Tshepo Ricki Kgositau had her gender confirmation surgery in December 2016
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The Botswana High Court has ordered the country’s government to legally recognise the gender of a trans woman for the first time, in a hearing earlier this week that is a landmark victory for the rights of LGBT people in the country. Tshepo Ricki Kgositau, 30, will be issued with a new identity card marking her as female before the end of 2017, after a legal battle lasting almost four years. Ms Kgositau, the director of Gender Dynamix – a regional organisation advocating for the rights of transgender people – said the victory was only the first step in demanding “more access to all other rights”. The trans advocate said she had identified as a woman from an early age and that being marked as male on official documents caused her emotional distress and made her vulnerable to abuse and violence. Known as Ricki by her friends and family, she adds that the court victory is not for her “but for every single trans diverse person in Botswana”. “I feel truly blessed to be living in such times of the change I have wanted to see since I was a little girl,” she said. “Robbing someone the respect for their identity is telling them that they do not matter and are perhaps a non-person or non-citizen.” The ruling gives “hope” to LGBT people in a country that has continuously rejected the attempts of individuals to change their gender and where gay people face prejudice and limited rights, she said. The Botswana High Court has been described as progressive since it overturned a decision by the government to ban gay rights lobbying group Legabibo in 2014. It also ordered the government to officially acknowledge and register the organisation in March this year. The court ruled in November that the government should recognise the gender of a transgender male, named only as “ND” due to a court order protecting his identity. An appeal on the decision was dropped and ND is due to receive new identity documents before the end of the year...
Some fun facts: The antipode of Botswana is the US state of Hawai'i (sue me, I'm a longtime geography nerd); that is, both lands are literally on opposite ends of the earth. In fact, Hawai'i is the only state with an antipode on land. The first president of the country (it achieved independence from Britain in 1966), Sir Seretse Khama, was portrayed by David Oyelowo (Selma) in last year's A United Kingdom. > ==== @invizible
