Speaking to Ekurhuleni News, proud Transgender man Collen Silumko Mfazwe said coming from a black society and knowing that you are from a black working-class environment makes us doubt our capabilities, and also being black makes him want to do more, hence he is committed to being a better version of himself.
“Experiences of a black working-class people are often made infeasible through the lenses of pain and death”.
The 31st of March is declared the Transgender Day of Visibility, for Mfazwe it means freedom, equality, and good services from public institutions.
Coming from a family of six in Daveyton, Mfazwe has always shown masculine traits from a very young age, however lack of knowledge about transgender, made him refer to himself as a butch lesbian.
“At that time that was the word I knew back then and I always knew that I am male, however, I was frustrated by the things that grew within me as I was approaching puberty. For me, that was disturbing because during my monthly cycle I couldn’t play with other kids. After all, I wasn’t comfortable with myself and didn’t understand what I was going through,” explained Mfazwe.
Having a strong support system made Mfazwe conquer all his challenges and persevered through them all.
The LGBTI Activist who is also a human rights activist, photographer, and filmmaker further said he wouldn’t have done it without his late mother who was his pillar of strength as she walked this journey with him and understood the matter with his son.
“My mother never had a problem with how I was and how I presented myself in the community which made things easier with my family to understand the type of a person I am”.
Joining the LGBTI+ community movement paved a way for Mfazwe to have a better understanding of the person he is because he met different kinds of people whom he could associate himself with.
“That is when I saw that I am a Tran’s person. I was always in the closet as a transgender man but always out as a lesbian because little did I know that it can be possible for me to be a transgender man and also I feared how my family would react after they have accepted me as a lesbian and I now I want to change again,” he added.
After doing his research about medical transitioning to become a transgender man, Mfazwe consulted with a Psychologist who helped him understand the risks of transitioning.
“When I started my medical transitioning journey, I came clean to my siblings and told them that this is what I want and all I require from them is support because at the end of the day I am choosing myself. It was heart soothing to receive their blessings and support”.
In November 2021, Mfazwe went through his top surgery which was a success through prayer, love, and support, he sustained from his family and partner, but mostly his late aunt who helped him through during his recovery.
In his conclusion, Mfazwe mentioned that sexuality is fluid and gender, sex, and sexual orientation are some of the complex issues that we were not taught about growing up, so sometimes in this era you find older people saying these things were not there during their times, and the case is that people were not open as they are now.
By Simphiwe Nkosi
