Tchinda Andrade

Tchinda Andrade was born in a working-class neighbourhood of the city of Mindelo, on the island of São Vicente. She worked in one of the city's bars and sold coxinhas as street food.^[1] She began dressing in feminine clothing during the 1990s, but remained closeted for most of this time.^[2]

In 1998, Andrade became the first LGBT person to come out publicly in Cape Verde.^[3] That year, dressed in feminine clothing, she joined the women's section at the local carnival,^[4] which immediately drew attention towards her.^[2] She was interviewed by a journalist, who wrote an article about her titled "Tchinda-val!", making her a local celebrity overnight.^[5] This was at a time when, according to her, "all homosexuals [in Cape Verde] were in the closet."^[6]

Soon after coming out, Andrade was assaulted at a concert in Praia, leaving her scarred,^[5] with the singer Cesaria Evora paying for her medical bills.^[7] Andrade responded to the discrimination by preaching tolerance to the island's young people.^[7] Since then, Cape Verde has transformed into the most LGBT-friendly country in Africa.^[8] According to Catalan journalist Marc Serena, the small, close-knit community of São Vicente provided a fertile environment for the development of a more tolerant culture.^[9] Cape Verdean sociologist Claudia Rodrigues has additionally attributed the country's LGBT tolerance to its history of gender equality, which was established through the feminist policies of the anti-colonial leader Amílcar Cabral.^[2] Although the country has become more tolerant, Andrade herself has noted that there have continued to be problems with discrimination,^[4] which she says has made it difficult for her to have lasting relationships.^[2] She notes that discrimination is particularly visible in the country's capital city, as well as when people from other African countries visit the islands.^[5] Serena reports some Senegalese people kneeling in prayer upon seeing Andrade and other trans people in Cape Verde.^[4]

Andrade quickly became a leading figure within the country's LGBT community, gaining enough fame that Cape Verdean trans people are now colloquially referred to as "tchindas".^[8] Andrade herself attributes this to the fact that, before her coming out, Cape Verdean Creole had no words to describe LGBT people. She also recalled that her name being so widely used has caused her issues with mistaken identity.^[5] Before long Andrade began overseeing the island's local carnival,^[3] for which she puts together floats and costumes,^[6] and coordinates the choreography.^[5] Cesaria Evora has praised it as the "best carnival in Africa."^[1]

In 2013, Marc Serena and Pablo Garcia Perez de Lara made a film focusing on Andrade and other LGBT organisers of the Mindelo carnival. The film, titled Tchindas, premiered at Outfest in Los Angeles in 2015.^[1] At a screening of the film in New York City, Andrade remarked that she hoped the film would provide hope to LGBT people from other African countries and the rest of the world: "so they can see it's possible to be African and gay or trans and have people respect them."^[5]