Café Humaniste: Living at the Intersection of Gender Identity, Race and Belief, with Miss saHHara

Central London Humanists (CLH) and the Association of Black Humanists (ABH) are pleased to welcome you to this Café Humaniste talk: Living at the intersection of Gender Identity, Race and Belief, with Miss saHHara, thanks to the support of Humanists International. The event will take place at the Conway Hall on October 20, 2021, from 7 pm to 9 pm, led by Lola Tinubu, co-founder of ABH.

Join us as we talk to Miss saHHara about her personal life story of growing up as a trans woman in Nigeria, her challenges, her work and her achievements for the trans community. She will also delve into African Queer and Trans history, celebrating the trans community in Africa before the colonial masters brought with them Christianity and turned Africans against the community.

Miss saHHara (pronounced as Sahara) is a British Nigerian. She is the founder of TransValid.org, and Miss Trans Global. These organisations advocate for the rights of LGBTQ+ people, with a focus on transgender people around the world.

Miss saHHara is the first openly transgender woman from Nigeria. In 2011, she was the subject of a Sky Living documentary, exploring the lives of trans women participating in beauty pageants in Thailand. This programme had several re-runs worldwide, pulling total audience figures of over 1.4 million.

In 2014, Miss saHHara was crowned the first ever Super Sireyna Worldwide, a global transgender beauty pageant, which was aired on one of Philippines biggest daytime television shows called Eat Bulaga. This made her the first black trans woman to win an international beauty competition. At the pageant, she represented her country of birth, Nigeria, drawing attention to the negative attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community in Africa.

As part of her advocacy, Miss saHHara started TransValid Organisation, which is a global awareness project for transgender people and allies with the purpose to tackle misconceptions, fear, and violence against transgender people worldwide. TransValid empowers the community by using media forums and outreach programs to educate members of the public.

Miss saHHara is currently running Miss Trans Global, a digital annual event providing a platform for a diverse heritage of transgender women from all walks of life. The pageant’s key goal is to raise awareness and funds for vulnerable transgender women suffering in isolation due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Please arrive before the talk to enjoy a glass of wine from our charity wine bar and mingle.

Our speaker events are free, but we kindly ask for a £3 contribution per head. This helps towards the hire of the venue and equipment.

We encourage dialogue, debate, and sharing of information, but ask people to keep their comments cordial. Any individual’s views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the group at large.

LINKS FOR FURTHER INFO:

    Ticket link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/167836997979

    Website: https://www.centrallondonhumanists.org.uk/

    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/londonhumanists

    Twitter: https://twitter.com/LondonHumanists

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/londonhumanists/