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International transgender activist tells it like it is

07 March 2019 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Rulanzen Martin

CGAS staff with Jessica Lynn — From left: Ankia Bradfield, Sihle Salman, Jessica Lynn, Dr Nadine Lake, programme director, Gender Studies, and Dr Stephanie Cawood, director of CGAS after the talk.

For Jessica Lynn, a transgender activist, referencing the Butterfly to tell her journey, is the perfect metaphor to raise awareness of transgender issues. The Centre for Gender and Africa studies (CGAS) at the University of the Free State (UFS) hosted Lynn at a seminar titled, The Butterfly Project.

The CGAS invited Lynn in an effort to educate and inform students of her own experience as a parent living as a transgender woman. She is a global ambassador at the Kinsey Institute.

Coping mechanisms to escape reality

Born Jeffery Alan Butterworth in 1965, Lynn has become a world-renowned, dynamic and hard-hitting transgender activist. Lynn started her seminar off with: “Who here knows someone that is part of the transgender community?” It was evident that not many people know someone who is transgender. “In the United States only 16% of the population knows someone who is transgender,” she said.

“Everybody has their own story, just like I am only one of the 1.4 million transgender stories in the United States (US).” As a child of English immigrants to the US she was raised as a boy. “At a very young age I wanted to be girl,” she says, “but in 1969 it was not something that was spoken about..”

She started doing photography, painting and sports to stop the feelings she had to become a girl. She became obsessed with painting. “When I am painting that eagle I became that eagle in order to escape my reality.” She came out to her children as transgender during December 2009. She fully transitioned in 2010.

Lynn is the mother of three boys and was married to their biological mother. A botched Texas court restricted her access to her youngest child and to this day she has not been able to see her son.

Transgender discussions on rise in South Africa

“Transgender discussions have been less salient than conversations around homosexuality in South Africa,” said Dr Nadine Lake, programme director for Gender Studies at the UFS. “But it is clear that raising awareness around transgender issues is starting to take more ground.”

Transgender identity and trans-body rights emerged during the #RhodesMustFall movement in 2015. “It was university students that were primarily driving the transformation agenda,” said Dr Lake.

The seminar on 20 February 2019 was an emotional, explosive and honest narrative of Jessica Lynn cocooning from Jeffrey Alan Butterworth to the phenomenal women she is today.

News Archive

UFS Rose Ball promises to be an unforgettable experience

2005-09-08

On Saturday 15 of October 2005, the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at the University of the Free State (UFS) in collaboration with Medi-Clinic, are hosting a Rose Ball in aid of children and babies with serious diseases and special needs.

The Bloemfontein public should get ready for one of the most magnificent events ever held in the city.

The Rose Ball promises to offer an evening of glamour, elegance and beauty which will make it an unforgettable and unique event. The Department aims to make the Rose Ball an annual event to which the Bloemfontein public can look forward to with expectation.

“Excellent food and wine, a 35 man symphony orchestra and of course a magical setting awaits those who attend the Rose Ball. We will do everything possible to make guests feel special, so that they return to the Rose Ball year after year. In this way, we can ensure an annual income from this event for children and babies who are very ill and need specialised care,” said Prof. André Venter, Head of the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health.

The Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at the UFS is responsible for the tertiary care, that is highly specialised care, of around 1 000 000 children in the Free State, Northern Cape, North-West, Eastern Cape and Lesotho. Approximately 13 000 out-patients are treated at the Universitas and Pelonomi Hospitals annually. Children who suffer from cancer, heart disease, neurological disease and endocrinological and gastro-enterological conditions are treated. The Department is also responsible for children who need intensive care and children with contagious diseases. In addition, there is a large neonatal unit where prematurely born babies are treated.

The level of health care needed to treat these children and babies, necessitate highly specialised equipment and knowledge. However, it is not always possible to replace or upgrade equipment, due to the lack of much-needed funds. That is why a fund was created within the Department to satisfy the need for funds. The Rose Ball promises to eventually give a vital boost to the fund that will go a long way toward providing in the special healthcare needs of these patients.

The Rose Ball is made possible thanks to the support of Medi-Clinic.

“Medi-Clinic is honoured to be involved in this great effort and in this way take hands with the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at the UFS. There are so many children with life-threatening diseases today and we cannot afford to be uninvolved in any effort to make life better and easier for these children. We at Medi-Clinic, as a private sector company, look forward to establishing a long-term commitment with the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health,” said Mr Sakkie van der Merwe, Hospital Manager of Bloemfontein Medi-Clinic.

Only a limited number of tables are still available for the Rose Ball. Tickets cost R500 per person or R5 000 per table of 10 people.

Those who are interested can contact Ms Ilse Olivier at 051-4012415 or Ms Adele van Aswegen at 051-4013535 for more information.

Media release
Issued by:  Lacea Loader
   Media Representative
   Tel: (051) 401-2584
   Cell: 083 645 2454
   E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
8 September 2005

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