December 2008 — First Trans- and Intersex-Specific Workshop Held in Africa: Eastern and Southern African Trans/Gender Identity Institute, South Africa In December 2008, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), today known as OutRight International, and Gender DynamiX…
In September 2009, the South African Film and Publications Board banned the intersex film XXY* on the grounds that they believed the film portrays child pornography. The Spanish film with English subtitles was produced by an Argentine filmmaker and tells…
On 2 June 2008, Daisy Dube, a gender-variant person, and four friends who self-identified as drag queens, went out clubbing in the evening in Yeoville, Johannesburg. Men outside the club called them izitabane,* referring to their gender identity. In resistance,…
September 2007 — Historic Claiming of Space for Trans People Within the African LGBT Movement: The Nairobi Trans Declaration, Kenya Before Victor Mukasa sought asylum in the USA, in fear for his life, he was flown to Nairobi, Kenya, by…
Gold medallist Paralympian, Tshotlego* Morama (now Paul Morama) from Botswana underwent gender verification tests in August 2007 after a win in the 800m and 400m races at the Africa Senior Championships in Mozambique. There had already been a media spectacle…
July 2007 — House of Rainbow and Gender DynamiX Reach Out to Nigerian Trans Women, Nigeria In 2007 Nigerian Reverend Jide Macaulay from House of Rainbow attended the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) meeting in Johannesburg.…
In February 2007, Gender DynamiX (GDX) held a trans-awareness workshop with staff from The Inner Circle, later known as the Al-Fitrah Foundation, in Cape Town, South Africa. The Inner Circle was founded by the world’s first openly-gay imam, Muhsin Hendricks…
On 31 October 2006, Alexandra Rubera was granted asylum in South Africa. Rubera, a trans woman from Burundi, faced arrest and death threats from private citizens and the police in her native country on an ongoing basis. Alexandra moved between…
On 25 February 2006, Kenyan-born Biko Beauttah arrived in Canada to seek asylum because being considered homosexual is a criminal offence in her home country. Biko left Kenya a few years prior to attend college in the USA. Having come…
July 2005 — Trans and LGBTQIA+ Activist, Victor Mukasa, Sues Government, Uganda On 20 July 2005, trans man and LGBTQIA+ activist Victor Mukasa’s house was raided by the police without a search warrant. They were looking for documents relating to…
In May 2005, Liesl Theron, then a member of the Good Hope Metropolitan Community Church (GHMCC), coordinated a full-day workshop for its members under the title, “Gender Diversity Awareness”. This came about due to Liesl’s personal involvement with trans and…
The Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, Act 4 of 2000 (PEPUDA), which is sometimes referred to as The Equality Act, was passed by the South African government in 2000 to protect its citizens from discrimination, hate…
Following on from the parliamentary hearings on 9 September 2003, the Sex Description and Sex Status Act, Act 49 of 2003 was altered, signed by the President of South Africa and circulated in the Government Gazette, on 15 March 2004. The Act was…
On the 9th of September 2003, a group of organisations and interested individuals, including Sally Gross, Simone Heradien, Estian Smit, members of the Cape Town Transsexual/Transgender Support Group, the South African Human Rights Commission, and the Commission on Gender Equality,…
South Africa hosted the 2003 Cricket World Cup, and on 9 February 2003. During the Parade of Nations and as part of the opening ceremony, the event’s organisers appointed models to walk in the parade, holding banners to represent each…
2000 to 2007 — Creation of Trans Support and Social Groups, South Africa Between 2000 and 2007, before Gender DynamiX (South Africa’s first trans advocacy group) was founded in 2005, the need for support groups for trans people led to…
Featured in international film festivals in 1998, the documentary, Woubi Chéri, directed by Laurent Bocahut and Philip Brooks, focused on the lives of Woubis*, Yossis**, and other members of the Branché*** community in Ivory Coast. The award-winning documentary was featured…
1994 — First Printed Media Reference to The Travesti, Côte d’Ivoire / Ivory Coast In the Ivory Coast, the Travesti* was a prominent group, recognised and documented from the early 1990s, but they were most likely active before the 90s**.…
South Africa’s first gender-focused group, the Phoenix Society, was established in 1982 in the Apartheid era in South Africa. The Society was an underground network of transvestites, transsexuals, crossdressers and trans women. The Society was founded by Marlene, a white…
In the early 1970s, Mozambique was still under colonial rule. In April 1974, political upheaval in Lisbon, Portugal resulted in a coup within the Portuguese military and the dictatorship in Portugal was overthrown. This had a ripple effect on the…