Postgraduate students present papers at Queer visualities conference

Three of our postgraduate students presented papers at the Queer visualities: African perspectives, other perspectives conference at North-West University in Potchefstroom from 27 February to 1 March. The annual conference aims to facilitate ongoing and productive platforms of discussion on the lived experiences of queerness in the global South.

Johndré Barnes’ (LLM student) presentation considered the rights of transgender children. He argued that, based on the interpretation of various Constitutional rights read with international standards, there is a duty to acknowledge transgender children’s right to self-identification. Charlene Kreuser (LLD student) presented on the conflation of sex and gender in the determination of school uniform in the National Guidelines on School Uniform. Her focus was on how this conflation results in the violation of the constitutional rights of transgender learners, as well as on the duties on the state and schools to address these violations. Tegan Snyman (LLM student) presented a transgender reading of the Maputo Protocol. She aimed to show how African transgender women can be recognised as legal subjects protected under the Maputo Protocol.

“Attending a queer conference in South Africa, specifically in Potchefstroom, was an extremely empowering experience. It was wonderful listening to and learning from academics from different academic disciplines and institutions. We would highly recommend students interested in queer studies and the law to participate in this annual conference – it will be hosted by the University of the Western Cape in 2020”.

Sorry, comments are closed for this post.