Second Kenyan Transperson Wins Legal Case

Sometimes all it takes is one person standing tall, unapologetically living their lives and fighting tooth and nail for their own human rights to empower others to come out of the shadows and do the same.

It appears that is what's happening in Kenya right now.

Alexandra Nthungi  (using femme derivative of old name until I find out the name she goes by) was working in her grocery shop in January 2011 en femme in the town of Thika near the Kenyan capitol of Nairobi when police arrived, arrested her claiming she had assaulted a cis woman and taken to the Thika police Station for questioning about the assault.  Nthungi was stripped nude in front of the media to ostensibly discover her gender identity 

On June 18 Justice Mumbi Ngugi awarded Nthungi Sh200,000 ($2328.20 USD) for having her rights and dignity violated by officers at the Thika Police Station.     

Justice Ngugi stated the police did not have the powers to strip him to ascertain his gender and that the best they could do was to refer him to a medical doctor for assessment. She ruled that by subjecting her to a search, the police had an intention of humiliating Nthungi because she was dressed as a female and it was unlawful to strip her.

She ruled that whatever Nthungi’s choice was in relation to her mode of dressing and regardless of the fact that she perceived herself as a woman, she still retained her inherent worth and dignity to which all humans are entitled.

Of course Audrey Mbugua was pleased about the outcome of Nthungi’s case. “Although we are happy about the judgment, the judge should have compelled the police to offer a public apology. Sometimes it’s not about being compensated with money but being recognised as human.”

Anniversary Of The 1959 Bermuda Theatre Boycott

One of the consistent themes for those of us of African descent living in our various parts of the Diaspora is having to deal with anti-Black bigotry, racism and racial segregation.

We have the common thread in various nations across the African Diaspora having a person or persons who either by circumstances or through group coordinated action participated in events that served as tipping point moments for oppressed African descended people in their nation to rally around and eventually achieve or start down the path of getting racial justice.  

In Canada that person was Viola Desmond.   In the United States it was Rosa Parks December 1, 1955 arrest that triggered the 381 day Montgomery Bus Boycott, gave national prominence to an eloquent young minister and gave birth to the African-American civil rights movement.  In South Africa that person was Nelson Mandela.  

In Bermuda the seminal event that ended segregation there was the June 1959 Theatre Boycott that put the British colony on track to beginning the process of creating a better, more racially harmonious society.   

In 1959 Bermuda was approaching the 350th anniversary of its founding as a British colony and was a thriving travel and tourist destination for wealthy Americans, people that lived on the US east coast and other international travelers wishing to escape their cold climates.  

And for many of those upscale American tourists Bermuda reminded them of all the Jim Crow comforts back home. 

But the 28,000 Black Bermudians living there at the time chafed at the Jim Crow like segregation they were subjected to in its hotels, restaurants, schools, theaters, hospitals and other aspects of Bermudian life.

Borrowing from the example of the African-American civil rights movement now playing out before the world's press, they decided it was past time to end that discriminatory paradigm. 

Since the entire island attended the six white-owned segregated Bermuda General Theatres, a group of Bermudians desiring a better government, universal suffrage and an end to segregation held a series of meetings to coordinate a boycott of those segregated theaters timed to start on June 15. 

The Progressive Group as they called themselves was comprised of Vera and Rudolph ­Commissiong, Izola and Gerald Harvey, William Francis, Florenz and Clifford Maxwell, Stanley Ratteray, Marva Phillips, Esme and Lancelot Swan, Erskine Simmons, ­Clifford Wade, Eduord and Rosalind Williams, Coolridge Williams, Eugene Woods and William Walwyn.

The Progressive Group was also an airtight secret one that would remarkably maintain that secrecy until they revealed their identities 40 years later.  They feared not only retribution from the ruling white oligarchy on the island, they were worried about retaliation against their parents and their future employment prospects in Bermuda.  There was also the concern that since some of the group members were young people, they wouldn't be taken seriously by their elders. 

In addition to the other concerns, secrecy and surprise were key elements in getting this protest started and having the desired effect.  The members of the Progressive Group were rigorously vetted before being allowed to join.  In order to maintain the strict operational security they were barred from revealing even to their spouses what they discussed at the meetings held at Rosalind Williams' home.

Canadian visitors Anna Wheal and Ruth Cordy, who were staying with the Harvey's while visiting their college classmate Betty Kawaley, bought the printing press the Progressive Group used to create the flyers that later blanketed the island.  They also kept their roles in the boycott secret until 2009.   

At 10:30 PM on June 11 the members of  the Progressive Group began the first nerve wracking phase of the protest.  They synchronized their watches, scattered to different locations on the island and without being detected executed a coordinated drop of the flyers and posters across various locations around Bermuda announcing the boycott and its start date. 

Richard Lynch and Kingsley Tweed didn't have those secrecy reservations.  Once the boycott started on June 15, they appeared at the rallies organized to exhort Black Bermudians to support it and energized the crowds with their fiery street corner speeches.   .

After the posters and flyers appeared, the boycott began slowly and was arrogantly dismissed as a 'storm in a teacup' by the white ruling class.   But they were premature in their smug assessment of the situation. 

Over the next eight days the Theatre Boycott gathered steam thanks to Lynch and Tweed's rally oratory and the determination of Black Bermudians.  The boycott crippled the movie theaters to the point they had to shut down on June 23.  The rattled theater owners and white establishment demanded that the Progressive Group come out of hiding to negotiate with them but they refused as Black Bermudians continued in solidarity to adhere to the boycott. .  


