Nomalizwi challenges gender stereotypes and thrives as an exceptional teacher
Nomalizwi challenges gender stereotypes and thrives as an exceptional teacher
Multiple studies have shown that transgender individuals routinely face increased levels of hostility and discrimination in the workplace compared to their cisgender peers; this is also true for transgender educators, who are often marginalised or silenced for expressing their gender diversity.
In a unique and remarkable circumstance, Nomalizwi Mhlongo, a transgender woman who is still transitioning, has had a reasonably accepting reception to her transitioning.
Nomalizwi was raised in the Umlazi township with her cousins, grandmother and relatives from her mother’s side of the family. She later moved to Empangeni where she now works and resides. She is a teacher by profession and has been teaching for the past 10 years.
Having experienced many challenges and seeing the discrimination of society towards transgender people, Nomalizwi lived as a gay man before transitioning into a woman using hormone therapy to change her body structure.
While many queer and trans employees must constantly negotiate if, when, how, and to whom it’s safe to come out at work, teachers face scrutiny from more than just their employers. Queer and trans educators must not only gain acceptance from their employer—the school—but also from students, families, and the broader community.
Each of these groups represents an opportunity for backlash that teachers must confront when deciding how much of their own lives and experiences they’ll bring into the classroom. While some may be quite comfortable doing so, many others across the country choose not to be fully themselves at school for fear of losing their jobs or being treated differently.
Nomalizwi is passionate about teaching English, uplifting her community and changing the lives of the learners she interacts with on a daily basis. “Teaching to me is not a job or career but my passion. I love it with all my heart. I love kids so dearly, and I wouldn’t choose another career than being a teacher,” she says. Hence, she is one of the top educators in Language under the King Cetshwayo District.
Her brilliant teaching acumen is in direct correlation to the relationship she has with her learners. “Although some of them occasionally have a slip of the tongue and call me Mr Mhlongo, they have generally accepted me for who I am.” There was no formal sit-down to discuss her transition, however she did inform the Principal of Old Mill High School that this is the journey she was embarking on. “The day I went to school wearing a skirt, some were taken aback, but most of the learners said they always knew I was meant to be a woman because of my hand gestures, my walk and the way I talk – it was affirming.”
Nomalizwi says she is privileged to have the acceptance of her learners and colleagues and even the parents of the learners as she transitions into a woman. “I have had a relatively smooth ride which indicates that the learners I interact with come from good homes where they are taught about diversity and acceptance,” she says.
Although a large portion of the community she lives in accepts her for who she is, Nomalizwi still faces some discrimination from people who do not embrace gender diversity and change. “When I encounter these people, I take it upon myself to gently educate them so that they can “unlearn” what they were taught.
As a person who is all about spreading love and Ubuntu, Nomalizwi aims to help those in need and be the voice for the voiceless and changing lives by spreading positivity and promoting healthy living. That is her unique signature.
She regards judgement as the biggest problem we have as a society about why people make certain life choices which leads to people suffocating and not living their honest truth.
“My message to young LGBTQIA+ individuals is to live their life to the fullest. “Never deprive yourself of living. Live your truth and you will see, those who love you will tag along.”
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