On International IDAHOBIT, we are reminded that democracy is reflected in how societies respond to vulnerability, difference, and exclusion.
Through the Gender Dynamix ReAct Programme, we continue to document violations, strengthen community-led responses, and challenge the systems that make dignity conditional.
At the heart of democracy, this is not only response work. It is democratic defence against Transphobia in practice.
#idahobit
Today, Gender Dynamix hosted representatives from SIDA and RFSL for a Community Dialogue with trans and gender diverse persons in Cape Town and surrounding areas.
Community members spoke openly about poverty, homelessness, abuse of power by state officials, lack of support, barriers to legal gender recognition, HIV treatment and support access, and unequal access to gender affirming healthcare. Their message was clear: after three decades of democracy, human dignity cannot remain an unfinished promise.
🏳️⚧️ 𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧-𝙖𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝘾𝙖𝙥𝙚 𝙏𝙤𝙬𝙣 🇿🇦
Since the closure of donor-funded clinics in 2025, there have been significant changes in access to gender-affirming care. In response, the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation (DTHF) LGBT+ Health Division, together with partner organisations, has developed two practical info sheets that map available gender-affirming care services across Cape Town, South Africa
🔗 bit.ly/4dUsS9x 👈 Follow this link to find both info sheets:
1) One-pager: Public and NGO providers: .za/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Gender-affirming-healthcare-providers-in-Cape-Town_1-Pager_Web-1.pdf
2) Full-length: Public, NGO and Private providers:
.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Gender-affirming-healthcare-providers-in-Cape-Town_Ext_WebSIngles-1.pdf
Please note: As service availability continues to change, these resources will be regularly updated. Looking ahead, we plan to expand this work beyond Cape Town to cover the broader Western Cape, and to collaborate with partners in other provinces to develop similar resources nationally.
🇿🇦🇮🇹✨ The First of Its Kind!
COSPE is proud to host the very first RECLAIM International Virtual Film Festival this May 2026! 🌍🎬
Connecting audiences across Italy and Cape Town. The RECLAIM Festival creates a powerful global platform to spotlight stories that matter. This year, the festival shines a light on queer rights, with a special focus on transgender rights. 🏳️⚧️ As part of this exciting launch, two compelling documentary films "I Am She/Her" and "Still My Child" by @carl_collison of @margins.africa will be screened.
These films, supported by the @euinsa under the Nali’Themba Project, were developed in collaboration with the trans rights organisation @genderdynamix
Here storytelling amplifes voices, and champions equality across borders.
#RECLAIMFestival #TransRightsAreHumanRights #italia🇮🇹 #southafrica🇿🇦
🏳️⚧️ 𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧-𝙖𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝘾𝙖𝙥𝙚 𝙏𝙤𝙬𝙣 🇿🇦
Since the closure of donor-funded clinics in 2025, there have been significant changes in access to gender-affirming care. In response, the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation (DTHF) LGBT+ Health Division, together with partner organisations, has developed two practical info sheets that map available gender-affirming care services across Cape Town, South Africa
🔗 bit.ly/4dUsS9x 👈 Follow this link to find both info sheets:
1) One-pager: Public and NGO providers: .za/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Gender-affirming-healthcare-providers-in-Cape-Town_1-Pager_Web-1.pdf
2) Full-length: Public, NGO and Private providers:
.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Gender-affirming-healthcare-providers-in-Cape-Town_Ext_WebSIngles-1.pdf
Please note: As service availability continues to change, these resources will be regularly updated. Looking ahead, we plan to expand this work beyond Cape Town to cover the broader Western Cape, and to collaborate with partners in other provinces to develop similar resources nationally.
WE’RE HIRING: Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP) Officer
Gender DynamiX is looking for a skilled and detail-driven Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP) Officer to support the financial administration, compliance, monitoring, and accompaniment of implementing partners within the COSPE-funded Nali’Themba Project.
Location: Cape Town (with provincial travel)
Contract: 4-month fixed-term
Closing date: 15 May 2026
Application deadline: 22 May 2026
How to apply:
Interested candidates should submit their CV and a cover letter outlining their qualifications and motivation for applying to
[email protected]
The full position brief and application details are available via the link in our bio.
