stylist and Lux’s first gender-non-conforming brand ambassador. As admirable as it is affirming, this poignant memoir examines past hurts and present truths, and opens up a sorely needed discussion about unconditional acceptance.” (Source: Penguin Books)

Tshiamo Modisane is an award-winning producer, actress, and fashion and celebrity stylist. She began her career in entertainment as a wardrobe stylist intern, has worked for True Love, Move! and Drum magazines, written a lifestyle and entertainment column for The Citizen, and starred in television series African Dreams and House of Zwide. Accolades include being named the 2022 Sowetan SMag Woman of the Year in Fashion and Beauty, Hot Chick of the Year at the 2019 Feather Awards, and being the first gender-non-conforming brand ambassador for global brand Lux. Since her transition in 2018, Modisane has graced several magazine covers, produced her own podcast and, in 2021, after surviving being sexually assaulted, established the Linzy-Linsay Foundation to create a safe space for people like her to develop skills and make a greater contribution to society.

Watch an interview with Tshiamo:

Founded in South Africa in 2023 by Ayanda (Yaya) Mqakayi, Yaya M Voices works primarily with intersex people, LGBTQIA+ communities, young people, artists, activists, and communities impacted by silence, stigma, and bodily discrimination. The organisation’s work also speaks to families, especially mothers of intersex children, through education, storytelling, and visibility. Yaya M Voices focuses on documenting and archiving intersex lives, histories, and lived experiences through photography, film, storytelling, interviews, creative activism, and community engagement. Their work challenges medical erasure, social stigma, and invisibility while preserving intersex existence through visual and historical documentation.

Vision

A world where intersex people are fully recognised, respected, protected, and visible as part of natural human diversity, and where future generations grow up with access to truthful representation, history, dignity, and bodily autonomy.

Mission

To create and preserve intersex-led archives, stories, and visual histories through creative documentation and advocacy. The organisation aims to reclaim narrative ownership by ensuring that intersex people speak for themselves and are represented through their own lived realities.

Goals/Objectives

• To document and preserve intersex histories and lived experiences.
• To create visual and educational resources about intersex existence.
• To challenge stigma, discrimination, and non-consensual medical interventions on intersex bodies.
• To support visibility, healing, and self-representation within intersex communities.
• To build archives that future generations, researchers, families, and intersex people can access.
• To contribute toward social and legal change regarding bodily autonomy and intersex rights.

Projects

Current projects include:

• Being Intersex — a photographic body of work documenting intersex identity, embodiment, memory, scars, healing, and lived realities.
• Ride for Intersex Justice — an awareness and advocacy cycling campaign focused on ending non-consensual surgeries on intersex infants and children.
• Unseen Lives — a visual storytelling and documentary project focusing on hidden intersex experiences and social invisibility.
• Archival Documentation — collecting oral histories, photographs, interviews, and visual records related to intersex existence and African intersex narratives.
• Community Education and Visibility Work — creating conversations around bodily autonomy, identity, and intersex human rights through social media, exhibitions, public speaking, and collaborations.

Contact

yayamvoices@gmail.com
0680100962
Facebook
Instagram

Yaya M Voices in the media

Art

Watch our interview with Yaya, 22 May 2026

Published in February 2021 by Jacana Media, Robert Hamblin’s “Robert: A Queer & Crooked Memoir for the not so Straight & Narrow” became the fourth South African trans memoir after “Always Anastacia: A Transgender Live in South Africa” by Anastacia Tomson, Landa Mabenga’s “Becoming Him: A Trans Memoir of Triumph”, followed by Elise Bishop’s “Twee Lewens” and Tshiamo Modisane’s “I Am Tshiamo: My Transition to Self-Acceptance and Womanhood”.