The theater owners capitulated on July 2 and desegregated the theaters.  The hotels, shops, banks and other public establishments in Bermuda soon followed in rapid succession.

The Theatre Boycott succeeded beyond the wildest hopes of the organizers.  It ended segregation in Bermuda's public places in a matter of days.  A year later the Committee for Universal Adult Suffrage was formed with the twin goals of extending the right to vote for people ages 21 and older and eliminating the property requirement and implemented in 1961. 

It also jump started a long debate on the future social direction of Bermuda and despite some bumps along the way toward achieving it, helped Bermuda evolve toward a society that was was cognizant of the hopes , dreams and expectations of the majority of Bermudians.

The Theatre Boycott also emphatically demonstrated the value of nonviolent protest as the primary means to accomplish that systemic change. 

TransGriot Note: The photo is of four members of the Progressive Group that organized the Theatre Boycott.

If Our African Trans Cousins Can Do It...

What's stopping us from being more forceful about stepping up to the plate and fighting for trans human rights in our communities on this side of the Atlantic?

Over the last few years I've noted that despite faith-based anti-trans and gay hatred injected into the continent by white American Southern Baptist missionaries, our African trans cousins in their various nations on the continent gave been over the last several years increasingly stepping up,organizing and fighting for their human rights in their various nations and across the Mother Continent. 

They are also doing the education on trans issues.  Forming trans organizations not only in their own respective nations but banding together to hold conferences and form regional and trans African coalitions to do the work.  You have people such as Liesl Theron in South Africa, Audrey Mbugua in Kenya, Victor Mukasa in Uganda becoming the spokespersons for the trans communities in their nations.

In Victor's case, he was forced to leave Uganda because of government harassment to the point he sued them and won in 2009.   Others like Nigeria's Mia Nikasimo are part of the Diaspora and eloquently writing and speaking abut the issues related to being trans on the African continent and debunking the lie that transsexuality is 'un-African' , they don't exist there and being trans is 'a Western concept'.

We in the Western end of the African Diaspors definitely need to be following their lead.  We need to be doing what we can to not only build our communities here on our side of the Atlantic, but prepare ourselves for the day when we can reach our hands out to our African trans cousins and our African descended Caribbean ones as well if they ask for our help.

So I ask again.  If our African trans cousins can do it in terms of being agents of their own liberation, why can't we African descended people in the United States do a better job of emulating them?

Audrey's History Making Kenyan Case

I've had the pleasure of conversing with Audrey Mbugua online for several years now and I'm looking forward to the day I finally meet this trailblazing Kenyan trans activist.   .
 
I'm following with keen interest her Kenyan history making legal case in her homeland in which she sued the Kenyan National Examinations Council and the Kenyan Attorney General to change the name on her KNEC certificates and other identity documents including her national identity card and passport to reflect who she is now.

“The process of changing my name and gender in my identity, travel and academic documents was fraught with challenges such as lack of understanding among public officers in charge of these processes,” Audrey says in a recent interview.

The initial court hearing was on May 28 and the counsel representing KNEC and the attorney general asked  High Court Judge Weldon Korir for more time to prepare a response to Mbugua's petition because this case is in their words 'tricky'.   The counsel also indicated that the petition response will require extensive consultations between several Kenyan government departments, including the Registrar of Births and Deaths.

There's nothing 'tricky' about it.  29 year old Audrey lives her life as and presents as female, she has undergone a medical transition except the genital surgery she started in 2001, and her documentation needs to reflect that.

  


Audrey's interview on NTV Kenya



Good luck sis!  Hope common sense prevails on August 6 and your document changes are granted..

Nigeria Passes Draconian Anti-GLBT Bill

While the international community was focusing on Uganda and its attempts to pass their blatantly unjust 'Kill The Gays' Bill, they should have also been focused on Abuja, Nigeria.

In the most populous nation on the African continent, the Nigerian House of Representatives today passed the unjust 'Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Bill' that criminalizes being gay or lesbian in the country, bans gay marriage in a church or mosque and outlaws any groups actively supporting gay rights.  It was already approved by the Nigerian Senate in November 2011 and is now on its way to Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan for his signature.

If Jonathan signs it, gay or lesbian couples who marry could face up to 14 years each in prison.  If you witness the marriage, attend the wedding or helps a gay couple get married, you are risking a 10 year sentence behind bars. Anyone taking part in a group advocating for gay rights or anyone caught in a “public show” of gay affection also would face 10 years in prison if convicted by a criminal court.

As of yet President Jonathan hasn't indicated whether he will sign the unjust bill or not.
 
Save your breath if you're thinking that Western powers can put pressure on the 'Giant of Africa' by threatening to cut off financial aid.   Nigeria pumps 2 million barrels of oil per day and the United States is one of their major customers.  The last time I checked the price is hovering around the $90-$100 per barrel range.

Gay sex has been banned in Nigeria since the British colonial rule days and our gay and lesbian cousins there face open discrimination and abuse in a country divided by Christians and Muslims.   They may fight each other,  but the two things they universally agree on are soccer and uniform opposition to homosexuality.

So it'll be up to local activists in this nation of more than 160 million people, with the help of the international community as they did in 2007 and 2011 to do the bulk of the education and fighting against this unjust law. 

Chidi Odinkalu, the chairman of Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission, said he only learned about the House’s vote late Thursday night and said the bill likely would be challenged in court.

Because right now, that's their only option if President Jonathan decides to sign this un-African and unjust bill

Audrey Mbugua's Fight For Her Kenyan Document Recognition

One of the missions of TransGriot I take seriously as a child of the African Diaspora is to relentlessly point out trans people exist on the second largest continent on our planet and the Mother Continent for humanity.  

