A Transphobic Transperson? How Does That Even Work?

*Ahem*

So this PM comes courtesy of a person who, unlike most of you here on FB, I have met in real life and knew personally. Let me regail you:

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.

Devilsdorp - An Objective Review From A Truth-telling Perspective

Last night, as an "assignment" to aid in formulating the outline of content for my upcoming doctoral thesis for next year, I watched all 4 episodes of "Devilsdorp", and took notes. I found it a very interesting show. Here are my thoughts in brief:

Helen Zille, Using Dehumanizing Language, Incites Hate Against SA Transgender Community!

So transgender people are "a contagion"? So I'm a "contagion", am I, Helen Zille?

The use of dehumanizing language like this is absolutley outrageous, horrifying and beyond the fucking pale! Such hateful dehumanizing language is the dominion of Nazis, eugenicists and megalomaniacs - not of anyone presenting themselves as champions of democracy, equality and human rights! I'm truly shocked to see someone who was once considered those things deteriorate to such an extent as to be completely unrecognizeable.

At this point, the back of her neck should be checked for a zipper - to see if she's some sort of reptillian hiding in a human suit. How utterly cold-blooded and utterly evil must she be to begrudge a persecuted minority (as transgender people are worldwide) simple legal dignities and protections from persecution?

Make no mistake, Zille has been captured by transphobic propaganda - which defies logic, science and common sense, and has forsaken things the rest of us take for granted - compassion, humanity, and empathy.

What's most concerning about this is that Zille - clearly an out-of-touch dinosaur desperately seeking to remain relevant on the stage of current affairs, has been the main reason for the DA's lurch towards the extreme right in the last 10 years: support for Israel's genocide in Gaza, and her loud-mouthed attacks on transgender people made in social media and circulated in the press, to name just two examples.

As a South African transwoman this sort of blatant transphobic incitement to hatred is deeply troubling - especially when it comes from a leader of a party that supposedly contradicts the claimed ethos and principles of that party.

The DA refused to censure her previous TERF remarks attacking transgender people - which were as based in ignorance and malicious stupidity as her latest diatribe - on the grounds that "she has a right to her opinion". Well, no, she doesn't - "free speech" does not include permission to utter hate speech - especially not when she's a leading figure of a political party using that platform and her fame and influence to incite hatred and intolerance for an already persecuted minority group.

If the DA will not speak out or take action against Zille, then that is an admission that they fully agree with her. In which case, their entire premise, principles, mandate, ethos and platform, is a lie. In which case I hope every trans-ally, every LGBTQ+ South African, every person with a conscience and an aversion to a culture of hate and scapegoating, ceases their support for that party forthwith.

Suffice it to say, that if global news coverage of the ongoing genocide in Gaza is not sufficient to dissuade the "Democratic Alliance" from supporting Israel to the hilt, why would they care a damn about their "fearless leader" inciting hatred against transgender South Africans from the platform of her fame and influence in her DA leadership role?

This latest scandal of Zille's utterances of hatred - which praise the actions of hate abroad while also inciting more actions of hate HERE in South Africa - in the midst of already horrific hate rising in the UK against the mere existence of transgender people AND in the US, where transgender people are being legislated into criminality simply for existing - is simply unacceptable! In fact, it is diabolical!

Some sort of action MUST be taken against her for this. There HAS to be consequences for uttering such blatant hate, because it inciteful - and it's obvious what she will attempt to do next, as a politician of high influence within the DA - she will attempt to replicate the actions of her role-models in the UK and US here in South Africa.

Spoiler Alert: Nazis Don't Like To Be Called Out For Their Nazism

So this fella - who has to be a fake profile - figures I'm an "English scumbag typical from UK descendant" screeching like a fishwife in all caps (with multiple !!!!!!!! of course) - and he's going to make me famous for "calling Afrikaners Nazis" (referring to the 70k+ Afrikaners who applied to take Trump's offer recently).

There are clearly a few things this person (if it is indeed a person, not a bot) doesn't know.

South Africa, Land Expropriation Facts vs Fiction & Afriforum's Treasonous Ambitions To Ask Trump To Overthrow SA Govt

To make it clear, Americans wondering what Afriforum is hysterically waving its arms about, this should help explain the new South African expropriation law for the uninitiated:

(Special note for context: when the initial announcement of this bill came some years ago, it was a lot less clear - and together with heckling from equally racist individuals demanding all whites be evicted from the country, there was some concern, even panic among all property owners.

Afriforum, an organized lobby group representing Afrikaner interests, deliberately played on fears that ALL private property would suddenly start to be expropriated, even along racial lines, and gained a massive increase in their support and membership - albeit a multicultural, multiracial mix of such.

Sadly, I too was swept up in that initial wave of concern initially - but because they claimed to represent the interests of residents and property owners (I am a property owner btw) and said some fairly innoccuous-sounding "right things", I too showed them some support. But it wasn't very long afterwards that I discovered their right-wing leanings and connections to neo-Nazi (others would play that association down and call them "conservative" - I don't like to mince words) groups around the world and in South Africa too, and terminated all levels of my relationship with them a number of years ago - long before this bill was even signed into law earlier this year.

That said, the final product is a lot clearer and easy to understand, and because I have a clear understanding of this now, I can see there's no reason to panic.)

In fact, it's even less invasive and draconian than the original law that governed expropriations under the old NP (Apartheid) government. That government used the earlier law to expropriate land whenever and wherever it wished to do so - and one look at the history of SA and the Group Areas Act should suffice to demonstrate my point. Yes, some money was exchanged - it is claimed "market value", but many people lost their private homes to political agendas to separate South Africans of varying races from living amongst each other and entire communities were obliterated in the name of white supremacy.

The new bill, as stated, does not target private homes as such, and only under very specific conditions - and only after following a rigorous legal process. I'm not sure if Afriforum has even read this law, or understands it and is just continuing to spread false information anyway - but the truth of the matter is, the South African government - just like the colonial British government did before it - has always possessed the power to expropriate property from South Africans. The only difference has been, and continues to be, the wording of that power. To date, not a single case of expropriation without compensation has occurred in South Africa - and the wording of the above FAQ slides provided by the Dept of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) explains the circumstances, conditions and process for it to happen pretty succinctly and simply.

If Afriforum understands this, or is as confused as the USA's new Predator in Chief seems to be by the concept of tariffs, isn't crystal clear to me - but suffice it to say they've done a good job of misrepresenting the facts.

The question we need to ask ourselves as South Africans is, why any group of local people would go to the trouble of approaching a foreign power to present blatant lies and disinformation that - if believed - could do serious harm to our country's image, economy, and even stability?

Surely this is an incident of enormous gravity with epic consequences? They have not only embarrassed South Africa on the international stage, but sought to ultimately topple our democratically elected government by means of convincing that foreign power to bring pressure to bear - politically, socially and economically sabotaging South Africa for the sake of achieving their own ends. It is treason, by every definition of the word.

Make no mistake, Afriforum does not have any of our interests at heart - only the interests of their wealthy backers, who most likely stand the most to lose.

It's not in their interests to examine the facts, read and understand the resultant new law - to relent and say "oh, we were wrong about this, there's nothing to be afraid of if it's administered justly as afvertised".

Why?

Because fear is their main undercurrent - fear keeps their membership full of people willing to pay money, even R50 a month - to support their activities - which sadly, are nowhere near as good, benificent, noble or patriotic as they pretend they are.

Sure, they may fix a few potholes here and there - but that's only to win over hearts and minds - and so they can point out how "useless" the SA government is. And having a threat or an enemy to unite people against is what keeps them in business - a mass of supporters who feel culturally vindicated and productive. Even if they are being fed lies upon lies. This is the essence of populism, folks. Are you really stupid enough to fall for that?

It's exactly this sort of crap that put their would-be savior, Trump, back in the Oval Office, building his foundation on populism and fear-mongering and sowing divisions between Americans. That's why they were comfortable approaching him to help them - their aim isn't to "protect white South African's homes" (which are in no danger according to the law) but to deliver a scare tactic through blatant lies (there have been no such expropriations under this law) in the hope that Trump will assist them in overthrowing our democratically elected government.