The book

“traverses a childhood peppered with a cast of unique and marginalised characters. At the centre is Billy, his flamboyantly queer conman father and the mysterious, seductive Alexis. Robert’s childhood self is twisted in a confusing gender identity crisis. Being a girl does just not sit well for him. Alexis seduces his teenage self in an attempt to teach him how to be a woman. As he grows more obsessed, he loses her to the underbelly of Joburg’s strip clubs. Although Robert transitions from female to male, this is not a predictable trans-story of someone trapped in the wrong body. Rather, a tale of a human who refuses to live in a box and who questions the straight trajectory. Through excavating his past, Robert confronts and begins healing from racism and the confines of gender.” (Source: https://www.roberthamblin.net/robert-a-queer-crooked-memoir)

Watch our interview with Robert, 3 April 2026

In the media

• Podcast interview
• Daily Maverick article
• MambaOnline article

About Robert Hamblin:

Robert A. Hamblin is an artist, published author, afab-feminist and parent. His art flounces around gender and bodily things. He seeks a reconnection with nature for queer people. His fine art work is concerned with masculinity, power, whiteness and the performance of these constructs. Hamblin’s conceptually driven, painterly photographic works have been exhibited locally and internationally. He has received critical acclaim for his compelling works that contribute to debates around body politics in a post-apartheid era. South African Supreme Court Justice Edwin Cameron described Robert’s memoir as “A remarkable feat that challenges people to examine not just their own sexuality and identity but their very humanity.” Robert was a founding board member of Gender Dynamix, and later years the Advocacy Manager.

Published on the 1st of July 2018 by Jacana Media in South Africa, Landa Mabenga’s “Becoming Him: A Trans Memoir of Triumph” became the second South African trans memoir to be published, after Anastacia Tomson’s “Always Anastacia: A Transgender Live in South Africa”. The third and fourth trans memoir’s were Robert Hamblin’s “Robert: A Queer & Crooked Memoir for the not so Straight & Narrow” and Elise Bishop’s “Twee Lewens”, with the fifth being “I Am Tshiamo: My Transition to Self-Acceptance and Womanhood” by Tshiamo Modisane.

“In April 1981, Landa Mabenge enters this world, trapped in a girl’s body. From an early age, Landa is aware that he does not relate to his female form, despite being socialised as a girl. In this groundbreaking and brutally honest memoir, Landa Mabenge establishes himself as a resounding and inspirational voice for anyone fighting to define themselves on their own terms. In mesmerising detail, Becoming Him lays bare Landa’s tortured world, growing up trapped in the wrong body, while unflinchingly tracing his transition from female to male. His childhood in Umtata is brutally shattered, when at age 11 an angry woman and her zombie-like husband unexpectedly arrive to force him to accompany them to Port Elizabeth. Life in PE with ‘The Parents’ soon morphs into a Dickensian nightmare. Landa is subjected to horrific physical, emotional and psychological abuse as he descends into a world of isolation and shame. He recalls his prison of powerlessness: ‘I count the years I will have to remain a slave. There are seven before my redemption: 7 x 365 = 2555 days. Today is nearly at an end. By the end of tomorrow there will be 2554. By the end of the week, 2548. And so I will myself on. Eventually the day will come when I will be free.’ At 18 Landa is finally able to escape PE to study at UCT, where he tries to embrace life as a butch lesbian, but he remains tortured by his female body. After a close-to-death break down, Landa finally finds strength to embark on an arduous four-year-long journey to physically and legally become ‘him’, relentlessly researching what it will entail to embark on gender alignment. In 2014, Landa makes history by becoming the first known transgender man in South Africa to successfully motivate a medical aid to pay for his surgeries through the Groote Schuur Transgender Clinic. Both heartbreaking and uplifting, Becoming Him is a unique story of torture and triumph, bravely opening the lid on cultural shame and abuse against those who choose a path less travelled. In 2017 Landa was selected out of over 60 000 African applicants for the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders. Today Landa lives a transformed and happy life as a transgender educationalist and consultant.” (Source: Exclusive Books)

Watch this interview with Landa about his book:

Robert Hamblin, in collaboration with Leigh Davids and members of SistaazHood, held the InterseXion exhibition, which opened at the Iziko South African National Gallery on 22 March 2018. This was a landmark event and a pivotal moment in the South African art world as it was the first time that a National Gallery showed work by and about trans sex workers. The exhibition was on show for five months from March through to August 2018 and consisted of voice and video installations as well as photographic images.

“InterseXion was a body of work consisting of performance photographs and voice works created with The Sistaaz Hood support group for trans sexworkers at the organisation SWEAT. It took almost seven years of support group meetings, explorations of feminisms and making decisions on how to work in ways that decolonised methods traditionally used to document communities. In that work I had to explore my own identity in contrast to the group members. The work was personal in the storytellings but we also looked at ourselves as representing the divides that existed between myself as a white male presenting privileged person and their own range of feminine and black identities also framed by class.”
– Robert A. Hamblin

“InterseXion is a body of photographic images, voice and video installations pertaining to sex workers in South Africa, in particular feminine identified transgender sex workers. Photographer Robert Hamblin has collaborated with sex work activist Leigh Davids to photograph and interview transgender women who sell sex. To engage with the subject from multiple perspectives, Hamblin pertinently inserts himself into some of the works with Davids. Presenting the intersection of gender, sex and class from the perspective of trans people acts as a lens to consider the power consequences of how bodies present in society.”
— Iziko Museum

Artist statement:

“Hamblin’s InterseXion unfolds in three series’, The SistaazHood, Diamond Town Girls and the installation Intersections. This exhibition is centred on the artist’s photographic images, voice and video installations pertaining to sex work in South Africa, in particular work with transgender women (male to female) who sell sex.  Through this thought provoking and compelling exhibition, Hamblin joins an active and ongoing debate around the decriminalisation of sex work in South Africa and the social-political issues surrounding individuals in the industry, wherein transgender women are described as the most vulnerable populations. 

A narrative that Hamblin continues to explore through his work is that of the complexities around sex work in South Africa. Since 2011, Hamblin has been producing bodies of photographic work with trans women sex workers.  He has done so because of an interest in the subject matter, but also in an attempt to present their experiences as a macro reflection of the fault lines in society. How do we as privileged persons intersect with sex worker’s lives and how are we directly and inadvertently implicated in their struggles? How does his own trans identity as a privileged person contrast with that of a homeless trans sex worker?

His interest in the conceptual potential of the subject matter was evoked by his involvement at the organization SWEAT (Sex Workers Education & Advocacy Task Force) in 2011. Before volunteering at SWEAT, Hamblin was a founder member and advocacy manager at Gender DynamiX, an organisation concerned with transgender rights. At SWEAT he was asked to assist a group of transgender women who worked as sex workers, to form a support group.  Delving into his own knowledge and experiences as a trans person and advocate, he could assist the group with advocacy planning. Being a volunteer relieved him somewhat of the constraints of pure advocacy and during the work with these women he found the intersection for his art practice and activism. The Sistaaz Hood support group was born and their first goal was to create an art project with Hamblin. The first series of works with them carries the same name. The works aims to elicit an interest with viewers to review contrived notions of sex workers and trans people. During the collaborations with The Sistaaz Hood (Cape Town), and later the Diamond Town Girls (Kimberley), Hamblin allows his models to become co-creators of the works. “In a process of consultations with the participants, their frustrations became the portal, or the lens through which I approached this project. There was a range of issues; I came to realise that if you ever want to glean society’s perception of trans issues, or even gender issues, these participants’ lives provide a space within which such matters are severely concentrated. It is the space where gender, class and race intersect and leaves an indelible mark on the lives and bodies of these participants” Hamblin explains.” 

About Robert Hamblin:

Robert A. Hamblin is an artist, published author, afab-feminist and parent. His art flounces around gender and bodily things. He seeks a reconnection with nature for queer people. His fine art work is concerned with masculinity, power, whiteness and the performance of these constructs. Hamblin’s conceptually driven, painterly photographic works have been exhibited locally and internationally. He has received critical acclaim for his compelling works that contribute to debates around body politics in a post-apartheid era. He is the published author of “Robert: A Queer and Crooked Memoir”, which Supreme Court Justice Edwin Cameron described as “A remarkable feat that challenges people to examine not just their own sexuality and identity but their very humanity.” Robert was a founding board member of Gender Dynamix, and later years the Advocacy Manager.

Watch our interview with Robert Hamblin, 27 March 2026

In March 2017, trans sex worker activist, Leigh Davids from SistaazHood, made the now famous “Trans Violent Exclusion” speech at the 3rd Trans Health, Advocacy and Research Conference, hosted by Gender DynamiX (GDX)  and Iranti.

Under the Conference theme, “Decolonising and Depathologising Transgender Identities”, Leigh delivered a powerful critique, which was published afterwards.

