Katlego Kolanyane-Kesupile: How I'm bringing queer pride to my rural village | TED

Translator: Edurne Sanz Arsuaga Reviewer: Nerea García Garmendia

"You don't belong here"

"Ez duzu zer eginik hemen".

almost always means, "We can't find a function or a role for you."

Gehienetan "ezin dizugu funtzio edo rolik aurkitu" esan nahi du.

"You don't belong here" sometimes means, "You're too queer to handle."

Batzuetan "arraroegia zara zurekin ondo konpontzeko" esan nahi du.

"You don't belong here"

"Ez duzu zer eginik hemen" esatean

very rarely means,

benetako mezua ia inoiz ez da "ezinezkoa da zu heme egotea

"There's no way for you to exist and be happy here."

eta zoriontsu izatea."

I went to university in Johannesburg, South Africa,

Johannesburgon joan nintzen Unibertsitatera, Hego Afrikan,

and I remember the first time a white friend of mine

eta gogoan dut lagun zuri batek setswanaz, Botswanako hizkuntza nazionala,

heard me speaking Setswana, the national language of Botswana.

hizketan entzun zidan lehen aldia.

I was on the phone with my mother

Amarekin telefonoz ari nintzen

and the intrigue which painted itself across her face was absolutely priceless.

eta aurpegian antzeman zitzaion jakin-mina barrez lehertzeko modukoa izan zen.

As soon as I hung up, she comes to me and says,

Telefonoa eskegi bezain laster esan zidan:

"I didn't know you could do that.

"Ez nekien hori egin zenezakeenik.

After all these years of knowing you, how did I not know you could do that?"

Hainbeste urtez elkar ezagututa, nola liteke orain arte ez jakitea?"

What she was referring to was the fact that I could switch off the twang

Txundituta zegoen ni txipa aldatu eta ama hizkuntzara

and slip into a native tongue,

salto egiteko gai nintzelako.

and so I chose to let her in on a few other things

Beraz, Motswana egiten nauten beste zenbait gauza

which locate me as a Motswana,

erakustea erabaki nuen;

not just by virtue of the fact that I speak a language

ez bertako hizkuntzan mintzatu

edo familia han dudala bakarrik,

or I have family there,

but that a rural child lives within this shiny visage of fabulosity.

baita aurpegi liluragarri honen atzean dagoen landa-jatorriko umea ere.

(Laughter)

(Barreak)

(Applause)

(Txaloak)

I invited the Motswana public into the story, my story,

Orain dela urte batzuk Motswanako jendea gonbidatu nuen

as a transgender person years ago, in English of course,

pertsona transgenero gisa kontatutako nire istorioa entzutera ingelesez,

because Setswana is a gender-neutral language

Setswana hizkuntzak ez baitu generorik;

and the closest we get is an approximation of "transgender."

eta ez dago "transgenero" hitzaren baliokide zehatzik ere.

And an important part of my history got left out of that story,

Hala ere, istorioaren zati handi bat ez nuen azaldu;

by association rather than out of any act of shame.

ez lotsagatik, kontatutakoarekin lotu ez nuelako, besterik gabe.

"Kat" was an international superstar,

Kat nazioarteko izarra zen.

a fashion and lifestyle writer, a musician, theater producer

Moda-idazle, musikari, antzerki-ekoizle eta aktorea zen;

and performer --

all the things that qualify me to be a mainstream, whitewashed,

hau da, kultura mendebaldarra imitatu eta joera nagusia jarraitzen duen

new age digestible queer.

transexual tipiko bihurtuko nindukeen guztia.

Kat.

Kat.

Kat had a degree from one of the best universities in Africa,

Katek Afrikako unibertsitate onenetako batean burutu zituen ikasketak.

oh no, the world.

Ez, barkatu; munduko onenetako batean.

By association, what Kat wasn't

Kat ez zen, noski,

was just like the little brown-skinned children

trenbideetan saltoka ibili ohi diren ume beltzaranak bezalakoa,

frolicking through the streets of some incidental railway settlement

like Tati Siding,

Tati Siding bezalaxe.

or an off-the-grid village like Kgagodi,

Ez zen Kgagodi bezalako herrixka isolatu batekoa;

legs clad in dust stockings whose knees had blackened

ez zituen hankak hautsez beteta eta belaunak belztuta

hainbeste urtez belauniko lurra argizariz garbitzeagatik;

from years of kneeling and wax-polishing floors,

bernazakietan ez zuen zuhaitzetara igotzen ibili denaren markarik.

whose shins were marked with lessons from climbing trees,

who played until dusk,

Ez zen ilunabarrera arte jolasean ibili ondoren

went in for supper by a paraffin lamp

keroseno-lanpara baten argitan afaldu

and returned to play hide-and-seek amongst centipedes and owls

eta amak berriro deitu arte hontz eta zomorro artean

until finally someone's mother would call the whole thing to an end.

ezkutaketan ibiltzen zen ume bat.

That got lost both in translation and in transition,

Nik hori galdu egin nuen, bai itzulpenean eta bai trantsizioan.

and when I realized this,

Hortaz jabetzean,

I decided it was time for me to start building bridges between myselves.

nire berezitasunen artean zubiak eraikitzeko garaia zela erabaki nuen.

For me and for others to access me,

Nire ingurukoen eta nire onerako,

I had to start indigenizing my queerness.

nire transgenero izaeraren alde indigena aldarrikatu behar nuen.

What I mean by indigenizing is stripping away the city life film

Horrekin esan nahi dudana hiriko bizitza itxuratiaren azpian

that stops you from seeing the villager within.

dagoen baserritarra agerian uztea da.

In a time where being brown, queer, African and seen as worthy of space

Gaur egun beltzarana, transexuala eta afrikarra izanik ingurukoek

errespetuz tratatzea ez da landa-jatorriarekin lotzen;

means being everything but rural,

I fear that we're erasing the very struggles

badirudi hona iristen lagundu diguten ahaleginak

that got us to where we are now.

ezabatzen ari garela.

The very first time I queered being out in a village,

Nire transexualitatea herrixka batean azaleratu nuen lehen aldian

I was in my early 20s, and I wore a kaftan.

20 urte inguru nituen eta kaftan bat neraman jantzita.

I was ridiculed by some of my family and by strangers for wearing a dress.

Senide batzuk burla egin zidaten soineko bat eramateagatik; baita ezezagunek ere.

My defense against their comments was the default that we who don't belong,

Iseka hauei eman nien erantzuna gu, bertan zer eginik ez dugunok,

the ones who are better than, get taught,

hobeak garela, hezkuntza hobea jasoko dugula

we shrug them off and say, "They just don't know enough."

eta besteak, ezjakinak, mespretxatzeko eskubidea dugula.

And of course I was wrong, because my idea of wealth of knowledge

Baina oker nengoen, noski, niretzat jakinduriaren kontzeptua

was based in removing yourself from Third World thinking and living.

Hirugarren Munduko bizimodu eta pentsaerari uko egitea baitzen.

But it took time for me to realize that my acts of pride

Kostata jabetu nintzen nire harrotasunaren adierazpenak

weren't most alive in the global cities I traipsed through,

ez zirela indartsuagoak esploratzen nituen hiriburu kosmopolitetan,

but in the villages where I speak the languages and play the games

herrixketan baizik; ama hizkuntzan mintzatu eta bertako jokoetan ibiltzeko

and feel most at home and I can say,

aukera dudan lekuetan.

"I have seen the world,

Bertan esan dezaket: "Munduan zehar ibili naiz

and I know that people like me aren't alone here, we are everywhere."

eta badakit ni bezalako jendea ez dagoela bakarrik;

leku guztietan gaude."

And so I used these village homes for self-reflection

Herrixka hauetaz baliatu nintzen

nire buruari buruz hausnartu

and to give hope to the others who don't belong.

eta zer eginik ez dutenei itxaropena emateko.

Indigenizing my queerness

Transexual gisa nire alde indigena aldarrikatzea

means bridging the many exceptional parts of myself.

nire berezitasunak lotzen dituen zubi bat eraikitzea da.

It means honoring the fact

Mihia bihurrikat

eta hizkuntza erromantzeak hitz egiteko gai naizela onartzea esan nahi du,

that my tongue can contort itself to speak the Romance languages

without denying or exoticizing the fact that when I am moved, it can do this:

baina hunkituta nagoenean hau egin dezakedala onartuz:

(Ululating)

(Uluak)

It means --

Esan nahi duena da...

(Cheers)

(Oihuak)

(Applause)

(Txaloak)

It means branding cattle with my mother or chopping firewood with my cousins

Amarekin abereak markatzeak edo lehengusuekin egurra mozteak

doesn't make me any less fabulous or queer,

ez dit trans izaera ezabatu edo glamourrik kentzen.

even though I'm now accustomed to rooftop shindigs, wine-paired menus

Hori bai, teilatu lauetan antolatutako festetara, ardoa edatera

and VIP lounges.

eta VIP saletara ohituta nago.

(Laughter)

(Barreak)

It means wearing my pride through my grandmother's tongue,

Nire harrotasuna amonaren hizkuntzan,

my mother's food, my grandfather's song,

amaren janarian, aitonaren abestietan,

my skin etched with stories of falling off donkeys

asto gainetik erortzeagatik markaz josita dudan azalean

and years and years and years of sleeping under a blanket of stars.

eta izarpean lo egiten pasatako urteetan adieraztea da.

If there's any place I don't belong,

Zer eginik ez dudan lekuren bat egotekotan,

nire izaera landa-jatorriarekin lotu ordez,

it's in a mind where the story of me starts with the branch of me being queer

and not with my rural roots.

zuzenean transexualitatearekin lotzen duen buru batean da.

Indigenizing my queerness means understanding

Transexual gisa nire alde indigena aldarrikatzea

landa-giroa nigan daramadala ulertzea da,

that the rural is a part of me, and I am an indelible part of it.

eta ni giro horren parte naizela esan nahi du.

Thank you.

Eskerrik asko.

(Applause)

(Txaloak)