And make no mistake, regardless of where we sit on party politics, as South Africans, this coalition government (GNU) is our democratically elected government - but this doesn't sit well with our local Nazis.

The ANC is too left-wing and dark-skinned for Afriforum's comfort - and the DA is majority white, but too liberal for their tastes as well. And they know they would never get anywhere if they acted openly as a political party - just as their stablemate, the FF+ hasn't and never will.

Afriforum is an extremist group. There's no denying that fact. They've literally just acted out in their extremism by taking domestic issues before the court of a foreign oligarch. And yet, there are still plenty of locals who will see this article - and my posts about this aggregious act of sabotage and betrayal - and attack me for it, as some have already on other posts and comments on social media.

The usual claim people of this ilk bring up is that "we're well on our way to becoming like Zimbabwe". Well, that's a blatant lie - because I've been hearing it - and even said it myself a few times - but you know, looking back - it's been THIRTY YEARS - and we're still nowhere near that claim becoming a reality. At what point do people finally wake up and smell the coffee and realize that it's not happening? It's a lie, a dogwhistle, a right-wing talking point and rallying call that denies the facts and abandons reason for the sake of unifying the local right.

Their supporters don't care if they're right - just as long as they say the right things - and that they're right wing.

I know many white South Africans who even today like to say in passing conversation (because they like to assume that all other white people around them will automatically agree with them) that "black people can't govern a country" - but if you were to look carefully at the whole of Africa and wipe the racist bullshit programming out of your mind, you would see numerous countries that are peaceful, stable, and growing. And should we look across the Atlantic at the imploding dumpster fire that is the USA right now - run by white people, what would they say then?

Of course that's okay with them - because Trump and his cronies represent America's right wing. Any criticism of that is just "lefty woke sour grapes" in their view.

When you point these things out, and point out their blatant racism - even small, residual levels of racism, they become hostile, even violent. Just like angry toddlers when you put them away for naptime, or take away the scissors before they hurt themselves.

People this stubborn don't like to admit they've been wrong about anything. It makes them seem weak and fallible - even if they have to cut their own nose off to spite their face, because they need to double down and prove how right and strong they are. They will typically do so, even if they know they will regret it afterwards, they still want to "show you".

This is the truth.

It's a sad truth that racism and hatred are still alive and well in South Africa, as these examples show:

And that's just the fallout from the first day of my addressing this outrageous incident. But even so, calling me names, insulting my late mother (who was a better person than I - or they - will ever be), and trying to shout me down, will not work. I'm quite sure there might also be some future threats inbound as well.

All I'm asking of my fellow South Africans is that you try to be better people than what the past has made you out to be.

Better than associating yourselves to a bunch of Nazi thugs and traitors willing to throw the whole South African nation under the bus to further their own disingenuous agendas - or just because they say a few "gevleulde woordjies" that seem to connect with your own views.

And before you jump to conclusions and rush to support those populists blowing their little dogwhistles from atop their soapboxes, I advise you do a little background check on them first instead of taking them at face value.

Does Takealot Support Fascism?

Dear Takealot & CEO Federick Zietsman,

I reacted with horror this morning when I learned that your platform markets or facilitates the marketing of MAGA merchandise, specifically in this case, the MAGA hat in various colors as shown in the attached screenshot.

The State Of Our Nation Address, South Africa 2022 - My View

Today is Thursday 10 February 2022, and according to all the fanfare in the media, our State President, Cyril Ramaphosa, will deliver his annual State of the Nation Address (SONA) tonight at 7 - not from the usual place, being in Parliament, but from the Cape Town City Hall. 

As usual, we can expect, a cavalcade of overpaid puffed up parliamentarians will parade at the entrance dressed in high fashion, with apparent total disregard for the plight of those who are footing the bill. It will feature a lot of broad grins, flashy clothes, broad hats, sparkly bling and labels - and photographers.

Bigotry & Transphobia Stirs In South Africa - Again!

