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

Intersex, All, Community, Publications / Amanda Lock Swarr, Caster Semenya, Envisioning African Intersex, gender verification, Intersex South Africa, ISSA, Sally Gross

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

Community, All, Audio & Video, Interviews, Legislation, LGBTIQ, 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

Community, All, 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

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

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

In November 2014, trans woman Audrey Mbugua won the case taken to the Kenyan High Court in March 2013 Audrey Mbugua (JR Case No. 147 of 2013) to compel the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) to change the name on her high school diploma. She also sought the removal of the male sex marker on …

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

Trans, All, Community, Organisation / Fairy Godmother Community Project, Madame Two Swords, Miranda Trefoil, Miss Gay Cape Town, Miss Gay Western Cape, 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. From District 6 to District Royalty We talked to Sandra Dee in December 2023 about the founding of the Fairy Godmother …

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August 2014 — African Trans Feminist Charter Drafted

Trans, All, Community, Publications / 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.

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

Trans, All, Community, Diaspora / 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 — Trans Activist from Uganda Granted Asylum in the U.S., Uganda

Trans, All, Community, Diaspora / Anti-Homosexuality Bill, Proudly African and Transgender, Uganda

Nikilas (Nikki) Mawanda, a trans man and 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 …

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

Intersex, All, Community / 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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January 2014 — Trans Woman, Rikki Nathanson, Sues Police and Others, Zimbabwe

Trans, All, Community / Rikki Nathanson, 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 …

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

2014 — Founding of Tanzanian Trans Initiatives (TTI), Tanzania

Trans, All, Community, Organisation / Tanzania, Tanzanian Trans Initiatives, TTI

Tanzanian Trans Initiatives (TTI) was founded as a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Tanzania in 2014. The organisation is dedicated to the trans and gender-nonconforming (GNC) community as a whole, as well as trans and GNC sex workers, and the portion of the trans and GNC community living with HIV/AIDS. The focus of their work is …

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

Trans, All, Art, Community / 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

Trans, All, Community, Diaspora / 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

Intersex, All, Community, 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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14 June 2013 — High Court Upholds Trans Woman’s Human Rights Violation Petition, Kenya

Trans, All, Community, Legislation / Batha Nthungi, Kenya

On 14 June 2013, Kenya’s High Court upheld Batha Nthungi’s petition filed a year earlier, in which she declared that being stripped and physically assaulted by the Kenyan Police violated her human rights (A.N.N v Attorney General). The Court agreed that the stripping of her in the glare of the media was meant to humiliate …

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June 2013 — Non-Binary Street Performance by Neo Musangi in Nairobi, Kenya

Community, All, LGBTIQ, Non-Binary, Trans & Intersex / Art, Kenya, Neo Musangi, Non-Binary, Performance, Performance Art

In June 2013, Neo Musangi, a Kenyan non-binary artist and activist, performed publicly in front of the building of the Kenia National Archives. The aim of the performance was intended to dismantle the gender binary and create awareness about non-binary identities. In a street performance, as citizens looked on, Neo Musangi took the audience through …

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March 2013 — Trans Woman Files Case Against Kenya National Examination Council at High Court, Kenya

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

In March 2013 Audrey Mbugua, a trans woman, filed a case (JR Case No. 147 of 2013) at Kenya’s High Court to compel the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) to change the name on her high school diploma. She also sought the removal of the male sex marker on her certificate. In November 2014, Mbugua …

March 2013 — Trans Woman Files Case Against Kenya National Examination Council at High Court, Kenya Read More »

2013 — Trans Bantu Zambia Self-Publish First Trans Short Story Book in Zambia

Community, All, Organisation, Publications, Trans / TBZ, Trans Bantu Zambia, Zambia

We Exist, published by Trans Bantu Zambia in 2013, is a self-publication that serves as a powerful platform to give voice to the often marginalised and overlooked transgender community in Zambia. Through a collection of 21 short stories and poems, the book seeks to recognise and validate the existence of trans community members in Zambia. …

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December 2012 — Trans Man Makes History as Participant of Mr Leather Contest, South Africa

Trans, All, Community / Mr Leather SA, South Africa

A trans man made history in December 2012 when he participated in the third South African Mr Leather contest. He came out as trans while on stage during his speech. At the time of the contest, SA Leather’s constitution stipulated that only cisgender and gay or bisexual men were allowed to participate. Subsequently, SA Leather …

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