.za/vacancies/fstp-officer
We are seeking an experienced and visionary Executive Director
The full position brief and application details are available via the link in our bio.
Application deadline: 22 May 2026
How to apply:
Interested candidates are invited to submit:
• A detailed CV
• A motivation letter outlining their suitability for the role
Applications should be sent to: [email protected]
This role will provide strategic leadership, drive organisational sustainability, and strengthen our impact at both national and regional levels. The successful candidate will lead organisational growth, build and maintain strong partnerships, and ensure the effective delivery of our mission.
Gender Dynamix is an equal opportunity employer and strongly encourages applications from trans and gender diverse persons.
Gender Dynamix has been the recipient of a number of prestigious awards in recognition of its work.
In November 2017, Gender Dynamix was honoured to receive the 2016/2017 Reconciliation Award from the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR). The IJR was established in 2000 following the work of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission and annually honours individuals or organisations in South Africa that contribute significantly to nation-building, social cohesion, and reconciliation.
In July 2024, Gender Dynamix received the GATE Award in recognition of GDX's exceptional contribution as an Organising Committee member of the GATE ‘The Unite! Thrive! Global Trans Conference’ hosted ahead of the International AIDS Conference in Munich, Germany. This conference saw over 200 trans and gender diverse activists, researchers, policymakers and community leaders from across the globe participating.
In 2025, Gender Dynamix was a recipient of the Felipa de Souza Award, which recognises the courage and activism of grassroots organisations and individuals who thrive in the face of incredible odds and tremendous challenges. The award was received by Liberty Matthyse (Executive Director) and Monica Tabengwa (Chairperson of the Board) at Outright International’s Celebration of Courage Awards and Gala.
@gateorg #genderdynamix
In 2019, as the curriculum work matured, GDX recognised the need for broader coordination and stakeholder alignment. The Social Inclusion Working Group was established as a multi-stakeholder platform, bringing together parents of trans children, educators, civil society organisations, and technical experts.
This platform surfaced critical distinctions between provincial and national policy processes, highlighting the fragmented nature of education governance.
In 2019, a significant and deliberate shift occurred. Driven by donor priorities and the influence of partners, such as The Norwegian Students' and Academics' International Assistance Fund (SAIH), GDX transitioned from a primarily basic education focus toward higher education systems changes, while retaining basic education engagement through pre-service teacher training.
This shift recognised universities as key sites where policy, curriculum, professional standards, and institutional culture intersect.
Over the past ten years, GDX has played a critical role in advancing gender identity and expression inclusion across South Africa’s education sector. What began as strategic legal and curriculum-focused advocacy in basic education, has evolved into a comprehensive, evidence-based and systems-oriented approach, spanning both basic and higher education.
The Young and Transgender book that GDX produced in collaboration with Equal Education came after a few years’ engagement with trans youth. As an organisation that is regularly faced by stories and reports from youth being chased from their family home, or leaving school early, it was crucial that GDX focus on issues that needed addressing in support of trans youth.
Gender Dynamix was founded in 2005, at a time when transgender organising on the African continent was largely unrecognised.
Access to information was limited. There were no clear systems for healthcare, legal gender recognition, or support. Trans and gender diverse persons were often isolated, even from one another.
In response, Gender Dynamix emerged to fill this gap—
to build connection, share knowledge, and begin organising where little existed.
In the early years, simply finding one another felt like an act of resistance.
On Transgender Day of Visibility, we recognise that, like the fynbos, growth is not separate from struggle — it happens through it.
In 2019–2021 a pivotal milestone in the pursuit of
gender affirming healthcare was the development of formal clinical guidance.
Clinicians and health advocates, with Gender Dynamix’s active technical and community support, developed the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society (SAHCS) Gender Affirming Healthcare Guidelines for South Africa. These guidelines established a humane, non-pathologising, evidence-based clinical framework centred on dignity, informed consent and access to care.
GDX contributed vital lived-experience evidence and helped safeguard the rigour of the guideline review. Gender Dynamix’s engagement ensured that community realities were reflected in clinical practice recommendations, reinforcing depathologised care as standard practice.
