As Mama prepares dinner, I sit at the table and try to draw Zipho. I’ve decided Zimbali Jadeite needs an animal sidekick. Although, I can’t decide if Zimbali’s sidekick should be a dog. I mean, Zipho is rare, but some species are changeable when it comes to gender. Take the cuttlefish, that can appear male one side and female on another. Or clown anemonefish that all start out as male, but, if a female dies, then one of the male fish will become female.

All of which is very cool. But then again, maybe I need Zimbali Jadeite’s sidekick to be a fantastical creature, like werewolves and dragons. An intersex dragon would be awesome, and I could name them Zipho. This idea has me running to get more paper, when Tata comes through the door.

“I have a surprise,” he announces, after giving Mama a kiss.

I rush back to the table just as he sets down a bunch of paper. “During my lunch break I did some research on the internet,” he says, “and found South Africa’s Basic Education Rights Handbook.”

“Is this all of it?” I ask.

“No, my daughter, that would take up too much paper, so I only printed out what we need: Chapter 9: Sexual orientation and gender identity in schools. I think you’ll find pages 176 and 177 very interesting.”

I carefully read the two pages he has highlighted. My eyes go wide when I reach the section titled: ‘The Right to Equality and Dignity’. It is against rights to human dignity and equality to force a learner to wear a dress or to wear pants, or to otherwise present themselves as a girl or a boy, even though they want to express themselves differently.

“Mr Visser is not following the handbook,” I say.

“That is correct,” Tata says, his face spreading into a wide smile.

I wrinkle my nose. “But I’m not happy with the wording of this book. I don’t want to express myself differently, I want to be who I am. What I am is a girl.”

“We know that,” Mama says. “But people like Mr Visser are struggling to understand this. Many people do believe transgender people are making a ‘lifestyle choice’. They don’t understand that transgender people do not choose a gender-identity different to their sex organs. Perhaps the handbook is written for people like him? No matter what he feels about transgender people, he must still follow the law.”

“So even if we get him to agree that I wear the girl’s uniform, use the girl’s bathroom, and my real name, he will still think I need to be fixed.”

Tata gives me a hug. “We cannot control how people think. We can only live with our heads held high and demand dignity.”

***

Tell us: What do you think of Tata’s words, “We cannot control how people think. We can only live with our heads held high and demand dignity”?