If they see
Breasts and long hair coming
They call it woman.
If beard and whiskers
They call it man;
But, look, the self that hovers in between
Is neither man nor woman.

Devara Dasminayya
(Indian Devotional Saint, tenth century)

When the United States of America was colonized, and transsexual Native Americans discovered, some of the documented language used to describe them was “sinful, heinous, perverted, nefarious, abominable, unnatural, disgusting, lewd” (Feinberg 1996, pg 22).  That was a long time ago and I wonder if we’ve come very far in our beliefs?   It’s this question and that of society’s impact on the mental health of transgendered people that I would like to look at. 

Administering, taking or changing of hormones or their dosage can have far reaching consequences for transgendered people. It can result in various negative side effects on the body. A very important question for everybody is how can one prevent and treat these problems?

Serum testosterone and oestrogen, genital hormones, both take part in the metabolism of the human body and affects many systematic physiological actions. Therefore, an imbalance of metabolism and inner organic functions would occur if the quantity of these hormones is changed. If you treat it correctly from the start your problems can be relieved, prevented or even stopped. What kinds of problems can you expect if you take genital hormones or if you are post operative?

This piece is written in very broad and generalised terms, and is in no way an in-depth discussion on the state of masculinities in Africa. It is not intended as a piece of rigorous academic exploration, nor of substantive social commentary. I write this as an opinion piece, largely to help me to contextualise for myself my explorations of gay male fetish sexuality in South Africa, the area of research for my PhD, and in the context of my ongoing attempts to contextualise my own personal experiences both in my personal life and in the environments of social theory and change.

Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) launched the media campaign "Let us live in Peace".

Sexual Minorities Uganda is the coalition of several lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex, what you would call hermaphrodites (or LGBTI) organistaions in Uganda.  The member organisations of
SMUG are Freedom and Roam Uganda, Spectrum Uganda, Integirity Uganda, and Ice Breakers Uganda. 

The chairperson of SMUG, Victor Juliet Musaka, is a member of the Gender DynamiX Management Committee.