Tuesday marked International Transgender Day of Visibility with media personality Yaya Mavundla, Big Brother Mzansi star Ilano Sky and makeup artist Simphiwe Celeste Sekgatle unapologetically celebrating their cultural and gender identities.
The trio speak to Sowetan about how we can “Protect the Dolls”, a slogan stemming from 1980s ballroom culture to show support for the trans community.
How did you mark International Transgender Day of Visibility?
Yaya: My identity as a black trans woman is rooted deeply in my culture; it’s not separate from it. I exist as both, fully and unapologetically. My culture shaped me long before I had the language to describe my gender and so I move through the world knowing that my gender identity is not outside of my heritage, but a living, evolving expression of it.
Ilano: Balancing cultural and gender identity involves embracing both aspects as integral to one’s self. For many, cultural heritage provides a sense of belonging, while gender identity is a personal truth. It’s about harmonising these parts, recognising that one’s culture can include and support one’s gender identity.
Celeste: Such a day means recognising that both (cultural and gender identity) are deeply meaningful parts of who a person is, and neither has to cancel out the other.
How does the idea that culture comes before identity challenge common narratives about trans experiences?
Ilano: It highlights that identity is multifaceted. Culture usually encompasses traditions, values and community, which can coexist with and enrich one’s understanding of their gender identity. This is why it’s important to shift the focus from labels and focus on the richness of our culture, regardless of what you identify as.
Yaya: So often, trans experiences are framed through Western language and frameworks, which isn’t fair, as if identity only begins when we name it. For many of us, especially in African contexts, trans people existed before those labels. In the rural areas, some trans people exist without knowing the language to describe how they feel.
Culture gives us ways of being, belonging and understanding ourselves that don’t always fit neatly into imported terms. When we say culture comes first, we’re rejecting the idea that being trans is something “new” or “foreign”; we’re asserting that we have always existed, even if the language has changed.
Celeste: It challenges the notion that being transgender is a modern or “Western” concept. Many cultures historically recognised diverse gender identities long before contemporary labels like “transgender” existed. I’ve noticed that such a perspective shifts the narrative from seeing trans identity as something new or external to understanding it as something that has always existed within cultural contexts.
What does it look like to honour both your cultural roots and gender identity?
Yaya: It looks like showing up as myself in spaces that were not always designed to hold me as I am. Hence, I always refuse to shrink. It’s in the way I dress, speak, create, and engage with my community when and how I feel.
It’s in carrying my ancestors with me while also carving out space for my truth. Authenticity is not about choosing one over the other, but about weaving them together in a way that feels whole, grounded and free.
Can reclaiming cultural belonging be seen as a form of resistance for trans people?
Ilano: No, it is a powerful form of resistance for trans people. It’s asserting our right to exist within our culture and community. It’s a way of challenging exclusionary narratives and embedding our identity as valid and part of our cultural heritage.
Yaya: Absolutely. Reclaiming space within our cultures is powerful because it disrupts the narrative that we don’t belong. For many trans people, especially those of us from marginalised communities, we are told that we must choose between family, culture, spirituality, and ourselves. But choosing ourselves is choosing our culture because we can’t separate the two; it’s impossible.
To exist openly, to take up space, and to insist on our belonging is an act of resistance, healing, and restoration, not just for ourselves, but for those who will come after us and those who are still struggling to choose to be fully themselves because of judgment and fear.
Celeste: Yes, reclaiming cultural belonging can be a powerful form of resistance. When trans people assert our place within our culture, especially in contexts where we’ve been excluded, we challenge the idea that we don’t belong. It pushes back against both cultural gatekeeping and societal discrimination. By existing openly and claiming space in our communities, we are affirming that our identities are not separate from our culture.
Sowetan
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