Queer and trans exiles: Dis/connections of home

Queer, trans and feminist organising are prominent actors in the struggles against authoritarian regimes and anti-gender/trans sentiments. The activism of womxn and LGBTQIA+ against regimes of violence is accompanied by a commitment to social justice in countries like Mozambique and Brazil, which confront neoliberalism, racism, sexism, colonialism, anti-migration sentiments and militarization. The Centre of Intimate Sexual Citizenship at the University of Essex in partnership with TRANSformar.moz in Maputo, Grupo Conexão G in Rio de Janeiro, filmmaker Kurt Orderson and partners at Federal University of Rio de Janeiro as well as NIREMA at PUC, propose an arts-based inquiry – an interdisciplinary approach of creative participatory action research that centres on documentary filmmaking, where creativity becomes the vocabulary or medium through which research is engaged with. We centre internal and transnational queer and trans exiles by exploring counter narratives to exclusionary regimes (trans)national solidarities, community, kinship and allyship.

Team Bios

Grupo Conexão G

We are an NGO, with the aim of minimizing prejudices experienced by LGBTI+ people in the favelas of the city of Rio de Janeiro, with a focus on human rights, the promotion of health, culture, education, territorial development and public safety. Our institution works in these areas, therefore, denouncing violations of all kinds, especially those involving the LGBTI+ population, with special attention to black transvestite women, since they are women who are invisibilized by society in general and are pushed into a fragile cycle of vulnerability. In this sense, we seek to act on several fronts in order to help guarantee the basic rights of this population. As well as denouncing violations, we provide training to help them enter the job market, work in the health field, take action to ensure food security, access to justice and map violations.

TRANSformars.moz

TRANSformar.moz is and NGO based in Maputo composed of a group of transgender women and men, who seek through their activities to integrate society into the socio-political, socioeconomic, socio-educational demands that cover the trans- Mozambican population through the fight against discrimination based on gender identity, to contribute to greater respect for gender diversity and sexual diversity. This NGO collectively seek to build a society with greater acceptance of gender and sexual diversity, without discrimination, where trans people can live in safety.

Phoebe Kisubi Mbasalaki

Phoebe Kisubi Mbasalaki is a lecturer in the department of Sociology and Director of the Centre for Intimate Sexual Citizenship at the University of Essex. She has previously taught on gender studies programs at the African Gender Institute, University of Cape Town and Graduate Gender Studies Program, Utrecht University. Her research interests are in critical race, gender, class, sexuality, creative activism, public health as well as decolonial thought and praxis. She has published numerous chapters and journal articles within these interests. She is currently working on an edited volume as editor (with Ghorashi Halleh, Fiorito Tara, and Ponzoni) Elena entitled “Transformative engaged scholarship: Towards a co-creative, caring and reflexive migration studies” with Springer due 2025. She is book review editor of the journal Sexualities: Studies in Culture and Society (Sage).

Kurt Orderson

Kurt Orderson, an award-winning filmmaker from Cape Town, is known for his innovative approach to filmmaking. He skilfully incorporates historical and archival visual culture and political and transnational solidarity elements into his films, creating unique pedagogical tools. Kurt's upbringing on the Cape Flats has deeply influenced his artistic work, making him attuned to themes of racial capitalism, worldmaking, globalization, and the intricate facets of prescribed identity politics. Kurt's artistic journey demonstrates the incredible power of storytelling to transcend time, geography, and societal boundaries. He effortlessly blends the past, present, and future within his films, crafting a cohesive narrative that spans generations. Kurt tirelessly explores hidden cultural influences that shape our reality, offering a deeper understanding of our shared human experience and the complex forces that shape our world.

Andréa Gill

Andréa Gill is a professor of the Political Science Department of the Institute of Philosophy and Social Sciences (IFCS) of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro – Brazil (UFRJ), in the Sector of International Politics and Decoloniality. Associate researcher of the Interdisciplinary Center for African Descendent Research and Heritage (NIREMA) and of the Global South Unit of Mediation (GSUM) of the BRICS Policy Center (BPC) of the Institute of International Relations at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio). Member of the Fiscal Council of the Directorship of the Brazilian Association of International Relations (ABRI), as well as the Commission for Evaluation of Affirmative Action Politics and Vice-Coordination of the Thematic Area of Teaching, Research and Community Extension of the National Association. Editor of the book review section of the Sexualities Journal published by SAGE. Areas of research: postcolonial and decolonial studies; race, gender, sexuality, and class relations; urban politics; violence and conflict; international relations and globalization; political economy and development; education; Latin American and Brazilian social and political thought. Her formation consists of a Bachelor´s in Social and Political Thought from Western University (UWO-Canada) and the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN-South Africa), and a Master´s and Doctorate in Political Science, with a specialization in Cultural, Social and Political Thought, from the University of Victoria (UVIC-Canada).

NIREMA

The Interdisciplinary Center for Afro-Descendant Reflection and Memory - NIREMA - (Interdisciplinary Center for African Descendant Research and Heritage) is a research and documentation center of Brazilian Afro-descendant culture linked to the Center for Social Sciences (CCS), which develops interdisciplinary activities and initiatives, bringing together representatives of the faculty and students of PUC-Rio and other higher education institutions in Brazil and abroad. It was created in 2003 on the initiative of the Departments of History, Social Work and Sociology and Politics. Currently, in addition to these three departments, the Department of Law and the Institute of International Relations are also part of its constituent body. The Center has as its central activity the realization of studies that contribute to broaden our understanding of Brazilian society through the approach of ethnic-racial relations and Afro-descendant themes, notably through comparative studies with other realities such as the North American, European and that of several African countries.