Transgender at five - The Washington Post →
Transgender at five
Video
She first insisted she was a boy at the age of 2. “I am a boy” became a constant theme in struggles over clothing, bathing, swimming, eating, playing. Eventually, a psychologist diagnosed gender identity disorder. Now Tyler ‘s parents allow him to live as a boy, and the 5-year-old is reveling in his new identity.
((BLUNT))
((Sexuality 101))
OCCUPY KENYA
So the events of these past couple of weeks have me wondering why we don’t have an Occupy Kenya movement as is seen taking place in other countries worldwide. Unemployment is beyond stats and the Kenya shilling is at an all time low which in turn means high food prices, fuel prices, high every price; can I say Domino Effect. Living conditions are deteriorating and the few voices I’ve seen/heard so far try to protest this are trying but with little to no avail since no solid changes have been made in stabilizing the shilling. To add salt to injury, the Kenyan government has set aside Ksh. 383 mil to build ‘A HOUSE’ and yet Kenyans had to come together as Kenyans for Kenya to save the lives of those hardest hit by hunger and malnutrition.
We walk around calling ourselves Kenyans and how we live in a free and fair society yet women and members of the LGBTQ community still struggle to fight (on a daily basis) for basic human rights and recognition. Everything from Inheritance to Marriage and as sad as it is to say Divorce is geared towards the dominant male race, and this does not include the ‘gays’; it’s frustrating and beyond tiring. We turn on the TV to see/hear NEWS on what this politician said where and yet our country is being ‘stolen/annexed’ from right under our noses, and our neighbours aren’t even being discreet about it. From the Northern borders all the way to inside the capital city, we are losing our country.
We are currently at war with Somali’s Al Shabaab and as much as we want to convince ourselves it’s because of the threat they pose to fellow Kenyans, truth be told it’s more about the damage they are doing to our tourism revenue by kidnapping holidaymakers aka foreigners. Kenyans have been sidelined to the point of no return by our very own leaders and yet we go about everyday as if life couldn’t be better. But what’s sadder still is the fact that it’s we who keep electing those same officials.
My thing is this though; those officials are there and should be there for the better part of 2012 unless an impeachment takes place. That being said, are we supposed to sit back and watch all these misgivings befall us and PRAY them away? What happened to FAITH WITH ACTIONS? And faith aside, what happened to general concern for our fellow countrymen? It’s time we take action; out leaders need to realize that we are NOT okay with all the nonsense they are at in the name of politics. We need to UNITE as Kenyans, WORK as Kenyans and BUILD this country as Kenyans and this needs to start with that one step in the right direction.
I’m not talking of a movement of a couple of people, I’m thinking tens of thousands, we have the numbers and only we know what we go through on a daily basis. When will we get tired of our leaders hefty salaries for nothing done while the hard workers get peanuts in return? Think about it, the hardest workers in our society are the manual labourers (those who push mikokoteni ‘wooden carts’ or brick layers) and yet come the end of the day, several hundred Kenya shilling bills grace their pockets, that is, of they were lucky. This needs to stop and only we “KENYANS UNITED” can see to it.
((OCCUPY KENYA))
IDENTITY →
So, early this week, Kenya was graced with the premier of its very first online LGBTQ magazine “IDENTITY”. Telling you I’m excited doesn’t even come close as this is a major step in the right direction especially in voicing the voiceless LGBTQ who walk these streets every day. This premier comes only a few weeks after Freedom in Speech, a website that also serves as a voice for the LGBTQ in Kenya was re-launched; which I guess makes for two major steps in the right direction huh! For those of you who haven’t had a chance to get a copy of IDENTITY, I’m embedding a link http://issuu.com/denisnzioka/docs/identity_magazine_premier_issue-october_2011 and will greatly advice you to look/read through. I will also link the Freedom In Speech website www.freedominspeech.org to give you a broader scope of the strides being made by the LGBTQ movement here in Kenya.
Back to IDENTITY; and given a chance to state what came to mind while reading the articles, I’d take hours so I’ll instead share my comments on the article that greatly moved me. It was the one that features young boys who sell their bodies for survival with one stating how he sold his for as little as Ksh. 100.00 ($ 1.00) to cater for school fees among other basic essentials. As this article didn’t have a mentioned contributor, I give props/commend the activist who met with the boys (some as young as 12 years old) and ultimately advised them on safer sex practices as well as health centres that offer free medical check-up and medication, even taking them to be examined. Saying I was hurt was an understatement as it still pains me even as I write this and I keep trying to figure out what can be done to assist them. Life is hard, I know, but these are children and their clients most probably are not; it hurts greatly.
That said, hope the articles ring true to you and while you’re at it, comments, suggestions and corrections are greatly welcome.
David Kato Vision & Voice Award →
This award recognizes the leadership of individuals who strive to uphold the numerous dimensions of sexual rights for LGBTI people.
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