1992 Kenya. On the eve of the country's first democratic elections, everyone in the small rural village of Luoland is brewing with expression, everyone including Awino and Bobby. They are two womyn who fall in love but don't exist because there is no word or space for queer, interracial lesbians in Africa. So when famine strikes, the villagers blame the womyn and their "curse" for the ensuing starvation that kills many. Awino--butch bordering on trans--must be circumcised--by force--so s/he can act like a "real African woman" rather than a woman "who wants to be a man". When circumcised, the village believes, Awino won't desire women but will be "normal" and so the famine will end. Will Awino and Bobby concede by separating for the good of their community? Or will they force the village to accept them? Waafrika by Mwaluko raises many questions: Is female circumcision possible when a trans African knows s/he's not a woman? Can you be a lesbian without a clitoris? What is queer?
