When Your Hole Is Full

So today I got gatvol. South Africans will know what that means - it means "your hole is full".

Yeah, I'm really angry about this.

I call this one: "Alright, I'll Fucking Do It, Then!"

What's this about? This morning I emailed a five page, properly formatted complaint with a dozen references and attachments to the SAHRC.

After Zille's public display of transphobia some weeks back, I took casual notes of who was upset by this, and who didn't care, and what groups published objections and corrective statements admonishing Zille, and the DA for not taking any stance on the matter whatsoever, like the duplicitous cowards they are - and who came rushing to voice their defense of Helen and her TERF hatred. DA supporters. Including GLB_IQ+ DA supporters and "Helen fans", if that's what I can call them.

What I can call them is transphobes. And "not allies".

Do you know which political party spoke out against Zille's transphobic outburst in April? The ANC. And they were the only one to do so. Sure, it was probably just to take a jab at the DA, but they were willing to take a stand for transgender people and our rights in order to do so. Makes one think, doesn't it? Or at least, it should.

To my knowledge, after asking around if anyone had lodged any complaints with the SA Human Rights Commission about this disgraceful transphobic public incitement to hate, nobody was able to give me a straight answer - or even an answer. In fact, nobody even replied.

Even an activist I asked, who runs an NGO representing transgender interests in South Africa, said they hadn't either, and showed little to no interest in doing so.

A number of related bodies (PATHSA for example) have critized Zille for her comments, but there's no sign that any of these bodies did anything more than that.

As some of you know, I retired from organized LGBTQ+ rights advocacy back in 2018 to focus on other areas of my life: First my writing, and now my studies. I literally have no time for anything else these days - I work, and I do research. It's going to be this way for the next few years.

In the midst of this, drama that undermines trans rights in South Africa is most disturbing - and what's even more disturbing is that nobody seems interested in doing anything about it. That is, nobody ELSE is.

So here it is, fed-up, gatvol and utterly pissed off and enraged that nobody else in the country - seemingly no transgender person, no human rights organization - appeared to care enough to do something about it - I finally took it upon myself to lodge a complaint with the SAHRC. This I did in my personal capacity as a South African citizen and a transwoman, and as an individual without the backing of any group, NGO or NPO or organization.

To the people running NGOs, NPOs and other LGBTIQ+ etc / human rights and social justice organizations, if funded, who have sat on their laurels on this issue, shame on you. You should return the money - you don't deserve it.

To the "activists" out there who lose their marbles every time some politican or religious figure brainfarts anything remotely critical about LGB_QI+ people and issues, but remain silent because it's "only trans people" and doesn't affect you, you need to make way for people who really care about human rights and social justice - and aren't hypocritical about it.

To the "activists" - within and without the LGBTIQ+ community - who claim to oppose transphobia, who favor the convenience of not publicly criticizing the DA or Zille - or holding them accountable because you either don't care about trans issues, or are transphobic yourselves, or because you value the DA as being supposedly "gay friendly" over trans lives - in my view, you're an idiot for believing the DA cares about anything but money and power - and a lot of cowards.

To the community news services who delete their news articles about these senstive issues depicting the DA in a bad light, mere days after posting them - you know who you are - I have your number. I also have news for you - I have a habit of downloading and saving sources for future reference.

If I were still running ECGLA or SAGLAAD when this went down, you can bet that the whole damn country would've known about the displeasure of the entire SA LGBTIQ+ community wrt Zille's transphobia and TERF ideology, and the betrayal of the transgender community by the so-called "pro-LGBTQI+" Democratic Alliance.

Instead of this being handled by existing professionals in the field, people with financial backing, premises, staff and current standing as registered advocacy organizations, I as an individual needed to take valuable hours away from working on my study assignment, to do this myself.

Yes, I am bitching about it. And I feel I have a reason to.

To think that nobody else in South Africa - and I'm not just addressing this to "allies", but also to fellow transgender people and "activists" - couldn't be arsed to do this. The silence on this matter is deafening. Zille did this once before, in 2023, and she got away with that as well. If she is not held accountable this time, she will do it again - that's a guarantee.

I see people complaining about the proliferation of fake news and false information in social media, but it seems it's only the disinformation they disagree with that bothers them.

Tell y'all something - if Helen ever did get her way one day, and got into a position of power to police gender in line with her TERF ideology - a lot of innocent people would be harmed by that. And nothing - not even your DA membership card or t-shirt - would prevent that.

People in this country need to stop thinking only of themselves and what's best for them. Stop thinking "oh, someone else will fight that battle for me", because people like me won't always be around to fight your battles for you. Grow a spine, grow a goddamn conscience - care about the people being targeted by those pointing fingers, telling lies and inciting hate. Don't be a hypocrite. Hold the haters accountable - no matter who they are, or what party they represent or work for, no matter if they otherwise say things you agree with, no matter if they are rich and powerful, or even if they look like you.

Just do the right thing.

Holy fuck! It's not that fucking hard!