While Arab countries -where totalitarian regimes collapsed during the “Arab Spring"- failed to fulfill a democratic transition, Tunisia succeeded in writing a more secular and human rights-centric constitution thereby laying foundation for democratic institutions to emerge.

Despite being misaligned with the new libertarian constitution, the regressive and discriminatory laws were not revoked. Therefore, LGBTQIA+ people are still persecuted and subjected to harassment and mistreatment by police forces and fellow citizens. Unfortunately, even gender expression through outfits can sentence people to jail.

Additionally, transgenderism is still a major taboo in Tunisia, and mass media treatment keeps on nurturing conflations around it and perpetuating prejudices and stereotypes about trans individuals and queers in general. Therefore, we thought of devising TranStyX, the first Tunisian unapologetically straightforward queer play, as an artistic riposte to put the topic back on the discussion table, raise awareness, and address misconceptions by promoting inclusive, hedonistic, and libertarian ethics.