Gerald Kraak from Atlantic Philanthropies

It is a great pleasure to be with you all this evening to mark the opening of this exhibition of body maps created by transgender and gender variant people.
Let me start by congratulating the artists and organisers who worked so hard to create these bold and informative body maps. I congratulate them for their fearlessness when it comes to speaking out in this public way on the social issues faced by transgender and gender variant people. I admire them for their resilience and strength in the face of considerable adversities, something that they explore powerfully in this exhibition. I'm sure you will all agree that the body maps are an inspiration to all of us.
 
As the head of the South African office of The Atlantic Philanthropies, and a strong supporter of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues personally, I am alarmed at the lack of awareness found across South African society of the issues affecting transgender and gender variant people, and the failure to embrace these issues. Even amongst gay, lesbian and bisexual people and organisations there is much ignorance.
Initiatives such as this one play an important role in changing this situation.

'Transgender' is an umbrella term that refers to many people with different identities that break with the model of the gender system. These identities may include people who identify as a gender other than that which they were assigned at birth and people who do not feel that their gender experience or identity fits neatly within society's rigid understanding of gender. Many people believe that there are a many different genders and that not all men must be "masculine" and all women "feminine".

Being transgender does not necessarily mean that someone is lesbian or gay. For example, there are people who like to dress in drag but still desire people of the opposite sex. But many transgender people see themselves a part of a 'LGBT' community, regardless of  their sexual orientation, because they often face the same harassment, violence and discrimination as gay, lesbian and bisexual people. And straight society often regards transgender and gender variant people as being a part of a LGBT community, no matter how they identify themselves.

There have been no large studies done in South Africa on the violence transgender and gender variant people face. But anecdotal evidence suggests that a large number of transgender and gender variant people have been physically or sexually assaulted, or have had reason to fear for their lives, their jobs and their families.

Transgender youth are especially at risk, and are often rejected by their families once they discover they are transgender. They also may be beaten or sexually abused as a result of their gender nonconformity by siblings and parents. Transgender youth may be kicked out of their homes or forced to run away from abusive situations.
This exhibition of Trans Body Maps offers an important critique of the way that society understands gender, one that is steeped in sexist and homophobic ideas about what it is to be male or female. This exhibition of Body Maps is a mouthpiece for self-expression and gives powerful voice to the experiences of transgender and gender variant people. I am proud of the work that GALA, Gender Dynamix and Women'sNet are doing to raise awareness of this issues.

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