As part of data collecting and creating trans visibility, Gender DynamiX welcomes collaborations and want to work with researchers and students. One of the most important ways of getting stories and experiences told is through interviews and articles made available to other people. This also helps trans people who still need the courage to “come out” to their families, to friends and spouses and often to give themselves the opportunity to identify with the real life experiences of those who are brave enough to share theirs.
Often these stories and experiences also help in activism, lobbying and ground- breaking changes. Not every person is cut out for activism, but by means of sharing stories, those who are taking the issues forward are geared with information.
By supporting students and researchers such bridging work gets done. Gender DynamiX facilitates research work, putting the researcher in contact with people who have stories to tell and experiences to share. After an initial request, which can be submitted to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , in which the research purpose, general information about the person requesting to do the research and motivations for this research has been received, the researcher will be contacted. We would also need to establish the length of time and whether the research will be done on line, via skype or telephonically or whether the person will spend some time in South Africa (if not originally from here).
One very definite condition Gender DynamiX would insist on is permission to submit the article, paper, thesis or work on the website, although the copyright of the work stays that of the researcher. (If publication is planned, and the work is not to be made available on the website this should be indicated in the initial request)
Gender DynamiX has already published two articles submitted by students. “They Call Me Umfowethu” was written by Harper B Keenan about 
FTM’s and Masculine Female bodied people in South Africa. To read the full article click here.
Meghan Davidson Ladly is a student in Toronto, Canada, and had to select an NGO of her choice to analyse and study. This insightful article about Gender DynamiX as an organisation can be found here.
Trish Kinoti, from Kenya is a postgraduate student at UCT majoring in African Gender Studies and will do her honors paper with Gender DynamiX and plans to also complete her Masters Degree with the aid of Gender DynamiX. Her topic deals with the experience of the transsexual community in relation to obtaining/seeking health care. Trish is adamant on her research not contributing to the ‘sensationalized’ research but more on the literal day to day experience/hindrance in obtaining health care and how this is a direct reflection of how those labeled as ‘different’ by society are forced to navigate their world. You can contact Trish on
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for more info regarding the research.
Fred Walter is a psychology honors student at UCT and will do his honors and Masters Degree with Gender DynamiX. For his honors degree Fred will be collecting life stories. Fred's e-mail address is This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Dr. Thamar Klein is a research fellow at the Max Planck Institute (MPI) Research Group on Law, Organization, Science and Technology and lectures in the Department of Anthropology at the Martin Luther University, Halle, Germany. The project on legal, medical and political discourses on gender in South Africa is situated within the MPI Project entitled ‘Biomedicine in Africa.’ This research program examines how biomedicine in Africa is central to the global production of gendered bodies and identities, with a focus on identities and bodies that exist outside of the binary of ‘male’ and ‘female’ or transition within this binary. The project takes place at the intersections of the construction of scientific medical knowledge, the use of this knowledge by diverse stakeholders (e.g. political, religious, legal, activists etc.), medical work, people’s personal perception of their bodies with regard to their gender, and their agency in altering their bodies. Thamar's e-mail is This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Tey Meadow is a trans activist, lawyer and doctoral candidate in sociology at New York University. Tey is doing dissertation research on the ways in which the law affects trans and gender variant people and communities in several different countries, (the United States and South Africa being the two main sites). Tey is grateful to Gender DynamiX and Liesl for their generous assistance. You can reach Tey via e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .
