Deejay Manaleng: A defiant voice against homophobia and ableism
A defiant voice against homophobia and ableism
There is a great deal of intersectionality between being LGBTQ+ and disabled, with experiences like hiding an important part of your identity for your safety, discrimination, and social isolation often shared across these identities. LGBTQ+ disabled activists and advocates like Palesa “Deejay” Manaleng, are shedding light on this intersectionality and using their platforms to provide a forum for others to fight for liberation..
Deejay is an inspirational woman that is living her life beyond her disabilities. Living as a queer woman with a disability has come with its own set of challenges, but Deejay has gone above and beyond to overcome them. Born in Limpopo, Seshego, Deejay was and raised by her grandmother for the first 6 years of her life before moving to Witbank to live with her parents and siblings.
“I wouldn’t say I come out queer, I just was queer, it’s always been who I am and part of my identity,” said Deejay about her coming out. Having had her first crush at the age of 12 years old, Deejay wrote poems to express her love and stuff them in her desk unsigned. She became close to her crush but she didn’t get along with her best friend whose mother was a teacher at the school and when she (the friend) figured out Deejay was the one writing the poems she told her mother who decided she needed to be punished.
Deejay was reprimanded and made to write “I will never write poetry to a girl again”, threatened with expulsion, and warned to stay away from her crush. Terrified, she stopped writing poetry to her crush but she did not feel like she was different or sick as she was told by teachers who insisted she see a psychologist, psychiatrist and even told to attend anger management sessions. None of these specialists found anything wrong with her and she has continued to love women to this day.
However, growing up in a township in the 90’s, Deejay’s father had an issue with her sexuality and her mother would mediate between them. As a child, Deejay recalls having to navigate people’s parents and strangers and their comments about the way she looked and walked and the fact that she played soccer. She has also endured homophobic encounters from church-goers and verbal and physical assaults for being queer. “My siblings and I get along; they grew up with me being queer and celebrate pride month to celebrate me. My grandmother who raised me and my uncles don’t care that I’m queer, in fact, my grandmother who is 86 is looking forward to the day I get married, she always tells people that I’ve been this way from birth,” narrates Deejay.
Tragedy struck on 10 September 2014, when 27-year-old Deejay went out for a bike ride in the morning around her neighbourhood. She turned into a very steep street and as she picked up speed her brakes wouldn’t catch. She hit the pavement and flew into the palisade fence at the University of Johannesburg’s rugby stadium. The accident left her with a dislocated spine, two broken ribs which punctured her right lung, fractured her right shoulder and sustained a head injury. Luckily, she was wearing a helmet which mitigated the impact. As a paraplegic, Deejay is unable to walk or stand, along with other medical issues. She uses a wheelchair as an assistive device and doctors say there is no possibility of regaining her ability to walk.
Ableism is one of the major issues she encounters on a daily basis as a person living with a disability. As an advocate for people living with disability, Deejay writes about the challenges faced by people with disabilities in their efforts to access health care and being catered for at events, inclusivity and education.
“Hospital beds are not adjustable meaning that someone like me cannot transfer onto the bed alone. For a deaf person, most places don’t have sign language interpreters so communication is a barrier. Ramps are blocked by unnecessary junk or someone parked on it. The disability toilets are used as storage rooms or change rooms for staff,” explains Deejay.
At one shopping centre, she recalls finding maintenance staff using it as a place to quietly have their breakfast. “This is inhumane and undignified for them and frustrating for me,” she exclaims.
The sexual healthcare needs of people with disabilities are also not considered whereby some gynaecologist beds are not accessible. When disabled people go for HIV tests, they are asked why they need them because they are assumed to be sexually inactive.
Day to day access to buildings is an issue, and even once you gain access, moving around is just as bad. “Public transport is near impossible to use, I’m paralysed so to get into a taxi, I need to ask strange men in a country where women are sexually harassed and raped for sport to lift me into taxi,” adds Deejay.
Deejay highlights the discrepancy that although the government creates job posts and prioritises people with disabilities, they overlook the fact that most of them won’t be able to get to a job due to our poor public transport system. In order to become employed, one generally needs an education, and currently, very few institutions have courses tailor made for people with disabilities, and few schools teach disabled children the same curriculum as able-bodied children which in turn means there are even less disabled people who go to varsity and fewer who are in careers or professions like Law, Mechanical Engineering, or Journalism.
“My life and the lives of a vast majority of people with disabilities are often disrupted by barriers created by able-bodied people. Barriers that if they saw us as human beings, they would remove,” states Deejay.
The list of barriers that people with disabilities have to overcome seems endless. And this doesn’t even address the ways that disabled people’s bodies and personalities are treated as undesirable. All of this tells disabled people that our needs are not a priority. That we are not welcome at certain venues, or in the community as a whole.
Deejay is passionate about sports and fighting for the underdogs and telling other people’s stories through writing. Despite her disability, Deejay has made her mark in sports and journalism. She has played sports her entire life from street soccer to club soccer, to hockey, swimming, tennis, bodybuilding and running to name a few. Prior to her accident, Deejay enjoyed cycling and running and therefore naturally continued with cycling and running through hand-cycling and wheelchair racing. She also took part in wheelchair boxing, shotput, swimming, powerlifting and CrossFit.
“We all need to keep healthy, it doesn’t really matter how, just as long as you take care of your health. I don’t compete or train to stay healthy it’s just like breathing for me,” says Deejay. She currently takes part in CrossFit and competed in the Crossfit Open and currently ranks 11th in the world. “I just love sports, the competitiveness, the good pain, the planning and pushing yourself to be better at every training session,” she adds.
As a journalist, Deejay highlights the plights of the voiceless and advocates for change in the way that society views people living with disability. He excellent writing skills have earned her numerous awards including the 2023 Gauteng Sports Journalist of the year, 2023 Gauteng women in sports awards Influencer of the year – Futballing Girls NPO. She was also a finalist in the 2023 Mail & Guardian Women in Print Media for the Gsport Awards. In the sporting fraternity she has scooped numerous awards including the 2022 Para-Powerlifting National Championships (+96 kg category gold medal and national champ). She has won the Para-Cycling National Championships Time Trial Gold Medal and Road Race Gold Medal from 2016 to 2021. This has led to her even competing in the Para-Cycling World Cup where she was ranked 8th in the world. Another notable accolade was her being listed as one of the 200 Young South Africans – Mail & Guardian in 2019 and 100 Young Mandela’s of the future in 2018.
Deejay’s words of encouragement to someone who is queer and has a disability, she says: “No one is coming to save you, but there will be people along the way who will give you a helping hand and pull you up if you continuously fight for your dreams whatever they are in in whichever way that you can. And when you feel like you are stuck or about to fall, there will be others to push you up, because people help those who help themselves”.
As an incredible leader in advocacy for disabled LGBTQ+ individuals, Deejay’s bold, defiant voice reminds the world of the importance of recognising the intersectionality of being LGBTQ+ and disabled. While it is important to celebrate people like Deejay during Disability Rights Awareness Month, we must remember to also celebrate and support them throughout the year as they redefine what is possible.
What's Your Reaction?
