South Africa is one of the most progressive countries in advancing the rights of sexual and gender minorities in Africa, and its constitution is the first in the world to prohibit unfair discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.

But even though SA’s constitution guarantees all citizens’ rights, many factors still conspire to make transgender and gender-diverse persons particularly vulnerable to life-threatening marginalisation, oppression, violence and exclusion. Some of these factors include access to education, socioeconomic status, health status, stigma, housing and discrimination...