A Nigeria transgender had decided to
share his
story and appeal to people to stop
stigmatizing
people like him.
The man, now simply identified as Miss
Sahhara has
claimed that he was abused and jailed in
Nigeria for
being a transgender.
In an article she shared yesterday to mark
the
Transgender Day of Remembrance, she
talked about
how depressed she felt and how she even
attempted suicide.
Hear her, and see more photos below:
“I am standing in front of the mirror
looking at my
reflection. Tears of joy trickle down my
rouged
cheek before going on stage.
I am in tears because I just can’t believe
how
realistic my dreams have become. I am a
woman!
Living my life freely. Accepted and
respected for
my achievements as a model and a
performer.
My fellow transgendered sisters and
brothers paved
this way for me. They fought for
acceptance,
understanding and respect. Some died
while
fighting for what they believed in and
others fell
before their time due to hate, rejection
and
society’s unfairness. Every single story
gave me
strength to fight on and never to give up.
I wish I could tell the younger me who
tried to
commit suicide twice that life gets better
and
dreams come true.
I did not imagine life could be this
amazing many
years ago after being released from a
horrid
Nigerian prison for being different. Then
all I could
think was I could die in this prison and no
one will
know or care.
Being imprisoned felt justifiable,
considering I was
being punished for being ‘gay’ –
something they
assumed due to my feminine features and
mannerisms.
I wasn’t gay, I am a woman born
differently due to
natural defects. What I felt did not match
my
outward appearance, Being assigned male
at birth
doesn’t make me a man or a woman,
nobody was
born a man or a women, you develop into
your
preferred gender as you grow up. For me
that
gender was female. I was born male but
my brain,
gestures, features and carriage functioned
as
female.
Growing up and not knowing what was
happening
to my body made me confused and lost. I
couldn’t
discuss it with my family because my
femininity was
frowned on due to religion and I could
not talk to
my friends because they would not
understand
what I was going through. I found solace
in music
and dreams.
I dreamt of being free to be myself, free
of insults,
free of judgment and free from
harassment.
That freedom came when I moved to the
United
Kingdom, finding girls like me gave me
hope of not
being alone in my journey of self-
discovery.
I found out what I went through growing
up in
Nigeria was quite common with
transgendered
people. Having freedom, acceptance and
knowledge
are the key most important elements to a
successful transition.
Knowing I am not alone in my struggles
helped me
to reevaluate my views on life and how I
should go
about my transition wisely. I researched
my
transition and reconciled the conflicting
emotions
involved in the process of accepting
myself as the
woman I am.
It is a lonely world during transition, as
your body
changes so do your emotions, which leads
the mind
into the darkest path in life. If the
chemicals are
not professionally controlled, you can feel
suicidal
due to rejection from loved ones and
society.
In life perfection doesn’t existent, but for
me
having the freedom to be my true self
feels almost
perfect. As a black transgendered woman
I am
faced with many daily challenges such as
transphobia, a complicated love life, poor
career
prospects and racism. But when I
remember my life
history, these challenges become water
under the
bridge.
That is why I will always remember those
who built
this foundation for freedom and
knowledge. Also
those who never got the chance to enjoy
the
acceptance we have achieved so far.
Transgender Day of Remembrance today
(20
November) is particularly import to me
because I
have lost close friends to suicide and have
seen
many more wishing to commit suicide as a
final fix
to their gender dilemma and rejection by
society.
The media is silent on the subject of
transphobia
and the effects it has on young
transgendered
people of today, because they don’t see
transgendered people as ‘normal’
members of our
community.
Remembering my fallen friends helps me
to keep
their memories alive. It also encourages
me to
carry on the fight to be respected,
understood and
accepted for whom I am.
I dream of a world where we are given
some sort of
understanding and tolerance to live
peacefully as
able, intelligent fellow human beings who
make
positive contributions to society.
Transgendered people are human too. We
are your
brothers, your sisters, your children, your
friends
and your lovers. Stop the hate! ”

CHECK OUT PHOTOS HERE: http://ekpedemealbert..com/2013/11/photos-check-out-photos-of-nigerian-man.html?m=1

Abeg, who read Translate.