Intersex Awareness Day commemorates what I call ‘intersex Stonewall.’ On 26 October 1996, two intersex activists were removed from the American Academy of Pediatrics Conference in Boston. They tried to address the conference to challenge the treatment of intersex children, which still includes surgeries and other unnecessary and irreversible intervention to ‘normalize’ their genitals. That
Tag Archive: intersex
Intersex advocates in Australia and New Zealand have come together to declare their community’s priorities for the future in a powerful statement. Over two days in Darlington, Sydney more than 20 advocates worked together at a retreat to create the ‘Darlington Statement‘. The statement identifies key priorities for intersex people. Some of these include; legal reform to
In a key vote on gender equality in mental health, the European Parliament has urged for stronger action on trans and intersex people’s mental health. The Parliament deplores that transgender people are still considered mentally ill, and highlights that this diagnoses “is a source of significant distress for transgender persons”. It adds that “every child
Belgian fashion model Hanne Gaby Odiele has revealed she is intersex and that she has gone public in an attempt to reduce the stigma around the condition and encourage other people to embrace their status. The 29-year-old was born with internal testes and without a uterus or ovaries due to a condition called androgen insensitivity
‘There’s a power in knowing who you really are.’ Sara Kelly Keenan is the first person in the United States to have an ‘intersex’ birth certificate. The 55-year-old who was born genetically male with female genitalia and a mixed reproductive anatomy only found out about the truth about herself in 2009, at age 48. In
Intersex people want Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court to officially allow them to use their own gender designations rather than relegating them to “male” or “female.” For them, it’s about dignity and recognition. An estimated 80,000 people in Germany identify as intersex, meaning that they don’t display the gender traits of people generally described as “male”
Last Thursday we had a workshop to commemorate Intersex Awareness Day which is on 26th of October. It was divided into a couple of parts. Firstly, there was an icebreaker during which we got acquainted with each other. Secondly, we were informed the basic information about intersex. Thirdly, we had an exercise to complete. We
A Lebanese judge has ruled that a transgender man can legally change his gender in the country’s civil registry. Judge Janet Hanna of the Court of Appeals of Beirut last September ruled in favor of the trans man who had undergone sex-reassignment surgery. Her decision was released on Friday. Dr. Omar Fattal, president of the
The Chilean government has urged doctors in the South American country to no longer perform surgeries that “normalize” the sex of intersex children. Undersecretary of Health Jaime Burrows and Undersecretary of Assistance Networks Gisela Alarcón in a document the Chilean Ministry of Health released last week expressed its opposition to “unnecessary ‘normalization’ treatments of intersex
“What is Intersex?” This is the question the workshop of the 17th of September began with. Through Annemarie and Elena, the LGL dealt with the most hidden letter of the LGBTI* community: the “I”. After a quick introduction of everyone the group delved into the evening‘s topic: “Myths and Facts” about intersex people. For a