What really grated my carrot this week was part of the public reaction to the news that a transwoman had entered that archaic relic of the patriarchy which shamelessly puts women on show like cattle, the Miss South Africa contest!

It seems that as soon as things are nice and quiet and the bigots have stopped shouting for a little while, something happens to spark them off again - soon as they've more-or-less recovered from the disappointment that expressing racism and using the "k-word" in public gets people in trouble - the Karens come out screeching about how transgender people are somehow unfairly competing against them in x, y or z public domains and spaces, that "he-shes" don't belong in women's competitions (or in fact anywhere), and even that "god" created male and female, and apparently "doesn't make mistakes"!

This sort of idiotic Neanderthal mindset makes me bristle - so much so that it inspired my first LGBT activism-related article in quite some time!

So the news in question was that a local transwoman (a lady from PE called Zoe) is entering the Miss South Africa contest. It was in the Herald on Thursday morning, and by late afternoon every right wing lunatic bigot, transphobic halfwit and pious religious wanker who knows fuck-all about science, gender or what transwomen - and especially transwomen of color - endure in this country (or everywhere else) on a daily basis, started making an effort to vent their unintelligible hysterical bile in public. 

What Does Being Transgender Bring To My Writing?

Hello! :)

Today I'd like to discuss the question: "What does being transgender bring to my writing?"

It's a question I was asked recently by someone, and so after a little thought, I'm here to answer it.

It's 2019 now, and it's been 19 years since I started transition and 13 years since I had my final surgeries. As a matter of interest, since I woke up after my "big op" on January 10, 2006, I felt completely natural - and above all, whole and complete! As a result, I sometimes have to stop and think to remember what it was like to have grown up and lived a male life.

A Brief Summary Of My Publishing Career So Far

One of the very many downsides to living in a shit-hole country like South Africa - is that even if you have all the talent in the world, you can do absolutely sod-all with it.

Goodness knows it's hard enough to be an indie author anywhere - but here? In South Africa?

All I was trying to do today was to get my 13 already published books turned into audio books... and this happens.

This was the fourth site doing audio books that I've tried. Either they don't allow South African writers to register, or they don't have royalty-sharing deals for their authors, which means the author has to pay in $$$ for the job.

Let me give you a brief summary of my publishing career. I'm sure you will find it amusing:

No LGBT Stereotypes Here!

Good day, everyone!

Today I'd like to talk to you about stereotypes!

(Before I get into an explanation of what I mean, I would like to emphasize that my stories are not just "all about LGBT people" or intended to rub straight reader's noses in a rainbow flag and sprinkle glitter all over their cornflakes!)

You see, I've been asked a rather difficult question as a writer, and that is "What exactly is my intended market?"

New Living Ways Ministry SA Seeks Human Rights For 'Ex-Gays'

This morning I found an item in my mailbox from Andre' Bekker, a representative of "New Living Way Ministry" - an 'ex-gay' group in South Africa. 

 

It was headed "An Open Letter to the Gay Community and Activists", and its content can be read right at the bottom of this article. 

 

I have no idea who else has received a copy of this letter, but since it was headed 'an open letter', I presume it was meant for the whole LGBT community in South Africa, and of course activists such as myself.

SA Government Fails Human Rights Mandate Through Tacit Support For Ugandan 'Kill The Gays' Law

Uganda has passed the much publicized "Kill the Gays" Bill this past week.

In response to this hateful law, countries supplying aid to Uganda have suspended their aid and openly condemned these heinous acts in Uganda. Norway, Denmark and Netherlands have done so, and there is talk of the UK and USA following suit, as well as several more European countries including Sweden.

South Africa - the supposed "shining light" in Africa however has done absolutely NOTHING so far, aside from quietly releasing a very short, very weak and very vague statement on its website referring to "international homophobia" to say it will "look for clarity".

Only YOU Can Save The World (If Not You, Who Else?)

I was most fortunate to have two friends who were Methodist ministers, both very open-minded and very loving people. 

They frequently took heavy fire for being welcoming of gay folks, and even people of other faiths, and for standing up against haters in their own ranks. 

