Transgendered in Zimbabwe

[Butterfly]

Transgendered in Zimbabwe
Star Tribune
By Kevin Winge
March 27, 2009


http://www.startribune.com/yourvoices/41961172.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUdcOy9cP3DieyckcUsI


As a child, Tawanda was the apple of his father's eye. Tawanda was born in a growth point (an underdeveloped rural village on communal land) 200 kilometers north of the capital city, Harare. At the age of 12 Tawanda says that "I started being me." It was at that point that the father's affection for Tawanda began to diminish as it became apparent to the father, and others in the growth point, that although Tawanda was born a genetic male; he identified as a female. (From this point forward I will refer to Tawanda as a she.)