FEATURED STORIES
Read the top posts and media from Iranti.
JOB ADVERT: EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
WHO WE ARE Iranti, a Yoruba word, which means memory, was founded in 2012 with the vision of achieving a just world where sexual, gender and bodily diversity is celebrated and where everyone lives with dignity, respect and equality. Iranti uses multi-media narratives and evidence to advocate for lesbian, bisexual, queer, trans and gender...
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International Human Rights Day 2025
Today we reflect on the ongoing scourge of hate- crimes in South Africa and across the globe as we mourn the brutal murder of 16-year-old Kwakhanya Mhlanganisi. By Mogau Makitla Kwakhanya, a young queer teenager from Khayelitsha, Cape Town (South Africa), was allegedly beaten with bricks before being burnt in an attack that his family...
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Unbreakable: Africa’s queer movement rises together in Johannesburg, South Africa!
By Mogau Makitla The 7th Pan Africa ILGA Regional Conference is underway in Johannesburg, South Africa – bringing together LGBTQI+ activists, advocates, and community leaders from across the continent and beyond! Under the rallying call “Unbreakable: Our Pride, Our Power, Our Future” participants are convening to reflect, strategise, and strengthen collective action in the face of mounting...
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Nare Mphela: A Life of Courage Remembered
This Trans Day of Remembrance, we honour Nare Mphela, a staunch advocate for trans rights whose life was cut short. Between the years of 2013 and 2014 Nare, a secondary school learner, endured relentless discrimination at school, which was often instigated by the principal, who also encouraged other students to target her because of her...
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A Historic Day for Intersex Rights at the United Nations
By Peace Maquba September 15th marked a pivotal moment in the global movement for intersex rights.On this day, the UN Human Rights Council received a groundbreaking report on thehuman rights of intersex people. This historic milestone was accompanied by apowerful panel discussion and impactful interventions from civil society organizations,UN agencies, and member states. It stands...
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ILGA World Conference – Documentary
In 2024, the ILGA World Conference, which was co-hosted by Iranti and Gender Dynamix, returned to Africa for the first time in 25 years. This was a monumental moment for the LGBTQI+ community – not only in Africa but across the world. We are excited to share this documentary that captures important moments from the conference!
READ MOREREAD THE FULL NEWSFEED FOR MORE
GO TO NEWSFEEDABOUT US
Dignity, Equality and Freedom. “ Iranti is a Johannesburg based human rights organisation that advocates for the advancement of the rights of LBQTI persons in Africa. Iranti works within a human rights framework raising issues on gender identities, and sexuality, through the strategic use of multimedia storytelling, research and activism.”
OUR WORK
What we do and why
RESEARCH & ARCHIVE
Iranti means “memory” in Yoruba and as such we are committed to telling the stories of lesbian, transgender and intersex persons in our region. These stories and our history as a community do not exist in a vacuum, and we understand the need for evidence-based research, data analysis and documentation. One of Iranti’s key strategic...
READ MOREDOCUMENTATION
Iranti is a media-advocacy organisation, and we pride ourselves in our ability to document LGBTI+ activities and milestones, and tell LGBTI+ stories, through the tactical use of multimedia storytelling. We believe that participation of lesbians, gender non-conforming, trans and intersex persons in owning their stories is essential to the creation of a just and equitable...
READ MOREADVOCACY
Iranti’s work, from media production to research, is all done in the service of lesbian, transgender and intersex advocacy and activism. We envision a just world where everyone lives with dignity, respect and equality and where different sexual orientations and gender identities are celebrated, but this cannot happen without meaningful, impactful and targeted advocacy. The...
READ MOREMOVEMENT BUILDING
We believe that we as a community are stronger together, and that it is in our best interests as an organisation, and in the interests of the LGBTI+ community in Africa, to collaborate, share skills and exchange knowledge whenever possible. Therefore, one of our strategic outcomes sees us working toward stronger organisations and movements of...
READ MORECOMBATING STIGMA
One of Iranti’s four strategic objectives is to increase visibility of, and seek immediate redress for, human rights violations of lesbians, gender non-conforming, trans and intersex persons. This outcome area includes impactful media reporting and advocacy, real time reporting of those violations and other critical moments and opportunities for shifting public opinion, actions and changing...
READ MOREFACTS ABOUT US
While Iranti and our allies across the continent have made great strides in advocating for LGBTI equality in recent years, many in our community face ongoing hostility, violence, prejudice and criminalisation. These numbers do not represent the whole picture, but are a snapshot of the situation in the region.
A FEW OF OUR FUNDING PARTNERS
It takes many hands to make it work!
