"I am a woman"

Tshepo Ricki Kgositau who has launched a landmark case against government for refusing to change her gender marker, wants to be recognised and addressed as a woman. Kgositau said this after her Gaborone High Court case was supposed to be heard on Friday. The case has been postponed to 12 December 2017 because presiding Judge Leatile Dambe was out of the country. In a brief interview, Kgositau noted that she did not take kindly to being referred to as a man regardless of the circumstances surrounding her gender identity.

“I don’t appreciate how certain members of society have continued to address me as a ‘he’ instead of a ‘she’. I gave my time to some people, opening myself up and sharing intimate details of my life but my experiences are being sensationalised. As of now, I will choose when and how to engage the public,” she said. By 8.30am on Friday morning, several people were already streaming into the court arena. Recognisable faces included executive director of Botswana Network on Ethics and Law Association (BONELA) Cindy Kelemi and firebrand clergyman Pastor Mampane.

Also present were LGBTI rights activists who included representatives of LEGAGIBO, representatives from the Southern Africa Litigation Centre and curious members of the public. About 25 minutes later, Kgositau made a grand entrance, in the company of her lawyer, Lesego Nchungu. She made heads turn with her imposing slim figure and tall frame. She was dressed to the nines in a peach coloured body hugging dress, a jacket in the colour cream, black stockings and court heels. She carried a portable satchel bag, and wore a ring on her left ring finger.

Her tinted brown dreadlocks jiggled with every stride. She strutted confidently, swaying left to right. She has a strong presence and striking beauty; and what with her pronounced features - a symmetrical face with skin as soft and smooth as a baby’s bum, beady sparkly eyes, high cheekbones and a generous smile. When she recognised friends and fellow activists, she let out a squeal and gasps, before purring in her throaty voice: “Are these people here for me?” She later walked around dishing handshakes and hugs. Kgositau oozed self-confidence - she didn’t seem like someone who could be intimated or easily threatened. She also gave everyone her undivided attention and hung onto every word spoken to her before responding. I sat idly on the cold bench, trying to appear invisible, so I was caught off guard when she motioned towards me for an embrace.

I awkwardly stood up, and looked up at her towering over my 1.56m frame. I noticed a glint of confusion as she probably wondered if she knew me from somewhere but it quickly disappeared as she crushed me into a bear hug before murmuring, “Thank you for coming…” I was still trying to regain composure when she moved ahead and all that remained was the smell of her floral perfume that lingered in the air long after she ducked into the courtroom with Nchungu. Even after proceedings, Kgositau seemed unperturbed by the attention as people asked for hugs and took pictures, until half an hour later, when she eventually slipped into her car, kissing her fingertips and waving.

Kgositau, who has spent many years fighting battles as a student representative and national activist on human rights issues related to transgenders, has undergone a sex reassignment surgery. Kgositau has submitted that refusal to change her gender marker violates her rights to dignity, freedom of expression, equal protection of the law, freedom from discrimination and that it is degrading treatment. The National Registrar has continuously rejected her application to change her gender on her identity documents. In 2015, she submitted an official court application after her engagement with the Registrar and Attorney General. She later issued a notice to abide with court ruling but the decision was withdrawn. Kgositau’s case is premised on her claim that although she was assigned the male sex identity at birth, she has always identified as female.

To support her assertions, Kgositau has submitted affidavits from family members that include her mother and siblings and relatives, as well as medical documents that depict evidence of her innate gender identity. Kgositau has also argued that sex consists of more than the chromosomal and biological factors. A transgender is defined as person relating to, or being a person whose gender identity differs from the sex the person had or was identified as having at birth. Transgenders are often confused with hermaphrodites, who are individuals born with both sex testes and have a larger amount of hormones of the opposite sex. The world’s most famous transgender remains Caitlyn Jenner (formerly known as Bruce Jenner). She caused a frenzy when she admitted that she had always felt like “a woman trapped in the body of a man.” In 2015, she finally fully transitioned into a woman after she underwent a sex change.