One of the things that's a common thread across the world in our trans human rights struggle is getting documentation to match our new identities.  In some places it's a simple process to get that changed, while in others you have to fight tooth and nail and sometimes litigate it just to get it done.

One of the persons finding themselves in the fighting tooth and nail category is someone whose videos and writings I've highlighted on TransGriot before in Audrey Mbugua. 

Audrey transitioned in 2001 and she's in the news in her native Kenya because she's having to take the Kenya National Examinations Council to court in order to recognize her gender change and make the necessary documentation corrections to reflect who she is now.   KNEC is resisting her request to change her KCSE certificates, and it's negatively impacting her ability to find employment. 

'I have made several requests to the Kenya National Examinations Council to change the name on my KCSE certificate to reflect my true identity in vain," she said in a Kenyan Daily Post interview.

In her lawsuit she has named the Kenyan Attorney General and KNEC as defendants, and it goes to trial on May 28.

Good luck sis, and hope you prevail.

Please Don't Let It Be One Of Us

Guest Post from Renee of Womanist Musings

If you are a member of a marginalized community, at some point a crime, or a ludicrous action will become public or go wildly viral and the first thought that will go through your head is, "please don't let it be one of us." We will follow up on the story, find out that it is indeed one of us, shake our heads and think about how the action of one individual will come to reflect upon us. If you are privileged, you have never had this experience.

The moment I heard about the Boston Bombing, I thought please don't let them be of colour and please don't let them be Muslim.  When I saw a headline about a man being arrested after calling 911 trying to order burgers and weed, I said, "please don't let him be Black." Certainly, whenever a mass murder happens, neurologically atypical people cringe because they are aware that the media will try to explain that the killer was "crazy" and that's why they acted in that fashion. Just look at the response to the Newton CT. shooting last December.  For many, the gun culture and the relative ease at which most can lay their hands on a weapon in the U.S. was not the problem but that a so-called crazy person had access to a gun. Tory MP Nigel Evans has been accused of rape but when you google his name, all you will find is article after article referring to the alleged incident as gay rape.  You better believe that there are members of the LGBT community who are cringing about this. This kind of thinking happens all the time.  It happens because if you are a marginalized person, though you are an individual, the world does not perceive you as such. Though we know it's a trap to think this way, it's impossible not to in a world determined to define us as a homogenous group with negative traits.

Privileged people don't know this feeling because they don't know what it is to be targeted for who they are. Even people who have privilege in one area and negotiate an ism in another, cannot always understand this feeling.  For instance, a White, straight, cisgender able bodied woman will be marginalized by gender but she cannot hope to understand what it feels like to feel concern that she will be universalized in this manner.  When a violent crime is committed by a woman, no one initially hears about the event and says please don't let it be a woman.  That is not to say that White, straight, cisgnder able bodied women aren't expected to conform to ridiculous gender expectations, or that they are not shamed for an inability, or a determined decision to thwart supposed norms. In fact, in the case of White, straight, cisgender able bodied  women, it specifically comes down to the fact that they are perceived as either delicate flowers who need protecting or as victims.  Certainly, this is damaging but it does not amount to the same universalizing pressure to be responsible for the actions of other women. This is particularly true if the criminal behaviour is performed by a WOC.


Sometimes this fear of being deemed a bad minority means that we consciously change our behavior.  For Blacks, it can involve something called code switching.  This means that when we are in mixed company, we censure ourselves and drop certain slangs or phrases from our vocabulary. The politics if respectability has long been a factor in organizing in the Black community.  A way to prove that we deserve equality and separate us from those in our supposed group who are bringing us down.

I often think about the term the Black community and what it implies.  You see, though I am a Black, straight, disabled woman because I am an individual, and have my particular frame of reference how I view the world is through a very specific lens and yet, I am part of the so-called Black community.  This term implies that because I share the same racial background as millions of people that we will think the same and react the same to similar stimuli.  The truth of the matter is that there is no real community and we are just a group of people who happen to share specific genetic traits.  Yet, I am subject to all of the racial stereotypes faced by Black women and this specifically erases my identity as an autonomous being.  Only certain groups are ever held responsible for the whole, or expected to pay for and at times apologise on behalf of people who we have never met.

Crimes committed by straight, cisgender, able bodied White men particularly send this message home to me.  The denial for instance that the Boston Bombers are indeed White, though they could not be more obviously so is one example.  Crimes committed by straight, cisgender, able bodied White men are culturally perceived as an aberration.  This separation between the group and the individual is absolutely a reflection of power and privilege. This group, regardless of the horrors that it has  committed are not viewed as a threat. This means that anger and or hyper masculinity are ignored or explained away as though they are harmless.  More than any other group, White, straight, cisgender, able bodied men are less likely to understand what it is to look at a large incident and hope that it was not committed by someone who looks like them. Having never been a member of an outgroup and encouraged to believe in their superiority, they are free to universalize, firm in the knowledge that such action will never be applied to them.  Who gets to be perceived as an individual comes down to the degree of social power they are able to access and wield. Ironically this is why we are silenced when we talk about our marginalizations and told that we are the ones with the problem.

Even though I know it's a trap to think, "please don't let it be one of us," I cannot help but to do so because I know that the actions of the individual reflect on the group.  There is no escaping the reality of this, even though I know that this is embracing the masters tools.  Yes, it's a defeatist approach because we should reject this universalizing treatment of us.  We should demand to be seen as individuals in every instance. Yes, we need some form of community for the purposes of support but at the same time, we need to be conscious of the times in which we are held responsible for these very same communities.  There is criminality in all groups and all are influenced by a myriad of social forces.  Please don't let it be one of us while a logical response to the oppressions we are forced to negotiate, only affirms that we can be defined by the actions of others.

