What is Leading African Lesbians to Embrace Transgenderism?
On Thishiwe Ziqubu’s Trans Identity
In light of my recent article, “13 Black Lesbian Films”, I have been thinking about some of the actresses who played major roles in these groundbreaking movies.
One woman who came to mind was Thishiwe Ziqubu, a very well-known South African lesbian actress who played Shado in the film, “While You Weren’t Looking”. I came across Thishiwe in 2019, and was very impressed by her talent as an actress, screenwriter, and filmmaker.
When I watched her in interviews, I admired the powerful presence she held, projecting strength, confidence, and intellect as a woman who embraces her masculine and feminine energies.
I found her so beautiful, and I definitely had a little crush.
Although South Africa is the only African country which legally recognizes same-sex marriage, it’s still rife with homophobia, which operates on the violent end of the spectrum for lesbians.
Knowing this, I always felt it was incredibly brave for women like Thishiwe to be out-lesbians, and public figures, at that. I’ve wondered how South African women manage to survive, and what their daily lives are really like beyond the veil.
Then about a year ago, I checked up on Thishiwe, and was horrified to discover that she had begun transitioning to identify as a man. She changed the pronouns on her Instagram bio to “he/they” and had been making references to her new pronouns in most of her posts for the past 2 years, feistily correcting people who referred to her as a woman in the comments. Upon listening to her recent interviews, I could tell that she had been taking testosterone.
My heart broke for Thishiwe.
For a long time, I could only imagine what made her decide to suddenly morph her body and identity at her mature age.
But in recent times, I read an interview with Thishiwe that put a few of those pieces together for me. Reading her words led me to think about the colonial imprint of transgender ideology upon African women, who suffer from even more homophobic violence and misogynistic cultural norms than women in the West.
It also made sense of the behaviors I had noticed as a fan of Thishiwe over the years, which reveal the internalized misogyny (self-hate) within the South African lesbian community, manifested through some of her most intimate relationships.
It’s apparent that men are often placed on a pedestal, even amongst lesbians. I will delve deeper into all of that within this article.
As a woman who has lived in Africa and connected with my roots, the lives of women like Thishiwe will always be relevant to me.
I am witnessing the flood of gender ideology onto the continent without the foundational concerns of women and lesbians being properly addressed—and I know there is bound to be major fallout because of that.
I’d like to share Thishiwe’s interview, and some observations I’ve made about the unique factors that lead African lesbians to embrace transgenderism.
A few days after I published my article on Black Lesbian Films, I checked up on Thishiwe once again. I researched her new and old interviews, and that is when I found an interview published by a South African newspaper, featuring her talking about getting beaten up for dating women.
Most notably, Thishiwe recounted a harrowing experience where a man set her on fire when he saw her kissing her first girlfriend, at age 18. A year later, another man with whom Thishiwe had a friendly exchange, immediately turned on her as soon as he saw her leave the bar with a female date. He beat her up, but she was thankfully able to get free due to her boxing training.
In recent times, an online troll told her that he wishes she would have been burnt to death. She openly expressed fear of meeting her online harasser in the street.
These experiences were absolutely horrifying to read. However, the worst part is that I knew Thishiwe probably wasn’t even sharing the half of what she has been through.
South Africa has one of the world’s highest rates of sexual assault. Corrective rape, which is rape that is specifically geared towards same-sex attracted women to “correct” their lesbian sexuality—is rampant throughout the country.
While it is difficult to get accurate statistics on corrective rape due to lack of reporting (and it not being classified as a hate crime) it’s been estimated that at least half of South African women will be raped within their lifetime.
The likelihood that Thishiwe has been sexually assaulted, especially given that she is one of the most famous lesbians in the country, is extremely high. I suspect that Thishiwe has been a victim of sexual violence, or if not—the fear of it happening seems to consume her. In one of her social media posts, she says:
“Holding all queer people in my heart tonight, every night. Does the world even know what living always anticipating being killed for being who you are is like?”
Given the safety factor alone, it’s understandable why Thishiwe might find comfort and refuge in a male identity and persona. Being male in South Africa is much safer than being a woman, especially if you’re straight.
Many butch lesbians throughout history have passed as male to alleviate the rampant discrimination and safety concerns they face for being who they are.
Blending in with the male population can bring a great sense of relief, especially for a woman like Thishiwe, who has experienced trauma and violence for being a lesbian.
Shado, the masculine lesbian character she famously played—also bound her breasts with cloth, and appeared to have “packed” (worn a phallic object in her pants) in order to pass as male in her dangerous township. In the scene where she adjusted her crotch before heading out, her grandmother irritatedly asked her why she presents in this way when she has such a beautiful body. Shado responded,
“It’s for protection, Gran. You know what it is to be a woman here.”
The problem is that in Thishiwe’s case, it is not just about “passing” as male, but also internalizing a male identity that isn’t rooted in reality, which points to a deeper issue.