The speech highlighted the different income and social classes and levels of access within trans organisations and among trans women and activists. She spoke about living on the street, and she challenged the audience to think about what it means being a trans woman sex worker and how this Conference (or any other) is at all meaningful for trans women sex workers. In the speech Leigh mentioned that trans women sex workers do not live to be older than 40 years.

Leigh passed away two weeks before her 40th birthday, on 27 February 2019. Read the tributes to Leigh after her passing.

Transcript of snippets from a speech Leigh made in 2018 at the Kewpie Heritage Day

“Thank you for coming to the place where we live. We do not often invite people here. Like anybody else we enjoy our privacy and as you might imagine we don’t have a lot of that here.
This is what NOT PRIVACY looks like.
This is what NOT HOME looks like.
This is what parents threaten their children with if they don’t do their homework.
This is what Capitalism imprints in your mind to make you work harder, to spend your money,
to make you work for the man.
This is……. THE STREETS.

The human mind and will is amazing. Even when it is hungry. Even when it is in pain all the time. Even when it’s spirit has been attacked all it’s life. It will find and make community, under the worst stress. The SistaazHood and our allies have been living on this spot for decades. Over there is our lounge and our kitchen. Over here is where we sleep together.
This is home for us.
Well it was until the part of apartheid that never died came and evicted us last week, evicted us yet again from District 6.
The first time was because of philosophy called apartheid. Ooh and we hate that word hey? All of us! Black white poor rich.
Say it with all the hate in yourself, all the disgust, feel appalled!
Wasnt it terrible? It was so terrible that once upon a time a government, a city could throw poor black people out of their homes, demolish them, send the people to the outskirts of the city. What terrible prejudice, human rights violation. That one could lose your home because of the colour of your skin, your culture, how you were born. Shocking hey?
But let me tell you that Big Brother Apartheid might be dead but his father is still with us. We never killed his father. His father’s name is the CLASS SYSTEM and his father’s job is GENTRIFICATION. In the name of gentrification the father of apartheid is still chasing poor black people from District Six.

And so? How many of you are working class? How many of you are middle class? Do you occupy the street to walk to work or do you occupy the street when you go for a jog or do you drive in it? If you answer yes to any of those you are more or less safe from the father of apartheid and his job – gentrification. But me and my sisters. He is coming for us. He came for us last week on his first round through Woodstock. He chased us around the corner. Next week he will take us to a concentration camp in a place called Wolwehoek. What is this? It sounds like a TV drama. But it is not. It is my life. It is our life. And maybe you wonder why I can sleep in the street, how can sleep on a piece of property I don’t own, how I can complain when I am evicted from a space I don’t own. Are you wondering that? Are you wondering if I am a nuisance to
people here? Do I make a noise? Do I use drugs, sell sex, urinate on the street? And isn;t it time for me to get my act together, find a job?
First of all – I HAVE A JOB. Sex work is work. You made it illegal.
Second of all. I don’t live here by accident. I am not poor by accident. I am not without a home by accident.

There are places in the world where democracy does it’s job, nobody sleeps on tar and cardboard there. There are places in the world where Capitalism works, does it’s job – people don’t sleep under plastic on cement there. There are places in
the world where dynamic communities with all the classes are designed by city planners. People from every class is together in one neighbourhood, diversity makes them thrive! Believe it! Those neighbourhoods work! And the most vulnerable? There are shelters for them…..right there in the same neighbourhood where one guy jogs on the street, the other one walks on it to work and the one with mental health challenges sits on a bench under a beautiful tree, protected, maybe even healing. There are places like that in the world.

And do you know how they happened? They did not happen because poor people got their act together. They did not happen because poor people got themselves jobs. They did not happen because poor people got organised. They happened because people with power started doing their job. They built a society for everybody with their power. The middle class agreed to it. Insisted on it. That’s how it happened.

So please leave us now and go do you job. Use your power. Get us off the street without evicting us. Gentrify with us in our heart and mind, not like we are trash that needs to be taken out…..of town.”