#BlackPrivilege Twitter Hashtag Going Viral

It started as a Black Twitter smackdown to a racist Tumblr page, but has raged on Twitter since Friday night and gone viral.   It was at one point a trending Twitter hashtag

It's the #BlackPrivilege Twitter hashtag, and it has struck a nerve on many levels with Black Tweeps including Toure of MSNBC's 'The Cycle'.

You know I had to jump in on this and was happy to see some of my comments have been retweeted.  We also had some peeps try to derail the feed as many Black Tweeps predicted would happen and claim the racism is a figment of our imaginations or we're 'perpetuating it' by talking about it.

The #BlackPrivilege hashtag is now going global with respondents from other parts of the African Diaspora such as Canada and Great Britain starting to check in.

It'll be interesting to see how long the momentum continues with this and if it even gets any mainstream media coverage.

Somehow I doubt that it will. 

Is Marvel FINALLY Going To Greenlight The Black Panther Movie?

Rumors have been hot and heavy over the last year amongst Marvel comics fans about whether the film about their first African descended superhero, T'Challa, the Black Panther will finally be greenlighted and shown at a multiplex near you.

He's the Oxford PhD holding king of the mythical and technologically superior African nation of Wakanda, the only source of the world's vibranium.  He's also the husband of Storm, who is also of continental African heritage.

Black Panther does the superhero thang as a hobby because he's got enough haters trying to separate him from the Wakandan throne in addition to Western powers plotting to destabilize his never conquered nation to grab its vibranium supply, disease cures, and superior technology. 

So if the Black Panther movie does happen in the next two years, there will have to be a movie or a scene in it which Halle Berry, who plays Storm, hooks up with her hubby T'Challa or does a cameo.  

Damned skippy I'll be in line for it if it happens and especially if the rumor that Morris Chestnut is playing him turns out to be true.  I've always liked Morris Chestnut as an actor, and this tweet from him is being interpreted by peeps to indicate he got the part.

"It's time to get familiar with the Black Panther character!"

Chestnut does have the action movie chops to pull this off, and there were some folks suggesting that a continental African actor such as Djimon Hounsou, Brits Idris Elba or Chiwetel Ejiofor also be considered for the part.   

Bottom line is it's past time for an African descended Marvel superhero to hit the silver screen, and hope that the increasing chatter about a Black Panther movie is more than just jibber-jabber.

I hope to be seeing trailers for it and get a date I can cirle on the calendar to see it.

Bullying and Where Are the Parents?

Guest post from Renee of Womanist Musings

I have come to hate the term where are the parents because it ignores that parents can dedicate every waking minute to fighting for their kids and not make any progress because the system is not designed to be helpful.  I have also come to hate the term zero tolerance policy in reference to bullying because it's a lie. When my children were born, I promised to love them unconditionally, to support them and fight for them whenever necessary.  I have kept this vow but it has not been easy. The first time my oldest son was bullied, he was five years old and he was being called "brown boy." Today, the taunts have escalated and now he is being called the N word.

For the last two years, one boy on my son's bus has delighted in being a bully.  My son hasn't been his only victim but being Black, he is the only one being called a racial slur. I have talked to the school bus company and the principal and the best I have managed is to get the child booted off the bus for a week at a time.  This means my son gets a week of safety and comfort but as soon as the boy starts riding on the bus again, the process starts all over. In desperation, I called the NRP (Niagara Regional Police), hoping to push the idea that this amounted to harassment, but they wouldn't even take a report, let alone go out to the school and talk to the child in question or investigate.  They advised me to tell my son to just ignore the racial slurs and to tell him that the bully was simply maladjusted.  Apparently, what the bully is doing is not a crime.  I suggested that this situation was going to end up with my son seriously hurting this kid, the kid seriously hurting my son, or my son in a body bag, because this is what happens when bullying is ignored. The cop was quiet for a moment and simply said these things happen.  Apparently, someone has to be hurt or die for this to be taken seriously.

At present, I am trying to get in touch with the superintendent and getting the run around.  This recent incident isn't even a case of my son's word against the bully, because not only did other children confirm his story, so did the bus driver.  When I spoke to the bus company this morning, they admitted that the child in question has a history of this behaviour and promised to have the bus driver try to look out for my son.  How exactly can he look out for my son when he has to pay attention to the road? They cannot even institute a seating arrangement to force the child to sit up front, so that he is away from other children because that apparently would be too stigmatizing. My son has been hurt for two years by this bully but apparently, the bully's fee fees are more important.


So, where are the parents? Well, this parent is fighting to try and protect my child and it is the system that is failing our family.  I don't want to hear condolences after something serious happens, I want my baby boy to go to school in a safe environment and get a good education.  That is what my tax dollars pay for and what I have every right to expect as a Canadian citizen. A parent can call the schools, interact with the school board and even call the cops, but unless the system meets them halfway nothing changes.  Bullying continues to happen because despite their mediocre diversity classes and seminars on bullying, school officials don't give a damn and are not interested in substantive change.

It disgusts me that our story is not unique.  Across North America, there are families just like ours fighting.  We have had parents send their kids to school with stun guns, we have had a mother show up at the bus stop to beat up their child's bully, and we have had a father get on a school bus to cuss out their child's bullies and nothing changes. The parent gets into trouble and even in some cases arrested and charged, but what choice did they have?  There have been movies made about bullying and despite all of the lipservice being paid to ending bullying nothing has changed.  Yet, when a child dies, the refrain is always, "where are the parents?" More fool me, for teaching my son that the right answer is to trust the system to do its job and faithfully report these incidents. Every time there is a PSA on television, they advise children to speak to an adult and promise them that the bullying will stop, if they just manage to build up the courage to tell someone.  It's a lie and they are giving children false hope because it won't stop, even if they have parents dedicated to fighting for them.

So where do I go now? Yes the little ass is banned from the school bus for a week and it will give my son a small reprieve but given his history, it will simply happen again. I also have to worry about my youngest son who rides that same bus everyday.  He has heard the taunts and sees his brothers pain.  Bullying doesn't just effect one person but entire families.  I have demanded that he be removed from the bus or be forced to sit at the front and I don't think that this is asking too much.  I'm tired of being encouraged to have sympathy for the bully.  I was even asked how I would feel if the child had a disability, as though being disabled gives one license to be a bigoted asshole.  This is what they mean when they say zero tolerance - have tolerance and pity for the bully.  Our education system is broken because it is failing in its responsibility to protect marginalized or otherwise vulnerable kids. In short, the parents are here and we are fighting but nothing is changing and our kids remain vulnerable each and everyday this allowed to continue on unchecked.

Tracey, A Young Transkid With A Wonderful Family

I'm happy and have been for years to see young trans kids like Kim Petras (who is now a stunning twentysomething young woman) Jazz and Sadie (who are transteens headed in that direction), Nicole, Bobbi, Coy, and others we may not be aware of yet as a community being able to transition before puberty sets in.

One of the things that made me go hmm is why we haven't seen as yet a young African-descended trans kid or trans teen.  I thought that was odd considering one of the things I know about trans persons of color is that we tend to transition at earlier ages with Janet Mock being a prime example of that.

Well peeps, meet Tracy and her parents Garfield and Michelle.   Thanks to one of my long time readers Dominique Storni she sent me this link to an AM/BC interview with this amazing trans teen and her parents.

Tracy and other kids like her in the Great White North is why activists up there are fighting so hard to get the federal Trans Rights Bill passed and do the same in their various provinces. 

African, Trans* And Proud

As I keep repeating on this blog, being trans is part of the diverse mosaic of human life.   Trans people exist on every continent that humans inhabit, and that is also true of the second largest continent on planet Earth in Africa.   

A Transgender and Intersex Africa video project initiative is cranking up which backs up what I'm talking about. 

Transgender and Intersex Africa is a group for transgender people who are proud to be both African and Trans*.

They also emphatically point out to their detractors that being trans or Transgenderism is not a Western concept.


As they point out, they are not copying the West.   They are proud transpeople who know who they are!
As a matter of fact, some of the early pioneering European trans women such as Great Britain's April Ashley and France's Jacqueline-Charlotte Dufresnoy (AKA Coccinelle) went to Casablanca to have their surgeries done by Georges Bourou.  

Enjoy the first video in the series. 

African And Transgender

One of the things I want to do a better job of this year on TransGriot is get the stories of continental trans Africans out there.

Stumbled across this video from a YouTube video blogger who was born here in New York but whose parents are from the Mother Continent.   He discusses being African and trans.

Archbishop Tutu Reminds Ugandan MP's God Does Not Discriminate

TransGriot Note: Nobel laureate and Archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu wrote this op-ed that was originally published at the Ugandan-based  Daily Monitor    Hope they heed his words and ponder them while they are on holiday break

Uganda’s Parliament is – unbelievably – on the verge of considering a new piece of legislation that would have the effect of legalising persecution, discrimination, hatred and prejudice in that country.
Should the Anti-Homosexuality Bill be voted into law, it will criminalise acts of love between certain categories of people, just as the apartheid government made intimate relations between black and white South Africans a punishable offence.

Members of the apartheid police force charged with the upkeep of “morality” would rush into the bedrooms of suspected offenders to gather evidence, such as warm bed sheets. Those found guilty were arrested, put on trial and punished. What awaits the people of Uganda?

One thing that Ugandan legislators should know is that God does not discriminate among members of our family. God does not say black is better than white, or tall is better than short, or football players are better than basketball players, or Christians are better than Muslims … or gay is better than straight. No. God says love one another; love your neighbour. God is for freedom, equality and love.

People have over many centuries devised all kinds of terrible instruments to oppress other people. Usually, they have rationalised their awful actions on the basis of their belief in their own superiority, in their culture, in their spiritual beliefs, in their skin colour. Thus, they argue, they are justified to hate and bomb and maim the “other”.

The anti-homosexuality legislation now under consideration in Uganda is just such an instrument. Nelson Mandela said: “No one is born hating another person.” If people are taught and can learn to hate, they can learn to love.

Many times in my life, I have been blessed to witness the innate capacity of our human family to reconcile differences. The common denominator in all these transactions is recognition that the notion of equal rights in any family, in any society, is non-negotiable. No sane person or group of people can sustainably argue that their rights should be more equal than others.

If what I am told is true, that the anti-homosexuality legislation in Uganda has widespread popular support, it should surely be the moral duty of the custodians of that country to educate its citizens about discrimination and equal rights. Surely, it should be their duty to clarify the fundamental misunderstandings in communities about what it means to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex (LGBTI).

The depiction of members of the LGBTI community as crazed and depraved monsters threatening the welfare of children and families is simply untrue, and is reminiscent of what we experienced under apartheid and what the Jews experienced at the hands of the Nazis.

To those who claim that homosexuality is not part of our African culture, you are conveniently ignoring the fact that LGBTI Africans have lived peacefully and productively beside us throughout history.
I am proud that in South Africa, when we succeeded in overthrowing apartheid, we put in place a Constitution that prohibited all forms of discrimination, including discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

We did this because we understood that the freedom of one depends upon the freedom of all. We call it the spirit of ubuntu: the idea that I cannot be free if you are not also free.

A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, and does not feel threatened by others’ differences, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.

The ideology of racial superiority that was once used to justify the colonisation of our lands is part of our recent history. Today, we face a new challenge. We must overcome the notion that sexual orientation defines one’s identity or determines one’s station in life – or unjustly elevates one class of people over another.
It is with supreme sorrow that I witness, to this day, the subjugation and repression of African brothers and sisters whose only crime is the practice of love. Hate, in any form or shape, has no place in the house of God.

I urge the people of Uganda to reject hatred and prejudice.

Love comes more naturally to the human heart than hate.

Miss Canada Universe 2012 Is A Sistah!

While I didn't get to see Jenna Talackova take the 2012 Miss Canada Universe crown, I'll have another reason to watch the Miss Universe pageant besides seeing if Miss USA finally wins the title for the first time in over a decade or booing Donald Chump Trump when it's televised from Las Vegas on December 19.

I'll have even more of a reason to watch in 2013.  The Miss Universe pageant system will be open to trans women, so it should be interesting to see if any trans woman wins their national pageant next year.

But back to discussing Canadian pageant developments.

If you ever wondered if the first runner up ever get to compete or move up to become the main titleholder, yes they do for various reasons.

Turns out Miss Canada Universe 2012 Sahar Biniaz due to hurting her foot days before she was supposed to arrive in Las Vegas December 2-4 for the rehearsals and the Miss Universe preliminary competition that will take place December 13, will not be able to represent the Great White North.
 

Because of Biniaz's injury, the Miss Canada Universe pageant's first runner up, 24 year old Adwoa Yamoah from Calgary will take her place as Canada's representative in this pageant.   The 1.75m beauty (5'9") will join the other 88 women from around the world competing for the Miss Universe 2012 title and be crowned by outgoing Miss Universe 2011 queen Leila Lopes..

I'll have to double check that, but I believe Yamoah also becomes the first African descended woman to represent Canada at Miss Universe.  She was born in Accra, Ghana and moved to Canada as a child.  

So yep, may have to put down the Stars and Stripes and root for the north of the border contestant even though Miss USA hasn't won it since 1999. 

Good luck Adwoa.

David Bahati-The Man Who Introduced The 'Kill The Gays' Bill

The Ugandan 'Kill The Gays' bill has been getting renewed attention since the speaker of the Ugandan Parliament Rebecca Kadaga announced their intent to pass it before Christmas to the world's horror and the racist American fundies like Scott Lively's glee.

Since one of our Ugandan trans sisters wrote an open letter to her parliament urging the bill be defeated, thought I needed to shed some light on how this odious bill came to exist.

It came into existence due to the negative influence of American christobigots like Lively, they in 2009 injected virulent homophobia into Ugandan politics with two of its conduits being Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and MP David Bahati,  who introduced the draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill with its death penalty provision in 2009.

Rachel Maddow got the chance to interview Bahati back in 2010, when the initial international condemnation about the 'Kill the Gays' bill later forced its withdrawal. 



Bahati happens to be one of the key international members of Scott Lively's shadowy group The Family. 

Activists from Sexual Minorities for Uganda struck back by suing Lively in a Massachusetts federal court.

The suit accuses Lively of violating international law by inciting the persecution of gay men and lesbians in Uganda and names four Ugandan co-conspirators: Stephen Langa and Martin Ssempa, evangelists active in the anti-gay movement; Bahati, and James Buturo, the former minister of ethics and a proponent of the legislation.

While that suit is winding its way through our federal court system, unfortunately the Ugandan.LGBT community still have to deal with the crap Lively and David Bahati set in motion in Kampala. 

We must do everything we can along with the international community to help our Ugandan TBLG brothers and sisters kill this unjust bill.

Ugandan Trans Woman's Open Letter To Parliament

TransGriot Note: As a transgender child of the African Diaspora, this 'Kill the Gays' bill is my business as well.  I'm sad and disgusted to say it was pushed by white American christobigots and does affect trans people who live in Uganda.  A Ugandan trans woman wrote this letter asking her members of Parliament to reject the so-called "kill the gays" bill.


Dear Honorables,

I greet you all in your distinguished capacities. I have never even for a second thought that I would ever have to write a letter to parliament, that my words would even have to be read by a people as you. I find myself, though, at a point in my life, where fate — if you believe in it — has bestowed upon me this duty to speak for the many voiceless out there, who like myself, find themselves at a point where your decision will determine if they will get to take another breath in this country, as free citizens or not. I pray then, that my words may not be in vain, but that they may appeal to that humanity that I know lies at the core of each of you.

I go by the alias of Cleo. I am a 26-year-old transgendered person. With my ambitious persona and insatiable thirst for knowledge, I’ve managed to see myself through school to the post-graduate level. I am a public worker, a scientist and a researcher to be specific, and earn an honest living from that. I am a Pentecostal Christian, loving God, though with my liberalist and realist values, I respect other people’s sentiments, however divergent they are from my own.

I was born a biologically male child to two very loving parents, Batooro by decent. Despite the love and care that they bestowed upon me, my childhood was tainted with a lot of misery. Being a transgender person, with my atypical behavior, and dress code that seemed to clash terribly with the stereotypical gender requirements of my society, I was faced with a lot of rejection from friends and family alike.

My family and friends have — with time and a lot of patience and struggle — come to understand my situation and not to judge me. A few months ago, when I made a monumental decision to fully transition into a girl, they have shown me so much affection and support, especially psychologically. For me, I consider this [one of] the biggest successes in my life; That my family and friends, despite our divergent values and their earlier negative sentiments, have finally managed, through a very strenuous process — that I should say, was not without wounds and tears — to understand and accept me, as a person, as their child, as their friend, as their sibling. Because that is the basic essence of what brings us together.

Being a transgendered person is not about who I am attracted to sexually. It's about what gender I identify with. Being a trans girl means that I was born biologically male, but with the physiology and psychology of a girl. At puberty I experienced a male, but largely female, pubertal development that left me very confused and rejected in all my social circles, for I was the black sheep. My parents did not know whether to protect me from boys or girls, but finally it so happened that I was brought up in a girls’ hostel up to the age of 15.

Growing up a transgender person meant that I had to deal with my teenage burdens alone with not a soul to tell — not my parents or peers or siblings — to disclose my darkest secrets. To cry myself to sleep every night, wishing I was dead, to battle with depression and suicidal tendencies — that’s all I remember in my teenage life.

I wonder then, why people say it was my choice to be this way. Why would anyone choose a life as lonely as this, a life of misery, pain, rejection, abuse and depression? And though I made it, many haven’t, because their self-esteem, their confidence, and their vitality, fails them in light of all the negativities that surround them. It’s hardly the disgustingly abusive world that the media paints of us, for if there is any abuse sustained even then by any party, it’s by us.

I ask myself, how one can judge me, before one even knows me. I understand this though, because for so long I was hated by people before they even knew me.

Being transgender, like being gay or a lesbian, is not a choice. What is rather a choice is accepting it for a fact. What is a choice is if you — at some point in life —decide to not live a masked life, under the guise of a straight, or asexual person like I did, and restrain yourself, from everything that you know you are from the core of your being.

It is very hard living your life through other people’s eyes; trying hard to make them happy while you restrain yourself of who you are, or even demonize your actual being because of their negativities. It's a strange reality that I can loosely liken to solitude in a crowd, for even though there were so many people around me, none of them knew me for who I was — for I deliberately concealed a part of me that I considered a flaw to my being.

At some point though, I realized, just like everyone does in life, that I could not live entirely on other people’s perceptions of who I was, battling to make other people happy at my own life’s expense. For we all have but one life to live. I came to the realization that I alone knew better who I was, and that I had a rare opportunity to let people know who I was, and not let them tell me who I was. It had been a sad existence of existing, but not quite living, of living a lie, trying to convince myself —and ultimately others — what I was, what I wasn’t, and I was determined to end that cycle.

As a transgender person, I envision a utopia of gender neutrality, where all the genders in all their entireties are able to coexist together, and live in utter harmony and mutual respect of one another. So that, if not to accept, they might tolerate each other, just like we have tried to do as people of different tribes, colors, religions, value systems and races; it’s the measure of our maturity as a civilization.

I believe then, that in the same regard that all diversities — racial, tribal, religious, sexual, and gender alike — instead of being criminalized and demonized, should be celebrated and empowered, so that rather than to condemn a sect of a few people to social redundancy, all the human resource that Uganda boasts of can be fully tapped.

Let’s not then condemn ourselves, so that when people in the future look back at us, they will do so, just like we do at our ancestors, and exclaim how inhuman and selfish they were to disregard the existence of a few people because of their color and race. Gender diversity and sexual orientation is no premise to crucify someone, just because you do not agree with how someone dresses, what they act like, or who they sleep with.

What then, I ask myself, are we teaching the future generations? Morality even at the expense of life? Morality in the eyes of a few self-righteous people? That all people aren’t the same, if they are different? That it is okay to be selfish?

But being transgender — as much as it is my gender identity — does not holistically define who I am.

As people, like facets of a gem, we are complex in our ambitions and aspirations. We are unique in our personalities, talents, and value systems. It is these things in their entirety, but none of them in unison of others that defines us. The binary reductionist paradigm of looking at life as being either black or white — rather than as a continuum of several shades — fails to address the issues of life as it is. I am only different because I am transgender, but other than that, I am human, with red blood coursing through my veins just like you, with family and friends that care for me deeply, with personal sentiments and feeling like you do. I cry and laugh like you do, but I cannot be reduced and labeled as transgender, as an item on a supermarket stall, because that’s not all I am. As a person, I am more than that.

Being transgender and having been rejected most of my life has taught serenity in the storm. It has taught perseverance, even when the storm wails on. It has taught me to respect other people despite their differences, and has taught me to be patient. It has taught me that life is not about being perfect, because in our flaws, in all our insecurities and in our inadequacies, we all have something to offer on the table. And that we are meant, as humans, to shine together, but not in solitude. And that we must help our brothers and sisters to shine, but not to trample upon them. To exist and live together, that is what humanity was meant for. For no man or woman is an island. For alone we burn out, and fail, but together we flourish. 

Finally, we must not forget our ultimate calling and obligation. For by virtue of our humanity, we ought to love others like we love ourselves, and treat them with the same delicacy and sensitivity that we wish be accorded us.

I pray then, that in your deliberations, by the power vested in you, you may not forget our concerns — as humans, as Ugandans, as your brothers, sisters, mother and fathers.

With respect,

Cleo. K.

Mia Nikasimo: Transgender Community As An African In The Diaspora

One of the things I love to highlight is trans voices of the African Diaspora, and one of those voices from the Mother Continent speaking eloquently for people on the second largest continent on the planet has been Nigerian Mia Nikasimo..

Not only do I enjoy reading their words and wanting to learn about their perspectives of being a transperson in various nations on the African continent,  as a child of the African Diaspora I extend an open invitation to my Diaspora trans brothers and trans sisters there, the Caribbean and elsewhere to guest post here if you feel the need to do so. 

But here's a taste of what Mia had to say about the subject.

When I think of the plight of the transgender community as an African in the Diaspora I’m reminded of all those little murders that happen daily in the name of propriety or why most of them happen in the western world. In Africa most transgender people are underground so nobody knows any better but as a friend argues it is no surprise. “If African transgender people were out they’d suffer the same plight as their sistren and brethren in the west,” and don’t we know it?

This post she wrote at Black Looks definitely needs to be signal boosted.

Happy 50th Birthday, Trinidad And Tobago!

Jamaica wasn't the only Caribbean island nation celebrating its 50th anniversary of independence from Great Britain this year.  The twin island nation of Trinidad and Tobago is also doing so as well

At a few moments before midnight on August 30, 1962 in Port of Spain's Woodford Square, the Union Jack was lowered for the last time and in its place at midnight was raised the red, black and white flag of Trinidad for the first time.   It was the catalyst for more than a week of festivities and events across the country from August 28 to September 5 during that first Independence Day celebration.

Noted Caribbean historian Dr Eric Eustace Williams became its first prime minister, with the 'Father of the Nation' holding that position until his death in 1981.

Its current prime minister is Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who is the seventh person to do so and has served as prime minister since May 2010. She also hods the distinction as the first Trini woman to do so.  Here's the address she delivered on the occasion of Trinidad and Tobago's Golden Jubilee 

The 1.3 million people who call the islands home along with the people across the Diaspora who proudly claim Trini heritage in just 50 years as an independent nation have impacted the world in many fields and been history making trailblazers as well. 

They have produced a Nobel Prize winner, scholars in various fields, Olympic medal winning athletes and sporting legends, chart topping innovative musicians and artists such as Nicki Minaj and have created an educational system in their nation renowned across the Caribbean and the world. .  

Of the four African descended women to win the Miss Universe crown, two of them hail from Trinidad and Tobago. Janelle Commissiong (1977) was the first ever to do so with Wendy Fitzwilliam doing so in 1998.   The steelpan, the only instrument created in the 20th century was invented there and in 2006 Trinidad and Tobago became the smallest nation by population to qualify for the World Cup Soccer tournament finals..  

Interestingly enough, want to point out the first transperson purported to have SRS from the Caribbean, activist Jowelle De Souza, hails from that island nation as well. .

To all my Trinidad and Tobago readers, Happy Independence Day!   May you have many more to come.  .   .

Ugandan Team Makes LLWS History

When the Little League World Series comes on, I'll take some time to watch the games that are broadcast on ESPN because it does take me back to when I played Little League ball back in the day but never got the opportunity to play for my league's All-Star team.  

I have a deep appreciation of how hard it is to not only make your individual Little League's all star team, but go through the various regional playoffs in your state and region to get to Williamsport, PA where they play the Little League World Series.

I was excited to see for the second time ever in the 66 year history of the LLWS, a team from the African continent break through their region chock full of Middle East based Little League teams with children of expat Americans working in the area and win.

Last year a team from Kampala, Uganda beat a strong Saudi Arabian team in the Middle East-Africa regional finals to become the first African team ever to qualify for the LLWS. 

But the joy over that landmark accomplishment was dashed when problems arose with the Ugandan team’s visas and player birth records.  That resulted in the Saudi team they vanquished making the trip to Williamsport

This year's team from the Mehta Little League didn't have that problem since they made certain it was comprised of all 11 year olds and the visas were cleared by the US State Department.  But they still had to successfully navigate the Middle East/Africa regional tournament in Kutno, Poland once again in order to make history.         

That road to reach the LLWS began in July with a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia due to a two run homer hit by the Saudis in the top of the 6th inning.   The kids from Lugazi bounced back the next day to beat Dubai 6-0 in the first of their must-win games to stay alive in the double elimination tournament.  They had to play two must-win games the following day, beating Qatar 13-1 and Kuwait 8-0 to get to the July 16 MEA Regional Championship game. 

They beat Kuwait 5-2 to make it the second straight year a Ugandan team has claimed the Middle East/Africa regional tournament title and qualified for the Little League World Series.   The Mehta Little League team scored 33 runs in five MEA tourney games with four of them being pressure packed must win ones.  They gave up only 5 runs in the MEA Regional to begin the trip of a lifetime representing their town,their country and get a shot at winning the world championship. 

The Ugandan squad knew they would be underdogs when they arrived here to play the more experienced international Little League teams, and on Friday they lost to Aguadulce, Panama, 9-3.  The next day Uganda lost to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico 12-0 to eliminate them from international division championship consideration ans send them to a consolation game against Gresham, OR..  

In their consolation game against the Gresham, OR squad today they broke through for a 3-2 win, the first ever by an African based LLWS squad. 

     



They will officially have a 1-2 record, but they will leave Williamsport having made many fans and accomplishing their goal of making friends.   Once the Little League World Series is over they will take in a minor league baseball game and see the United Nations building in New York before heading back home

They will also go back home knowing that they accomplished something that no other African based little league team has ever done in terms of winning a game at the LLWS.