In a first for the Eastern Cape’s traditional Xhosa culture, a trans woman will be initiated into ‘manhood’, News24 reports.
Cwenga Titi, who is 18 years old, was born a boy, but chose to live as a girl at age four.
The traditional ritual involves being circumcised, and spending some four weeks learning the duties of a Xhosa man.
An Umgidi ceremony – the celebration that concludes the process, a ‘coming out’ – will be held at the family’s ancestral home on 17 December. The invitation poster, on which Titi is depicted in a black dress, has been distributed on social media.
Titi said that deciding to undergo the ritual was a natural choice: ‘I know that this procedure needs to be done in order for my peers to respect me as I will be taking this journey to become a “man”.’
While some have expressed support for Titi on this matter, others have found it difficult to understand.
Eastern Cape LGBTQI+ activist Nomonde Mafunda said: ‘I don’t see how this is a victory because she already took steps to live as a trans woman, not a gay man. She is now reversing all the steps she took to become a girl by undergoing this rite to become the man… I am confused.’
[Image: 3D Animation Production Company from Pixabay]