Published in 2016, “Always Anastacia: A Transgender Live in South Africa” by Anastacia Tomson takes us on a journey of Anastacia’s inner struggle with gender dysphoria, and the challenges she has had to face when she decided to take the plunge and live her life authentically. Growing up in a Jewish family and raised as a boy, Anastacia knew that her discomfort in her own skin had less to do with her strict family upbringing, and more with the fact that she felt her body did not fit her identity. She went on to qualify and practice as a doctor and had a seven long year relationship with a female, but the experiences left her feeling hollow. ‘Coming out’ is to be her only salvation, despite the fact that running away from her life and assuming a new identity does seem appealing. Anastacia takes us through her gruelling transition experience from the daily mundane challenges, i.e., dealing with home affairs to the dogma she felt that was inherent in her faith. Anastacia practises as a doctor in Cape Town, South Africa, both as a general practitioner and an expert in trans healthcare.

“Always Anastacia” was the first South African memoir to be published by a trans person. The second was Landa Mabenge’s “Becoming Him: A Trans Memoir of Triumph.” The third was “I Am Tshiamo: My Transition to Self-Acceptance and Womanhood” by Tshiamo Modisane. Robert Hamblin’s “Robert: A Queer & Crooked Memoir for the not so Straight & Narrow” was the fourth and Elise Bishop’s “Twee Lewens” the fifth.

Watch an interview with Anastacia about her book:

The Fairy Godmother Community Project was founded in Cape Town, South Africa by Sandra Lentoor, also known as Cape Town drag queen, Sandra Dee, and was officially registered on the 29th of October 2014.

Interview with Sandra Dee: From District 6 to District Royalty

We spoke to Sandra Dee Lentoor in December 2023 about the founding of the Fairy Godmother Community Project and her reasons for founding the Project.

The Fairy Godmother Community Project is involved with community upliftment in Hanover Park, one of the most gang-frequented areas in Cape Town.  One way the project makes a difference is as a vital outreach to elderly citizens of her community living in one of Cape Town’s most gang-riddled suburbs.  At weekly events, these vulnerable community members get treated to special luncheons hosted by Sandra.  But it is a huge challenge because according to Sandra, 

“The ladies have to cross busy streets and face the skollies on the way to the civic centre to attend.” (‘Skollies‘ is South African slang for gangsters, dangerous people or criminals). She says that fewer and fewer of the elderly attend due to the regular shootings in their area. “I believe that seniors must be treated with dignity and respect, not live in fear or fall victim to the next crossfire by the gangs”.  

Princess Project

Another project hosted by the Fairy Godmothers is the Princess Project.  In this programme, the project supplies matric farewell outfits to members of her community who cannot afford to buy or rent a gown for their special night.  According to Sandy, people from all over Cape Town ask her to help their children and she is too happy to help:

“I even help them with their hair and makeup and I love the feeling of making them feel beautiful”. 

Sandy runs the Princess Project from the Youth Impact and Sustainable Solutions (YISS) hub at the Crystal High School in Hanover Park. 

The clothes are donated by various organisations and by people with suits and dresses hanging unused in their cupboards at home.  Regular contributions are made by Sandy’s ‘girls’, her endearing term for some of Cape Town’s other drag queens.  The outfits are loaned free of charge to people who are unable to afford a fee for the use of the service, but if they can afford a small donation, it is used towards the luncheons and annual Christmas party held for the senior community members of Hanover Park.

When asked what the inspiration was for the Princess Project, Sandra said it was her own life experiences that prompted it:

“Because I’ve been a queen all my life I want to give back to the community. The boys and girls must be able to experience something like this at least once.”

Sandra’s story

“You see, I was born like like this. I remember when I was about 5 years old, it was in the 1950s when we were still living in District 6 before my family was displaced by the Apartheid government.  My mom was doing the washing, and when hanging up the laundry. I would steal one of my older sisters’ dresses when my mom was not looking and disappeared for hours until my mom realised the dress was gone.  She would then send my cousin to look for me and find me in the dress in the street outside.  My drag queen life started at the age of 11 years when I ran away from home after I had enough of years of sexual abuse by some people I knew. I was living on the street in Seapoint.  And I was in drag, then and ever since.”

Since the 1960s, Sandra partook in various beauty pageants and was the first to be crowned unofficial Miss Gay Cape Town, now known as Miss Gay Western Cape. Her crown was not official, because being gay remained illegal in South Africa until 1989.  Therefore, although the event started in the apartheid years, it has only gained visibility since the early 2000s and is now recognised as the largest and most popular gay pageant in South Africa.

