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Art has always been a free and safe place to better express the differences in our way of being, especially in gender identity. Thanks to its educational and inclusive power, culture becomes a valuable ally for the LGBTQIA community. Tunisia still criminalises homosexuality and the recent elections showed how decriminalization and sexual minorities’ rights are not a priority. But culture and art claim this issue as a priority and bring it to the stage.

A young cultural association will propose in Tunis “TranStyX“, an art project that openly addresses transsexuality and is the result of the work of the Zanoobya association under the direction of the Tunisian queer artist Moncef Zahrouni. From November 2019 to April 2020, TranStyX will bring to the theatres of Tunis a show that will stage the daily difficulties of being trans in the country. The project also includes an artistic installation, workshops, a book with the texts of the show and some interviews with trans people. All these events want to focus on trans citizens’ rights, dignity and freedom of expression. To understand more, Il Grande Colibrì interviewed the creator Moncef Zahrouni, who enthusiastically answered our questions.

What is your goal and how did such a project for the trans community in Tunisia come about?

It all started when a friend sent me a link to a television program followed by millions of Tunisians. In the program, a transsexual man sought help to undergo a sex reassignment intervention in Egypt. Throughout the show, the man had to endure completely inappropriate and transphobic questions and comments from the host. It was clear that the program was designed to get cheap share and sensationalism. During the broadcast, they also asked for the opinion of a religious expert (mufti) and his intervention only made the situation worse.

Thus, TranStyX is a response to the way the media treats the issue. The usual representations feed stereotypes about transgenderism and perpetuate prejudices about queer people. TranStyX represents an artistic response to put the topic under discussion. Only in this way is it possible to increase awareness and face wrong ideas, promoting an inclusive, hedonistic and libertarian ethic.

transtyx spettacolo transgender tunisia

The title of the project is very interesting and unusual. What is the idea behind this name?

I wanted to have an ambiguous and captivating title that would put the public in crisis and force him to decipher it! The title consists of two words. “Trans” is both the prefix that means “across,” and the abbreviation for transgender people. The word “Styx”, instead, derives from Greek mythology: the Styx is the river of the underworld that marks the border between earth and netherworld. This neologism, which combines the two words, indicates the odyssey of a trans person through the Styx River.

But where does this river go?

The metaphor can refer to Tunisia or generally to the Mediterranean Sea. Every year, thousands of Tunisians, including many trans people, try to cross this sea to reach the northern shore, which in our metaphor can represent the Elysian fields. There is a lot to think about!

What are the main problems for the trans community in Tunisia, in your opinion?

I think the main problem that trans people face in their youth is the lack of understanding of their own identity. This leads them to live in isolation to avoid judgment, stigmatization and discrimination. Later, the problem is the missing or limited medical-psychological support, not to mention police persecution.

The project also aims to explore the history of trans identity in Islamic literature. Are there significant examples?

There are undoubtedly significant examples of the past that can show the possibility of restoring the trans identity in Tunisian culture and society. This can be a way to reach the sceptical majority of people, believers who identify strongly with Islamic culture as a cultural heritage.

Exploring transsexualism in Islamic literature is a topic we want to discuss at one of our conferences. The proposal is from Zeyneb Farhat, my collaborator and executive producer of Transtyx. Zeyneb is an iconic cultural and human rights activist. I prefer the answers provided by neuroscience, anthropology, and social studies, but I think starting from Islamic literature is very intriguing. This approach offers a different perspective that we don’t consider directly in the show and that we will explore more in the other events that we will organize.

transtyx spettacolo transgender tunisia

Do you think art can be an ally for the trans community? Can art encourage the abolition of the laws criminalizing the LGBTQIA community in Tunisia?

Pop art and culture can raise awareness, introduce and disseminate appropriate terminologies to refer to transgenderism, open the debate and also bring answers or give the keys to the public. I believe that art and education can reshape public opinion and give access to new horizons. A bottom-up approach can be effective in driving sustainable change that will lead to a decrease in transphobia and homophobia. Politicians cannot remain deaf to the strong and penetrating voice of citizens.

Is there a place for the trans community in Tunisia?

All Tunisian citizens should be able to live with human dignity. Unfortunately, political and religious institutions consider trans people as second-class citizens and condemn them to live in the shadows. Through civil society activism, we want people hearing aloud this discriminated community’s needs and turn them into concrete actions.

What will you do in the future?

I have strong confidence in micro-revolutions that gradually sow the seeds of change. Art, social activism and education can together create an impact by raising public awareness. Artists, free thinkers and human rights activists should recover the ground they lost because of obscurantist and ignorant political opinions. Collectively, we can create a strong and influential coalition to defend the LGBTQIA people’s rights and to urge politicians to act. Individually, we should multiply the initiatives to educate the people around us and raise awareness.

TranStyX wants to shed light on the difficulties that Tunisian trans people face daily in their country. According to Moncef, this is the only way to complete the post-2011 democratic transition and to strengthen the community. But this artistic project also responds to an even deeper human need: the desire to communicate. Sharing experiences is the basis for understanding and creating a new form of an alternative narrative that doesn’t judge trans people but includes them. This change is necessary and projects like TranStyX show how this social and cultural transformation is now a closer possibility.

Antonella Cariello
translated by Pier Cesare Notaro
©2019 Il Grande Colibrì
pictures: ©Kais Ben Farhat

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