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," says Kyle Rath designer of the public service announcement Vuka award finalist.

Putting his heart into his art, bright young designer, Kyle Rath, chose Gender DynamiX as the subject of his Mnet Vuka Awards entry and has been rewarded with a place among the finalists of the 2010 Viewers Choice Awards. This is the first time ever, that an LGBTI organisation has received this accolade!

Thrilled at reaching this stage in the high profile and high quality competition, Gender DynamiX, local non-profit advocating for Transgender rights, had this to say, “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. Thank you Kyle!”

Kyle: “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.”

Hats off to Kyle Rath for recognising that transgender rights are human rights.

Read Kyle’s full statement »

“The message of Kyle’s ad comes across strongly and is guaranteed to make people sit up and take notice,” said Charl Marais, editor of the Gender DynamiX newsletter, “I think this appealed to the judges, which is why we made it through to the semi-finals. We at Gender DynamiX are proud of the fact that not only did we make it to the semi-finals, but that the ad is being flighted on national television, through which we can reach even more people who are in need of support.”

The ads are currently being flighted on M-net and various other DSTV channels.

After two Vuka Awards judging sessions, it is now down to the public SMS vote. Proceeds from the SMS line will go to the charity featured in the winning PSA. Here’s hoping!

http://vuka.mnet.co.za/WINNERS/Viewers-Choice-Competition-822.aspx