When asked what it must have been to live a life in drag in the 1970s in South Africa, Sandy reminisced that she was accepted by her own community but that white people were not as accepting. 

“Everything was fine as long as we did not go down to the main road.  There we would be picked up for ‘masquerading as women’ and we would be thrown in jail. Sandra was arrested many times, sometimes the case would be thrown out of court but other times she was less lucky and she has spent a few stints in jail.” 

According to Sandra, she once spent time in a holding cell with Nelson Mandela:

“I think Mandela always had an understanding of the suffering of us moffies.  That’s probably why he has given us this constitution where we are all free.” (‘Moffies‘ is South African slang meaning ‘gay men’).

Sandra says,

“I went through hell in the 70s and 80s because of the Apartheid regime but it made me a strong woman today.”

Sandra is not only the founder of her own NGO, she also serves on the Community Advisory Board (CAB) of the University of Cape Town, and is a member of YES NGO.

Read more about the Project.

Sandra awarded 2025 Pride Heroes Award

In 2025, Sandra was one of the activists awarded with the 2025 Pride Heroes Award. Evan Tsouroulis, the Cape Town Pride Marketing, Sponsorship & Parade Coordinator, said this about the Awards:

“The Pride Heroes Awards are a way for Cape Town Pride as an organisation to shine the spotlight on the unsung heroes of our community as well as to honour and recognise their contributions.”

(Source: Mambaonline)

“Legendary Hanover Park activist and drag icon Sandra Dee (Sandra Lentoor) was honoured for her decades-long commitment to empowering youth and celebrating queer visibility through The Fairy Godmother Project. Founded a decade ago, the initiative provides underprivileged matric learners with dresses, hairstyling, and makeup for their Matric Ball, while also engaging local seniors as ‘Fairy Godmothers’ and mentors. A former resident of District Six, Sandra has survived violence, prejudice, and apartheid-era persecution to become a beacon of hope and glamour. Through fashion, mentorship, and joy, she continues to transform lives and uplift her community.”

(Same source)

Watch our interview with Sandra Dee, 30 January 2026

In 2000, Sally secured the first known mention of intersex in national law, with the inclusion of “intersex” within the definition of “sex” in the anti-discrimination law of the Republic of South Africa. Since then, she helped to draft legislation on the Alteration of Sex Descriptors, and the Promotion of Equality. In an interview with InterAction, Sally spoke about her influence on intersex law:

“Since 2000, I’ve drafted amendments bearing on intersex for the Alteration of Sex Descriptions Bill and the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, 2000, and these have been lobbied into law. Getting intersex into the Promotion of Equality Act is the weightier of the two. Lobbying persuaded the South African Human Rights Commission that intersex is a serious human rights issue. This yielded an SAHRC workshop three years back that looked at the imposition of genital surgery on intersex infants and children, and the possible need for legislation.”

Sally’s last communication had been with prominent New Zealand-based intersex activist, Mani Bruce Mitchell, a friend who had posted a GoFundMe appeal for help on Gross’s behalf in January of the same year. 

Sally’s founding of and work as part of Intersex South Africa (ISSA)had severely depleted her own limited resources and she fell into poor health. The tragedy of her death as a result of this poor health affected communities all over the world. Many obituaries* followed her death. Sally continues to be greatly missed, but her powerful legacy lives on.

* See, for example, the tributes written by Gabrielle Le Roux and Organization Intersex International.

Watch Sally speak in this video interview with It Gets Better South Africa:

In October 2010, the Eastern and Southern African Trans and Intersex Regional Exchange Programme, launched in May 2010 by South Africa’s Gender DynamiX (GDX) and Uganda’s Support Initiative for People with Atypical Sex Development (SIPD), joined the Stop Trans Pathologization (STP2012) Campaign, a campaign advocating for the depathologisation of trans identities (transsexual and transgender) and their retirement from the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders — 4 (DSM-4).

The Exchange Programme’s submission to the Campaign consisted of a video clip produced by Robert Hamblin with quotes from Eastern and Southern African activists.

Read more about the Regional Exchange Programme.

“He was gentle, kind, had a great sense of humor, was a trail blazer, activist, leader, internationally known and loved. He will be deeply missed.”