The fact that I left Christianity to follow a Pagan path never meant that they weren't my friends any more, or that they suddenly would try to change me. Instead, they continued to be good friends. It's always a pleasure to count Christians like that among my friends. But what about the others?

SRA Propaganda IS A Harmful Religious Practice!

Dear IOL, I just read this article by you today: "Sin, sedition and Satanism in South Africa".

http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/sin-sedition-and-satanism-in-south-africa-1.417775#.UXqvBqLTxbq 

(Yes, I know the article is from 2008, but I was just made aware of it. LOL. Also, the policeman interviewed is the present head of the reformed SAPS Occult Related Crimes unit - so his views should provide a VERY clear picture of what sort of prejudice and bias this man has. The journalist first points out that there are different forms of Satanism, and makes references to the Church of Satan – but the lengthy quotes from Lamprecht and an evangelicalist drug rehabilitation “expert” speaking out of his field of expertise, tends to off-set this suggestion, making up the bulk of the article, and turning it from an objective piece into a Christian evangelizing soap-box.)

I am sorry to say, this whole article is a perfect example of biased, hysterical SRA propaganda. If is so full of sheer and utter rubbish attributed to Lamprecht and Krige and put out by your paper, that I am beside myself with anger. In fact, there is so much tripe in there about a religion and its adherents who are STILL  (clearly only in theory) protected by law in this country from lies and misrepresentations such as this, being presented as "fact" that I'm not even sure where to begin.

Bridging The Great Divide

The Constitution forms the supreme law of South Africa. It is a secular law which stands to prevent the persecution of people on the basis of race, ethnicity, language, gender, sexual orientation - and also religious freedom. 

Of course, most of the time you need to belong to a minority group of some kind to confirm that the law and the letter are being carried out in real life as they are on paper. In South Africa I can attest to the fact that the gap between the paper law and the real life application of these laws - which once seemed to be narrowing, is now just as wide - if not wider than ever.

The Poep's Latest Move, And Other Stories

I have a bit of a mixed bag for you all today. Happy 2013 folks!

December 2012 was quite a rough patch for me. I spent a lot of December flat on my back - that was not nearly as much fun as you might think. 

Personal Statement: Divisions Within The Community

In the past I have called for more active interest and participation from the Pink Community, and I am happy to say that in recent months the community has risen to the challenge by and large, with new Pride events taking place, new community support projects springing up, and new activist voices shouting from within the wilderness to speak out against the injustices faced by our community. However;

There is an ongoing feud between the organizers of a community pageant  and other members of the community, a feud which is both unproductive and insensible, and which threatens to tear a rift right through the community. I also find it puzzling and disgusting how many people who wouldn't be seen dead voting or supporting anything political openly in defense of their own rights, have jumped in neck-deep in supporting either of the parties in this recent dispute which has been threatening to divide and weaken us as a community.

An Inconvenient Home Truth

It's odd how for years, articles by Melanie Nathan have been highly prized and circulated and promoted by local human rights advocates, and how for years we have welcomed her campaigning to assist our cause, and her application of public pressure from outside the country - and now we can suddenly just turn around and say something like this:

"A condescending American [Melanie] Nathan based in America, who has no jurisdiction whatsoever in dictating to South Africans what to do (as what so many Western countries are prone to do), even if she was born in South Africa, she left this country three decades ago and has no business interfering. We're not listening - go write about the problems LGBTI face in the US. There's lots." - GaySpeak Ezine.

 

An email from Mr Gay SA did the rounds in the early hours of this morning, laying out in point form "the official stance" of a Pink Community leader figure in South Africa. 

 

Point five said: "We support what Melanie Lowe and Cobus Fourie from SA GLAAD wrote about standing together, but this has become an all-out attack against Mr GSA driven by people who are serving their own interests and shamelessly using this issue of the traditional leaders to promote themselves, their blogs and their brands." 

The email closed with "Please remove us from this mailing list - we will not respond if you do."

The quote at the top of this article was then posted on numerous Coalition and LGBT Facebook groups.