Community – Trans & Intersex History Africa

30 January 2023: Book Review — “Envisioning African Intersex”, by Amanda Lock Swarr

All, Community, Intersex, Interviews, Publications / Amanda Lock Swarr, Caster Semenya, Envisioning African Intersex, Gender verification, Intersex South Africa, ISSA, Jabu Pereira, Sally Gross, Zethu Matebani

“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 published 30 January 2023 and is a groundbreaking work that challenges entrenched scientific and social norms about intersex individuals, particularly within the context of South Africa. Swarr meticulously …

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June 2020 — Kakuma Refugee Camp: Refugees Approach Victor Mukasa Again, Kenya

All, Asylum Seekers/Migrants/Refugees, Community, Diaspora, LGBTIAQ+, Publications, Trans & Intersex / #FreeBlock13, Asylum & Migration (ORAM), Black LGBTQ Migrant Project, Block 13, CAL, Chriton Atuhwera, Coalition of African Lesbians, GIN, Jass Associated, Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya, Kuchu, Organization for Refuge, Pan Africa ILGA (PAI), Rainbow Railroad, The Victor Mukasa Show, Triangle Project, Uganda, UNHCR, United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), Victor Mukasa

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 refugee camp”. Not much had changed since the last time Victor had worked with the refugees in 2014, even though global activists and organisations had become involved. …

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March 2020 — First Live Broadcast of The Victor Mukasa Show, Uganda

All, Audio & Video, Community, Interviews, Legislation, LGBTIAQ+, Trans & Intersex / Anti-Homosexuality Act, Anti-Homosexuality Bill, Ekimeeza K’abaLaGaBaTa, The Queer Table Talk, The Victor Mukasa Show, Uganda, Victor Mukasa

In March 2020, The Victor Mukasa Show was broadcast live for the first time. Ugandan trans and LGBTI activist, Victor Mukasa envisioned the show as a space that would bring emerging issues for LGBTIQ+ people from the continent and the Diaspora to light. It aims to feature everything Queer and African, ranging from education, activism, …

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12 December 2017 — Tshepo Ricki Kgositau Wins Case to Change Gender Marker, Botswana

All, Community, Legislation, Trans / Botswana, Ricki Kgositau, Tshepo Ricki Kgositau

In 2017, Batswana trans woman, Tshepo Ricki Kgositau (current Executive Director of Gender DynamiX) won her 2011 case against the Civil and National Registration office in Gaborone, Botswana to change her documentation in the national register from male to female. Read more here.

August 2015 — An Intersex Report is Launched in East Africa

All, Community, Intersex, Publications / East Africa

In August 2015, a report on violations to children and people born intersex or with differences of sex development was launched in an East African country airing the most revolting abuses and violations that intersex people experience. The report is titled, “Intersex Genital Mutilation (IGM) and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM): Both a Form of Societal Control”. …

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2015 — Founding of Tanzania Trans Initiative (TTI), Tanzania

All, Community, Gender Non-Conforming, Organisation, Sex Work, Trans / Mwamba Nyanda, Tanzania, Tanzania Trans Initiative, TTI

Tanzania Trans Initiative (TTI) was founded by the now Executive Director, Mwamba Nyanda, as a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Tanzania in 2015. The organisation is a platform for the trans community working together with people who are gender non-conforming. TTI works with these groups as well as with health practitioners, law enforcement officers and policy makers, providing …

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November 2014 — High Court Rules in Favour of Trans Woman in Case Against Kenya National Examination Council, Kenya

All, Community, Legislation, Trans / Audrey Mbugua, Kenya

In November 2014, trans woman Audrey Mbugua won the case taken to the Kenyan High Court in March 2013 (JR Case No. 147 of 2013) to compel the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) to change the name on her high school diploma. In October, Audrey had won a case in the High Court to have …

November 2014 — High Court Rules in Favour of Trans Woman in Case Against Kenya National Examination Council, Kenya Read More »

29 October 2014 — Registration of the Fairy Godmother Community Project by Trans Drag Queen, Sandra Dee, South Africa

All, Community, Cross-Dressing, Interviews, Trans / Fairy Godmother Community Project, Madame Two Swords, Miranda Trefoil, Miss Gay Cape Town, Miss Gay Western Cape, Nelson Mandela, Olivia de Havilland, Princess Project, Sandra Dee, Sandra Lentoor, South Africa, Tamara Dobson, YES, Youth Impact and Sustainable Solutions hub

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 talked to Sandra Dee in December 2023 about the founding …

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August 2014 — African Trans Feminist Charter Drafted

All, Community, Publications, Trans, Transfeminist / African Trans Feminist Charter

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 its politics. An outcome of this meeting was the African Trans Feminist Charter.

3 July 2014 — Kakuma Refugee Camp: Lack of Safety and Security for LGBTQIA+ Refugees Highlighted, Kenya

All, Asylum Seekers/Migrants/Refugees, Community, Diaspora, LGBTIAQ+, Trans & Intersex / Anti-Homosexuality Act, Anti-Homosexuality Bill, Asylum, Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya, Kuchu Diaspora Alliance, Kuchu TV, Refugees, The Victor Mukasa Show, Uganda, UNHCR, United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), Victor Mukasa

On 3 July 2014, a 4-part series about further violence in the Kakuma Refugee Camp aired on Kuchu TV, a platform created by Ugandan LGBTQIA+ activist, Victor Mukasa. Victor’s work at the Kakuma Refugee Camp started in 2014 after the first attack on the Ugandan LGBTQIA+ refugees in the Camp. You can read more about …

3 July 2014 — Kakuma Refugee Camp: Lack of Safety and Security for LGBTQIA+ Refugees Highlighted, Kenya Read More »

29 June 2014 — Kakuma Refugee Camp: Kuchu TV Broadcast Contextualises Violence, Kenya

All, Asylum Seekers/Migrants/Refugees, Community, Diaspora, LGBTIAQ+, Publications, Trans & Intersex / Amnesty International, Anti-Homosexuality Act, Anti-Homosexuality Bill, Asylum, Hate Crimes and Discrimination Against LGBTI Refugees Report, Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya, Kuchu, Kuchu TV, NGLHRC, Refugees, Uganda, UNHCR, United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), Victor Mukasa

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 for LGBTQIA+ refugees in the Camp was the violence perpetrated against them because they were …

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June 2014 — Kuchu TV Created by Victor Mukasa to Report on the Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya/Uganda

All, Asylum Seekers/Migrants/Refugees, Community, Diaspora, LGBTIAQ+, Trans & Intersex / Anti-Homosexuality Act, Anti-Homosexuality Bill, Asylum, Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya, Kuchu, Kuchu Diaspora Alliance, Kuchu TV, Refugees, Uganda, UNHCR, United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), Victor Mukasa

In June 2014, Ugandan LGBTQIA+ activist, Victor Mukasa, created a Youtube channel, Kuchu TV, which aired between 2014 and 2015. The TV station was used as a platform to give daily updates from within the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya, and provided information to activists and advocates working with LGBTQIA asylum seekers in the Camp. …

June 2014 — Kuchu TV Created by Victor Mukasa to Report on the Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya/Uganda Read More »

June 2014 — Sumaya Dalmar, the First Known Trans Woman in Somalia: Exhibition and Death, Somalia/Canada

All, Art, Community, Diaspora, Trans / Abdi Osman, Labeeb, Somalia, Sumaya Dalmar, Sumaya Ysl

In June 2014, Somalian-born Canadian photographer, Abdi Osman, held an exhibition named ‘Labeeb’ at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. The project features large photographs and a short double-projection video of Sumaya Dalmar, a trans woman originally from Somalia. The double projection, which shows two videos playing simultaneously, underscores the artist’s attempt to engage with …

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20 March 2014 — Intersex Activist from Uganda Granted Asylum in the U.S., Uganda

All, Community, Diaspora, Intersex / Anti-Homosexuality Bill, Asylum, Nikilas Mawanda, Proudly African and Transgender, Refugees, Uganda

Nikilas (Nikki) Mawanda, an intersex activist from Uganda and founder of an NGO in the country*, was granted LGBTIQ+ asylum status in the U.S. on 20 March 2014. Asylum was granted months after fleeing his home in Uganda due to the state-sanctioned violence of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which was passed by the Ugandan parliament earlier …

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14 February 2014 — Death of Intersex Activist Sally Gross, South Africa

All, Community, Intersex / Intersex Society of South Africa, Iranti, ISSA, Sally Gross, South Africa

Prominent anti-Apartheid and intersex activist, Sally Gross, passed away on 14 February 2014. Her 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 …

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18 January 2014 — Trans Woman, Rikki Nathanson, Sues Police and Others, Zimbabwe

All, Community, Trans / Farai Mteliso, Rikki Nathanson, Zanu-PF, Zimbabwe

In January 2014, Rikki Nathanson, a Zimbabwean trans woman and modelling agency director was detained by police* after Farai Mteliso, a Zanu-PF Youth League leader, performed a citizen’s arrest on her. She was arrested for being a ‘criminal nuisance’ because she visited a bar in Bulawayo, dressed as a woman, and allegedly used the bathroom …

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January 2014 — Trans Woman, Rikki Nathanson, Sues Police and Others, Zimbabwe

All, Community, Trans / Rikki Nathanson, Zimbabwe

January 2014 — Trans Woman, Rikki Nathanson, Sues Police and Others, Zimbabwe Read More »

7 October 2013 — Trans Musician Named as UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador, Angola

All, Art, Community, Trans / Angola, Music, Titica

Trans Angolan musician, Titica, was made a UNAIDS National Goodwill Ambassador on 7 October 2013. Titica is a pioneer in a local music genre called ‘kuduro’, and even performed for the then Angolan President, José Eduardo dos Santos. Her appointment as UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador came at a time when many acknowledged that Angola was moving …

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27 June 2013 — Victor Mukasa Granted Asylum Status in the U.S., Uganda

All, Community, Diaspora, Trans / Uganda, Victor Mukasa

Ugandan trans activist and leader, Victor Mukasa, with assistance from Immigration Equality, was granted asylum status in the United States on 27 June 2013 after fleeing Uganda due to fear of persecution for his gender identity. Victor is often informally considered a pivotal role player in the trans movement in Africa.

2013 and 2007 — Strategic Action Litigation (SAL): Legal Advocacy for Intersex Persons in Kenya

All, Community, Intersex, Legislation / Kenya, Strategic Action Litigation (SAL)

Strategic Action Litigation (SAL) is a process in Public Interest Law whereby members of a marginalised group deliberately and proactively take a test case to court for the purpose of establishing a positive legal precedent with legal implications that go beyond the immediate litigants. This specific kind of litigation aims to achieve broader social change. …

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