Remembering Imam Muhsin Hendricks

Born in 1967 in Cape Town, he dedicated his life to reconciling faith and identity, and to support marginalised Muslims. Despite facing rejection and constant death threats, he established Masjidul Ghurbaah, an inclusive mosque, and reinterpreted Islamic texts to promote acceptance of queer Muslims. He founded The Inner Circle in 1996, and conducted his spiritual work at the Masjidul Ghurbaah mosque, also known as ‘The People’s Mosque’. His work empowered countless individuals to reconcile their faith and identity.

According to a Pink News article following his death,

Hendricks ran workshops for imams across Africa, helping them to develop an inclusive understanding of gender and sexuality within Islam. Julia Ehrt, executive director at the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) urged the authorities to investigate “what we fear may be a hate crime. He supported and mentored so many people in South Africa and around the world in their journey to reconcile with their faith, and his life has been a testament to the healing that solidarity across communities can bring in everyone’s lives,” she said. Hendricks’ work in Africa was considered vital, where homosexuality is still illegal in 31 out of 54 nations, with South Africa being the only country in the continent that allows same-sex marriage.

Muhsin’s life and work was the subject of a 2022 documentary, ‘The Radical: A Gay Imam’s Choice of Faith Over Fear’. In the documentary, the Imam talks about the death threats he received and continued to receive since coming out. In an interview with The Guardian, the Imam said,

“The need to be authentic is greater than my fear to die.”

Our thoughts as the Trans & Intersex History Africa team go out to the Imam’s family, friends, colleagues, those he counselled spiritually and the many whose lives he touched. This senseless murder makes a mockery of the South African constitution and the values of inclusivity and celebration of difference we all hold dear, especially in our trans and intersex movements in Africa and we call on the South African police services and government to deliver justice for a man who was an exemplary South African and human being.

Elspeth Engelbrecht from The Triangle Project wrote this moving obituary:

On 3 March 2004, Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), now known as SMUG International, was founded by trans man and activist, Victor Mukasa, along with Sylvia Tamale. The earliest members included Val Kalende, Kamuhangire E. and David Kato, who were among the first board members. SMUG is an umbrella non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in Kampala, Uganda, advocating for the protection and promotion of human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex and queer Ugandans. It currently has 18 LGBTQIA+ organisations within its umbrella.

One of SMUG’s greatest achievements include the then Director of Programmes, Pepe Onziema, a trans man, who has advocated for LGBTQIA+ rights in Uganda for over 20 years, leading a coalition of 55 civil society organisations to overturn the Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2014.

While SMUG is regarded as Uganda’s leading LGBT advocacy group, it has been a huge trans and intersex ally and has been involved in African trans and intersex history since its inception. In May 2010, SMUG hosted the Eastern and Southern African Trans and Intersex Regional Exchange Programme, a 3-year programme organised by Gender Dynamix (GDX) and a partner organisation from East Africa. The current Co-Executive Directors are Pepe Onziema and Dr Frank Mugisha.

In 2022, SMUG’s offices were attacked and vandalised and two of its staff members arrested, and SMUG was been banned by the Ugandan NGO authority from operating and had to close its headquarters and take down its in-country website. Dr Mugisha called this ban

“a clear witch hunt rooted in systematic homophobia, fuelled by anti-gay and anti-gender movements.”

Due to the these extreme obstacles, SMUG is now based in the USA.

Mission

SMUG is dedicated to protecting the civil rights of all individuals, regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation. SMUG believes that everyone deserves equal rights and opportunities, and the organisation works tirelessly to ensure that these rights are protected.

Focus Areas

SMUG provides support to the LGBT community through fundraising, grant writing and administration, strategic planning, networking, linkages and contracting with like USA organisations, along with advising and coaching SMUG membership organisation leadership.

Contact

Website
Email: onziema@sexualminoritiesuganda.com; djcurley@smuginternational.org
Facebook
LinkedIn (Profile of Daniel J. Curley, SMUG Board Member and Treasurer)

Watch our interview with Pepe Onziema

Watch our live interview with Pepe from the 21st of February 2025:

Watch our interview with Victor Mukasa

Watch our live interview with Victor from the 6th of June 2025: