Activists challenge sex change act
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersexed activists have slammed as problematic the provisions of the Alteration of Sex Description and Status Act, which requires sex-change surgery to be registered.Joshua Sehoole, co-ordinator at Iranti-org, a queer visual media organisation, said only two public hospitals - Groote Schuur in Cape Town and Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria - offered sex reassignment surgeries. Patients were on the waiting list for up to 14 years."You can change your gender marker only at Home Affairs. after the surgery, which we find to be a huge problem. The best practice should be self-identification," he said, adding that the procedure cost R60,000 in the private sector.Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba set up a task team to tackle the legislative challenges after a meeting with LGBTI representatives in Pretoria yesterday. He did not say which of the provisions would change."We need to listen in greater detail to the community concerned," Gigaba said...
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