Edition #39
This week, we start in Tanzania, where community members rally against the government’s eviction of the Maasai. Next, we travel to South Africa, where four school children face disciplinary action for staging a “slave auction” of black students in a viral video. Finally, we head to the Paris Olympics, where Algeria’s Imane Khelif wins historic boxing gold despite gender row.
But first, in Nigeria, a popular trans Tiktoker known as “Abuja Area Mama” was sadly found dead on Thursday, August 8, 2024, beside a highway in Abuja. Her body showed signs of being beaten and bruised, and it is now suspected that she was murdered.
On social media, Area Mama openly talked about her life as a transwoman and sex worker in Nigeria’s conservative society, sharing the risks involved. She was often attacked and harassed because of transphobia. Just last September, she revealed that an unknown man had stabbed her.
In her last social media post on Wednesday, she said she was getting ready to visit her boyfriend. Tragically, just a few hours later, her body was found along the Katampe-Mabushi expressway near Banex, Wuse II, Abuja. Her death has deeply affected Nigeria’s queer community, as it’s yet another painful reminder of the dangers they face due to their sexuality and gender identity.
A team of detectives visited the scene, and according to Abuja police chief Benneth Igweh, there will be a “thorough and discreet” investigation into her death. However, there’s little hope that this will produce meaningful results.
Area Mama’s death is a tragic loss that shows why homophobia and transphobia should never be allowed to take root in a society, as they represent one of the worst forms of inhumanity.
Stories to read
Aljazeera
Tanzania wants to evict Maasai for wildlife – but they’re fighting back
The Conversation
Teenage girls in Africa face shocking rates of physical and sexual abuse in intimate relationships – new global report
From our site
TikTok’s Algorithm of Gay Hate and Uganda’s anti-homosexuality bill
When Facebook was shut down in 2021, on the eve of the presidential elections, it was by far Uganda’s most popular social media website.
Everyone I knew was there: friends, coworkers, lovers, exes, people I went to school with, and people I just saw in my neighborhood. In fact, it was a mini-dating site for queer people and it allowed you to find out which of your friends knows your potential crush, and then message them for some verifiable background information. It was also a place for community, where gossip and safety information was shared in messaging groups, as well as general news and information.
My instinct around the time of the shutdown was to simply use a VPN to bypass the Facebook shutdown. I did find friends, family, and acquaintances with technical know-how there, but it was nothing like the community I had once known. After years of this shutdown, the COVID-19 pandemic, growing up, and re-aligning priorities, I finally gave up on Facebook, as did the majority of my friends, family, and community.
I check my messages and notifications on occasion to keep up with correspondence from acquaintances outside of Uganda, but Facebook is mostly a shell of its former self.
Saying: ‘I don’t care that you are queer,’ to a queer person is not allyship. Here’s why
When I came out to my friend she told me, “I don’t care that you are queer. You are my friend and I will always love you.” At first, I was elated by the show of support, thankful that her love was present nonetheless, especially because I knew that many queer people lose friends and even family when they come out.
But in subsequent times, I have begun to think long and hard about this statement and I have become conscious of how though well-intentioned, it can be unsupportive.
Much of my thought process was inspired by how frequently I started to hear it being used among friends and allies and the unintended nuance that is communicated. When you say that you do not care that I am queer and you love me regardless, the statement implies that although my queerness is not something lovable, you love me anyway.
It goes further to cast the ally as doing a great job of acceptance whereas neglecting the role and effort LGBTQ+ persons play in summoning the courage to come out. In that instance re-calibrating the situation and making acceptance seem like a favor when it shouldn’t be.
While the context in which friends and allies make this statement is not lost to me, and while I know that it is said to assure and support us, we must reckon with the fact that good intentions do not exonerate a person of the ability to cause harm.
Around the world
The Conversation
Mozambique’s transgender history is on display in a powerful photo exhibition
A pioneering queer photo exhibition that was staged 20 years ago in Mozambique and South Africa has found new life and a new audience. Manas 2000-2024, by the Danish photographer Ditte Haarløv Johnsen, opened at the French-Mozambican Cultural Centre, in the capital Maputo, on 8 July.
The show kicked off Ulayo Fest, Mozambique’s annual LGBTIQ+ pride week. Held in July since 2021, this cultural event celebrates the power of the arts to bring about and reflect social change.
Many of the photographs on Manas 2000-2024 have been seen by the public before. Firstly, at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, where they featured in an academic conference on sexuality in 2003. Then at Johnsen’s solo exhibition, Manas, held that same year at the Mozambican Association of Photography in Maputo.
As I discuss in a recent research paper, this work was one of the first public displays of LGBTIQ+ culture in postcolonial Mozambique.
BBC
‘Slave auction’ pupils to face disciplinary in South Africa
Four schoolchildren in South Africa are to face a disciplinary hearing over a viral video in which black students are seen being auctioned off as slaves, the authorities in Cape Town have told the BBC.
The footage, showing pupils in a cage while other students bid for them, caused outrage when it was shared on social media last Friday. It was filmed at Pinelands High School and involved students in grade eight, which is the first year of secondary school when pupils are aged around 14.
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has said it has opened its own investigation into the incident.
It comes as two other schools in the country – where white-minority rule ended three decades ago with the election of anti-apartheid fighter Nelson Mandela as president – are dealing with alleged racist incidents.
“It is disturbing that these incidences continue to occur 30 years into democracy,” the SAHRC said, adding it was even more distressing that they had occurred in schools.
CNN
Olympic triumph to torment for Indian wrestler who led anti-sexual harassment protests
An Olympic story of hope and perseverance quickly turned to one of heartbreak after an Indian wrestler known for her role in anti-sexual harassment protests was disqualified from the gold medal match of the women’s 50kg freestyle category.
Vinesh Phogat, the first Indian woman to qualify for an Olympic wrestling final, did not make the weight required to compete Wednesday morning, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) said.
“Despite the best efforts by the team through the night, she weighed in a few grams over 50kg this morning,” the IOA said in a statement posted to X.
Competition rules say wrestlers must stay in their weight category on both days of the tournament. After Phogat’s disqualification, only the gold and bronze medals will be awarded in this event.
United World Wrestling, the sport’s international governing body, has yet to comment, Reuters reported. A little over a year ago, Phogat was sleeping on the streets of New Delhi as part of an athlete-led protest calling out sexual harassment allegations within her sport.
Stories we’ve enjoyed reading
Aljazeera
Algeria’s Imane Khelif beats Yang Liu to win boxing gold at Paris Olympics
Imane Khelif smiled, danced and roared with delight after beating China’s Yang Liu to become the first Algerian, Arab and African woman to win an Olympic boxing gold medal at the Paris Games.
The 25-year-old dominated the three-round welterweight fight and was announced the winner in a unanimous decision by the judges at the Rolland-Garros Stadium in the French capital on Friday night.
The Algerian, who had been at the centre of a gender dispute in one of the major talking points of the Olympics, never looked in any trouble as she enjoyed the backing of a rapturous Algerian crowd in the stands at Court Philippe-Chatrier.
She was caught up in a gender debate after a 2023 decision by the now-banned International Boxing Association (IBA) resurfaced, which disqualified her for failing a gender eligibility test.