All Animals Are Equal

I read a report via Ex-gay Watch today regarding the Maryland legislature extending non-discrimination protections to transgender persons. It made me think. America is not exactly the most Pink rights progressive country in the world yet some states are a few steps ahead of South Africa in a way.

Gender Identity is a term nowhere to be found in the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of 1996 and also shines in its absence in the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, 4 of 2000 (Equality Act). Sexual orientation, intersex, gender, race, birth, conscience and just about any other determinant appears in the Equality Act, but not Gender Identity.

Owing to a judicial matters amendment act, persons do not have to undergo complete gender reassignment surgery before they are allowed to change their sex and names on their birth certificate and identity document. This affords transgender and transsexual people in South Africa a modicum of fairness. We sure have come a long way since the abominable twighlight zone in which many people had to live, embarrassment lived through when dealing with law enforcement officials and government bureaucrats. A de facto double life steeped in shame and debasement. Some things do change for the better.

It doesn't distract from my main concern however. I am still flummoxed at why the negotiators, politicians and judicial officials at the Congress for a Democratic South Africa chose to ignore the term Gender Identity. I am still astounded as to why the drafters of the 1996 Constitution also somehow "forgot" to include Gender Identity in section 9 of the Bill of Rights. Confounded I am on why the newly established Constitutional Court who ratified the Constitution of 1996 seemingly overlooked the gaping wound. And coloured confused as to why the South African Human Rights Commission and their very pro-egalitarian commissioners, legal staff, state law advisors and the parliamentary committee overseeing the Equality Act omitted Gender Identity. Am I pondering ignorance, am I hugely mistaken or was the intention to protect the trans community through the ubiquitous gender clauses? I admit forthrightly that I am not a legal practitioner but have learnt a lot over the three years I have been politically active and participating in Pink rights advocacy.

There seems to be a complete lack of awareness regarding transgender issues in South Africa. We have one venerable organisation called Gender DynamiX who lobbies for and works to protect the trans community and they are doing sterling work. As far as I know they are also the only trans-directed organisation on the African continent. Politics is a numbers game and even though we have Gender DynamiX, we need a lot more people to wade into trans activism.

Of course our rights are interrelated and inextricably and inexplicably interlinked. My colleague and friend coined the term "Pink community" as an umbrella term for all non-heterosexual and non-cisgendered people, and of course our allies. The LGBTI acronym is fundamentally flawed in that it places people in pigeon-holes and creates a semantic prison of term entrapment. It has at the heart of it a one-dimensional understanding of human existence and an unfortunate byproduct of inherent exclusion. Never will any alphabet soup term, no matter how long and convoluted and contrived encompass our diversity when what we dearly need is unity in our rich diversity. So no matter where you fit in the Pink community the lack of trans protections ought to bother you as well. The South African term, "an injury to one is an injury to all", is not a random statement. The persons who fought for democracy here understood that fascism doesn't care which kind of "wrong" you are.

I have listened to Lady Gaga's Born This Way too many times today, I had a very long distance to drive so allow me to be so pedestrian as to quote a little phrase: "No matter gay, straight, or bi,
lesbian, transgendered life, I'm on the right track baby, I was born to survive." Lady Gaga clearly doesn't ignore the transgender topic. And neither should anyone of us. It doesn't matter if you don't understand it, if you have some irrational fear for it (often masquerading as intense dislike), challenge yourself! You are not as inept or inane as people would lead you to believe. Research, read, ask questions.

Whenever I hear people speaking of "Gay Pride" I cringe. And ditto for "the Gay Flag" -- there's no such thing. Get out of your ghetto.

Very infrequently a statement is made that outlives the event, country and author, Gandhi comes to mind but a statement that is as relevant today as when it was said is a statement by Pastor Niemoller after the Nazi-era, and it has reference to this topic as well:

First They came... - Pastor Martin Niemoller
"First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me."

What are you doing? Are you speaking out regarding the human rights blackout? Maybe it is worth considering...