Starting a trans feminist movement in Africa has been a blessing and a challenge. I am saying this as a leader and a founder of Social, Health and Empowerment Feminist Collective of Transgender Women in Africa (S.H.E), a pioneering organisation working on trans women’s issues utilizing a feminist lens. S.H.E was founded in 2010. The reason I locate this as a blessing is merely to recognise that we are talking about trans women and feminism – an opportunity for engagement. My calling it a challenge is to denote the deeply troubling history between trans identities and feminist discourse. This discourse has never been institutionalised before, all we knew when I founded this organisation/movement was about its troubled relationship with feminism, and so taking on the role of purposefully engaging, debating and dialoguing about the issues facing transgender women, have not been favourably received, at least not by everyone.
The lack of recognition of trans women’s issues as being important to the women’s and feminist movement(s) is not only purported by civil society. Donors and development agencies are a part of the problem.
“I am sorry to inform you, however, that we are unable to support your efforts. As you may know, we are a grantmaking foundation that supports women’s groups working to advance the human rights of women and girls. Although your activities may be related to women’s issues, in light of our criteria and the large number of requests we receive, we must balance the limited resources that we have available against the many needs expressed by women worldwide”.
