Trans Afrikan Together: Protest, Visibility, and Voice in the Digital Diaspora

‘LGBT people fleeing Africa’ to the ‘West’ has become a common media trope in recent years, often portraying a homogenous image of a brutal continent that views any expression of sexuality outside heterosexuality as unAfrican. Responses from a range of African voices have offered a more nuanced understanding of sexuality and sexual identity. However, what has been absent from these readings is the role of gender expression, particularly the experiences of transgender individuals. This omission is somewhat understandable, as transgender rights (rather than simply ‘gay and lesbian’ rights) is a relatively new discourse within African rights politics. In recent years, however, transgender individuals—often the most visible members of LGBT communities due to their gender non-conformity—have become the primary targets of backlash from certain African states against both the concept of ‘LGBT human rights’ and perceived homosexuality. This has led to a growing number of transgender individuals fleeing the continent. By examining the substantial media output from two trans refugee-led digital platforms—the US-based Kuchu Diaspora Alliance and the Europe-based Queerstion—this paper explores the rise, activism, transnational solidarity work and influence of what I argue is an emerging African transgender digital diasporic voice. Specifically, the paper focuses on the new political visibility of individuals who are both transgender and African in the diaspora—visibility that is, at best, difficult to maintain in their home countries, and, at worst, completely denied.