Tchinda Andrade: Cape Verde's transgender hero

By Thomas Page, for CNN

Updated 1022 GMT (1822 HKT) July 7, 2016

In film "Tchindas", directors Marc Serena and Pablo Garcia Perez de Lara traveled to Sao Vicente to explore the lives of the transsexual community in the city of Mindelo in the run up to its annual carnival.
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In film "Tchindas", directors Marc Serena and Pablo Garcia Perez de Lara traveled to Sao Vicente to explore the lives of the transsexual community in the city of Mindelo in the run up to its annual carnival.
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At the center of preparations is Tchinda Andrade, a firebrand for the island's trans community and one of the first to come out in Sao Vicente back in 1998. So influential is she that "tchinda" has become an term used to describe trans people on the island.
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At the center of preparations is Tchinda Andrade, a firebrand for the island's trans community and one of the first to come out in Sao Vicente back in 1998. So influential is she that "tchinda" has become an term used to describe trans people on the island.
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The transgender community make up only a portion of the carnival's throng, but their input can also be felt elsewhere. Andrade brings together local children to perform at the carnival, and her lieutenants Elvis and Edinha help with the costumes for myriad performers.
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The transgender community make up only a portion of the carnival's throng, but their input can also be felt elsewhere. Andrade brings together local children to perform at the carnival, and her lieutenants Elvis and Edinha help with the costumes for myriad performers.
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Though considered by some to be Africa's most LGBT-friendly nation, the respect shown towards the transgender community has been hard fought. Serena says that Andrade has been assaulted in the past, and transgender people have limited protection in the eyes of the law.
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Though considered by some to be Africa's most LGBT-friendly nation, the respect shown towards the transgender community has been hard fought. Serena says that Andrade has been assaulted in the past, and transgender people have limited protection in the eyes of the law.
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"This is a poor country, but it's full of love and joy," says Serena. The island is small, only 88 square miles, which perhaps breeds a environment of inclusivity. "You have to get together and live together," he says. "[Vicentians] are forced to embrace each other and understand one another."
Photos:
"This is a poor country, but it's full of love and joy," says Serena. The island is small, only 88 square miles, which perhaps breeds a environment of inclusivity. "You have to get together and live together," he says. "[Vicentians] are forced to embrace each other and understand one another."
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Serena and de Lara premiered "Tchindas" in 2015. It won the Grand Jury Award at Outfest, was nominated for an Africa Movie Academy Award and screened at the New York African Film Festival earlier this year.
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Serena and de Lara premiered "Tchindas" in 2015. It won the Grand Jury Award at Outfest, was nominated for an Africa Movie Academy Award and screened at the New York African Film Festival earlier this year.
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(CNN)It was the popular singer Cesaria Evora who first introduced journalist Marc Serena to Cape Verde's most famous transgender activist: Tchinda Andrade.

READ: Cape Verde: The tiny islands where 'people breathe music'
The Sao Vincente native came out as transgender in a local newspaper article in 1998, and has since played the role of mother hen to the country's trans community.
    "She was the first to open the way for others to express themselves," says Serena. "Tchinda is a natural leader." So influential has she been that the trans community in Cape Verde are referred to as "tchindas" by locals.
      The love she inspires is evident in a documentary co-directed by Serena and Pablo Garcia Perez de Lara last year called "Tchindas," which follows Andrade's preparations for one of the biggest annual events on the Cape Verde calendar: carnival.
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      The film has been sweeping up on the festival circuit. It won the Grand Jury Award at Outfest, was nominated for an Africa Movie Academy Award and screened at the New York African Film Festival earlier this year. Moreover, it's made a star of its protagonist.

      Open arms

      Serena, meanwhile, has been heartened by how welcoming Sao Vicente (a small, 88-sqaure mile island that makes up part of Cape Varde) is to the LGBT community.
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      "It's the most tolerant nation in Africa," he says, a quality he attributes somewhat to Sao Vicente's diminutive size.
      "You have to get together and live together," he says. "[Vicentians] are forced to embrace each other and understand one another."
      Just getting to the point where Andrade can walk the streets by day, selling fried snacks, has taken an awful lot of sacrifice. Andrade has been assaulted in the past (Evora, a longtime supporter of LGBT rights, paid Andrade's medical bills).
      Serena also recalls hearing about Senegalese merchants in Sao Vicente kneeling in prayer when catching sight of transgender individuals.