TRANS RIGHTS GROUP PSA LAUDED

A television public service (PSA) announcement for Gender DynamiX has been chosen as a finalist for the 2010 M-Net Vuka! Awards. It is believed that the PSA is the first-ever Vuka! finalist to promote an LGBT organisation.

“South Africa has always professed human rights this and human rights that, but it saddens me that in order to qualify for human rights, and by extension, to qualify as a human, one has to qualify as a ‘gender’”, said Kyle Rath, the designer of the ad.

Rath made the 30 second television spot as a project for his studies at the University of Pretoria. “I do not expect the PSA to cure the world, but if one person is able to see this PSA and understand that they are in fact not diseased, and that there is a place for help, the PSA has worked,” he said.

The ad, which consists of animations and voiceover highlighting the challenges of those faced with questions about their gender, has been through two Vuka! Awards judging sessions and is currently being flighted on M-Net and other DSTV channels.

Viewers have been asked to vote for their favourite PSA via SMS. The charity belonging to the most popular PSA will receive the proceeds raised from the SMS line. The VUKA! competition aims to nurture South Africa’s filmmaking talent while providing exposure to social causes and charities.

“Gender DynamiX is proud to be associated with such a piece of brilliant human rights activism. We are very happy with the beautiful product Kyle has created and hope to use it often in our work,” said Gender DynamiX in a statement.

Gender DynamiX is a Human Rights organisation advocating for the rights of transgender, transsexual and gender non-conforming people.

Go to the Vuka! site to download the ad, which is number 39. The 2010 Vuka! winners will be announced at a gala ceremony on the 30th of November.