Santiago Mbanda Lima, also known as Santiago D’Almeida Ferreira, born in
Viseu, Portugal, on May 18, 1989,
is an Angolan-Portuguese
artivist Artivism is a portmanteau word combining ''art'' and ''activism'', and is sometimes also referred to as ''Social Artivism''.
The term artivism in US English takes roots, or branches, off of a 1997 gathering between Chicano artists from East Los An ...
. He is co-founder and co-director of the non-governmental organization Ação Pela Identidade (Action For Identity, API), of which he was the first president. He was the first
intersex person to become publicly visible in Portugal, while also advocating for anti-racist and feminist causes. He is largely unknown in his own country, unlike other Portuguese
LGBT+ or anti-racism activists.
Early life
Born in the city of Viseu, Mbanda Lima worked there and in other cities in Portugal and Germany, before settling in Lisbon,
where he established the association Action For Identity, in October 2015.
Activism
Mbanda Lima has become known as a spokesperson for
intersex rights
Intersex people are born with sex characteristics, such as chromosomes, gonads, or genitals, that, according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies."
Intersex peop ...
, at national level in Portugal, and at international level. He first publicly disclose being intersex in a speech to the national
Assembly of the Republic at a public hearing on May 5, 2015,
initiating a legislative process for a law to protect people on grounds of
sex characteristics. In April 2016, his profile was highlighted by the U.S. magazine
''The Advocate'', and in January 2018 he was interviewed by Fátima Lopes for the talkshow ''A Tarde é Sua'', broadcast by
Televisão Independente.
On January 26, 2018, Mbanda Lima spoke to the Subcommittee on Equality and Non-discrimination, in the context of a parliamentary debate on proposed law 38/2018 of August 7, on the ''Right to self-determination of gender and protection of sex characteristics''. In May 2018, Santiago was the only intersex person to participate in the government campaign ''Trans and Intersex: #DireitoASer'', launched for
International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia
International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Lesbophobia and Transphobia is observed on May 17 and aims to coordinate international events that raise awareness of LGBT rights violations and stimulate interest in LGBT rights work worldwide. By ...
during the ''6th International IDAHOT Forum'', which was held for the first time in Lisbon, Portugal. The event followed publication on April 13, 2018, of draft law 38/2018.
Artivism
Mbanda Lima engages in artistic projects under the name Yagombanda. Since 2015, he has offered workshops on artivism. In 2016 he conceived, with Ação Pela Identidade, the campaign ''#AnoGisberta'', to mark the 10th anniversary of the murder of
Gisberta Salce, a Brazilian trans woman and sex worker who was murdered in Portugal in 2006.
In 2018, he returned to his hometown to inaugurate the ''House of Yagombanda'', inspired by black, queer and afro cultures, performing in the 19th Theater Festival of Viseu on May 18, 2018, with the monologue ''Chronicle of Failure''. On July 7 and 8, 2018, he performed in the Jardins Efémeros.
See also
*
Intersex human rights
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mbanda Lima, Santiago
Intersex rights activists
Intersex rights in Portugal
1989 births
Living people
People from Viseu