This essay is a response to “Unpacking the LGBTI Communities,” by Audrey Mbugua. I do not know the author of this article personally but I am enamoured by her eloquence with the regards to the positioning of the “tagging” of the “T” onto the LGB. However I do not agree with the exclusions hazarded in the writer’s attempts to unpack the LGBTI community. Sure, according to the author, “[t]he issues concerning LGB people stem from sexual orientation, whereas those of transgender people stem from their gender.” I almost said as in gender role but no. For me, matters are more personal and so is my gender identity. I say who I am. No matter what the wider communities positions are. I matter because I say I do as an African (Black) transsexual woman (gender identity) who identifies as a lesbian (sexual orientation) and that all there is to it.
In her article, “unpacking the LGBTI Communities” the writer’s heterosexuality is instantly apparent from the tone of this article but that does not excuse her cavalier attitude towards those transwomen who exercise their choice to be different from the hetero-normative dictat. Unpacking the LGBTI without considering the fact that some transpeople do identify as L, G, or B, is an act of exclusion and the reasoning behind this statement will become apparent in due course. Continue reading