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Liesl Theron is a South African trans activist and the co-founder^[1]^[2]^[3] of Gender DynamiX organisation.

Personal life

Theron was born in South Africa to an Afrikaans speaking family and has a 2+1⁄2-years-younger sister.^[4]

In 1992, she came out as a lesbian at the age of 20.^[4] Her mother struggled with her sexually at first, but later wrote a book about her coming to terms with it.^[5]^[4]

As of 2008 through 2013, she was in relationship with photographer Zanele Muholi.^[6]^[7]^[8]

Career

Theron is the co-founder of Gender DynamiX trans rights advocacy organisation.^[9] Theron was the inaugural Executive Director for Gender DynamiX from its inception, 2005 until she stepped down, June 2014^[10]

Theron supported Sasha, one of South Africa's first openly trans refugees to navigate entry into South Africa.^[11] Theron continued to support a number of trans refugees and asylum seekers from various African countries.^[12] Throughout her tenure at Gender DynamiX, Theron advocated for a number of important issues, such as Access to Health Care^[13] and other rights for trans people in general.^[14] After Theron left Gender DynamiX as Director, she became a consultant^[15] In 2016, she received the Global Transgender Heroes award from the True Colors Fund.^[16] Theron moved January 2018, to Mexico to live in Mexico City.^[17] Since moving to Mexico, Theron explored with her consultancy to start working with LGBTIQ and specifically Trans organizations in the Caribbean. As a result, Theron was one of the two co-consultants leading on an important and first research of its kind in the Caribbean, with 1080 Lesbian, Bi, Queer and Trans masculine respondents. The "From the Fringes to Focus^[18] - A deep dive into the lived-realities of Lesbian, Bisexual and Queer women and Trans Masculine persons in 8 Caribbean countries" research highlighted issues about sexual orientation, gender identity, education, health, domestic violence, access to rights, mental health and reproductive health. Theron worked with a few more activists (Julius Kaggwa, Victor Mukasa and Gabrielle le Roux) to bring alive, end of 2022 the Trans and Intersex History in Africa website^[19]

Selected publications

Liesl Theron, Mariam Armisen, and John McAllister Where do we go from here?: A call for critical reflection on queer/LGBTIA+ activism in Africa, Pambazuka News, 2016^[20]
Sherwood, J., Lankiewicz, E., Castellanos, E., O’Connor, N., Theron, L., & Restar, A. Assessing inclusion of trans people in HIV national strategic plans: a review of 60 high HIV prevalence countries. Journal of the International AIDS Society, [s. l.], v. 24, n. 11, p. 1, 2021. DOI 10.1002/jia2.25837
Liesl Theron and Ricki Kgositau, The Emergency of a Grassroots African Trans Archive, Transgender Studies Quarterly 2(4): 578-583, 2015^[21]^[22]
Jessica Scott and Liesl Theron, The promise of heteronormativity: Marriage as a strategy for respectability in South Africa, 2017^[23]

References

^ Devor, Aaron; Haefele-Thomas, Ardel (2019-02-15). Transgender: A Reference Handbook. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 978-1-4408-5691-4.
^ "Liesl Theron: Making South Africa A Better Place for LGBTI Persons". Human Rights First. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
^ "Liesl Theron -". 2021-07-20. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
^ ^a ^b ^c Reclaiming the L-Word: Sappho's Daughters Out in Africa. (2011). United Kingdom: Modjaji Books. p68-88
^ Theron, Lidia (2005). Jy Bly My Kind: 'n Ware Verhaal (in Afrikaans). Hemel en See Boeke. ISBN 978-0620351133.
^ Blignaut, Charl (17 July 2011). "Love in a time of murder". Times Live.
^ "Five Years of Zanele Muholi's Photos of LGBT Lives in Africa Stolen From Her Apartment". Autostraddle. 2012-05-16. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
^ Chernis, Linda. "Guide to the Archival Collections of GAY AND LESBIAN MEMORY IN ACTION (GALA), p 68" (PDF). gala.co.za.
^ Lavers, Michael K. (2013-12-10). "African LGBT activists seek international support". Washington Blade: LGBTQ News, Politics, LGBTQ Rights, Gay News. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
^ Liesl Theron, GDX, retrieved 2023-08-27
^ Camminga, B. (2018). Transgender Refugees and the Imagined South Africa: Bodies Over Borders and Borders Over Bodies. Germany: Springer International Publishing. p174-176
^ Getting Out - Trailer, retrieved 2023-08-27
^ "Transforming Health: International Rights Based Advocacy for Trans Health". www.opensocietyfoundations.org. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
^ "Transgender killings in spotlight on 'Day of Remembrance'". NBC News. 2011-11-16. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
^ "SNID Talk "Trans Nation: What has changed for Trans people in South Africa?"". www.queensu.ca. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
^ INQUIRER.net (2016-03-17). "LGBT rights advocate Bemz Benedito receives Global Transgender Heroes award from New York". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
^ Living on the Other Side of the Wall, retrieved 2023-08-27
^ Carrillo, K. and Theron, L. (2020) From Fringes to Focus - “A deep dive into the lived-realities of Lesbian, Bisexual and Queer women and Trans Masculine Persons in 8 Caribbean Countries”. Amsterdam: COC Netherlands. (October 2020). "From Fringes to Focus - A deep dive into the lived-realities of Lesbian, Bisexual and Queer women and Trans Masculine persons in 8 Caribbean countries".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ "Trans Intersex History Africa -". 2021-07-07. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
^ "Admitting the flaws of LGBTI activism; seeking solutions". Erasing 76 Crimes. 2016-05-25. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
^ Camminga, B., Marnell, J. (2022). Queer and Trans African Mobilities: Migration, Asylum and Diaspora. United Kingdom: Bloomsbury Publishing. p56
^ Trans Lives in a Globalizing World: Rights, Identities and Politics. (2020). United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis.
^ Scott, Jessica; Theron, Liesl (March 2019). "The promise of heteronormativity: Marriage as a strategy for respectability in South Africa". Sexualities. 22 (3): 436–451. doi:10.1177/1363460717713384. ISSN 1363-4607.