Trans: Transgender Life Stories from South Africa Book

Acknowledgements iv

Foreword Anthony Manion Liesl Theron 3

Glossary 5

Introduction 9

Life stories and fiction

Robert Hamblin: My name is 13

Leo's story: "A boy in my dreams and imagination" 19

Charl's story: "Back in the 70s there was no support" 27

Prier's story: "For a short time I seemed to be a woman, my face felt soft" 35

Lyndsay's story: "Gender for me has always been a complex question" 39

Kgaogelo's story: "Gogos would refer to me as ngwaninyana" 49

Marlene's story: "I felt lonely trying to be a man" 57

Vanya's story: "I'm a full woman" 63

Vanya's mother's story: "Let your child be" 71

Petra D's story: "I'm an in-between person" 75

Laura's story: "I was sewing the world together" 81

Alex's story: "It's not a penis that makes a man" 87

Charlie's story: "It is all about what's in your heart" 97

Chantelle's story: "Living close to the edge" 103

Lester's story: "Living it out" 111

Tebogo's story: "My ancestor was living through me" 119

Joy's story: "Now I make my own maps" 129

Robert's story: "Oh! This is what it feels like to be normal" 137

Amanda Watson: Real life 141

Angelique's story: "Sent back to the DRC" 145

Candice's story: "Smooth-sailing" 151

Liesl Theron: The SOFFA perspective 155

"This testosterone thing is opening doors" 163

Simone's story: "Three of us took on the entire system" 179

Zama's story: "To be the best man I can be" 185

Zama's brother's story: "I kept him close, I befriended him" 191

Zana's story: "Yes Mama, I want to be a woman" 195

Nazmah's story: "You could see the girl shining out" 199

Terrick's story: "Your body isn't who you are, it's what you are in" 205

Keisha's story: "When you please everybody else you destroy yourself" 211

Making sense of the silences: A group discussion 217

Epilogue 240

Index 241