First, see the next person as a person, before you worry about the sexual part of it, whether it's a man, or whether it's a woman, or whether it's a drag queen.  Don't look at me as a trans man, don't even look at me as a man; think of me as a person, first and foremost, it's not about what's dangling or not dangling between my legs.” - Charl Marais

TRANS – Transgender Life Stories from South Africa (edited by Ruth Morgan, Charl Marais & Joy Rosemary Wellbeloved and published by Fanele, 2009) does exactly what it says on the lid, giving us verbatim life stories and interviews with transgender Africans and South Africans.  It does more than that though, also giving voice to friends, family and partners of the interviewees. 

It's an intensely fascinating book – the individual stories and opinions and Robert Hamblin's very excellent photographs leap off the page – you can almost hear each person speak.  Forget reading dry, academic gender studies; this is the real deal and it contains just about any emotion you can imagine and some you probably can't.  There's a diverse mix in terms of race, age and so on too.

I flicked through it at first and then became drawn in by the stories, started from the beginning and read it cover to cover.  It's a book I'd imagine would be an absolute godsend to anyone who wants to transition, is transitioning or has already transitioned – but I am none of the above and I found it enthralling. 

It is also a truly South African book and it bears the deep scars of apartheid too.  There's the apartheid government's offers of experimental sex-change surgery, someone who shot the penis she loathed while at a military hospital; but sadly the accounts of racial and gender discrimination extend far beyond the death of apartheid. 

There are frank opinions about sex, sexuality and gender – joyous as well as painful; the book contains a vast amount of struggle but perhaps an even bigger amount of hope.  You'll also find out the questions trans people most hate being asked (e.g. what have you got between your legs?) – and in many cases, you'll get the answers too.  You might be as surprised as I was to learn of the long history of transgenderism in Africa too.  Fadwaan Murphy made the headlines recently, as a male convict whose biological gender was discovered to be female when he was strip searched, but did you know that back in the 1950's, the Drum featured Gertie Williams, a District Six gangster who was also a trans man?  Or that a black nurse called Christina spent 65 years concealing her biologically male identity?

Let's also not forget what an incredibly brave book this is.  In a society that doesn't even give men and women equal rights, there is a ludicrous amount of intolerance towards trans people.  A lot of people have taken a lot of risks by having their names and faces alongside their stories.  Even within the LGBTQI (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Intersex) spectrum, there's some transphobia.  Once you've read the book, you'll wonder why on earth society tries to exclude this bunch of brave and creative people.

Gender DynamiX – +27 021 633 5287 / info@genderdynamix.org.za

{click image to buy book - please note, I do not receive anything from book sales - I really just loved this book}