LGBTQ* “I” Have A Voice Too

What is intersex? 

“Intersex” is a general term used for a variety of conditions in which a person is born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t seem to fit the typical definitions of female or male. For example, a person might be born appearing to be female on the outside, but having mostly male-typical anatomy on the inside. Or a person may be born with genitals that seem to be in-between the usual male and female types—for example, a girl may be born with a noticeably large clitoris, or lacking a vaginal opening, or a boy may be born with a notably small penis, or with a scrotum that is divided so that it has formed more like labia. Or a person may be born with mosaic genetics, so that some of her cells have XX chromosomes and some of them have XY.

Though we speak of intersex as an inborn condition, intersex anatomy doesn’t always show up at birth. Sometimes a person isn’t found to have intersex anatomy until she or he reaches the age of puberty, or finds himself an infertile adult, or dies of old age and is autopsied. Some people live and die with intersex anatomy without anyone (including themselves) ever knowing.

What does this mean? Intersex is a socially constructed category that reflects real biological variation. 

(Text from Intersex North America)

(Picture Idea from W.I.S.H.)

LGBTQ* + I = LGBTQI

Where can I read more about intersex movement?

Here are some of the recommended resources:

Books

• “Intersex in the Age of Ethics” ed. by Alice Dreger
• “One of Us: Conjoined Twins and the Future of Normal” by Alice Dreger
• “Sexing the Body” by Anne Fausto-Sterling
• “Lessons from the Intersexed” by Suzanne Kessler
• “As Nature Made Him” by John Colapinto

Films

• “Total Patient Care” (Intersex Society of North America)
• One in 2000 (Ajae Clearway)
• “Yellow for Hermaphrodite: Mani’s Story” (Greenstone Pictures)
• “Is it a Boy or a Girl?” (Discovery Channel)

Web Sites

• Intersex Initiative
• Bodies Like Ours
• Intersex Society of North America
• AIS Support Group UK
• MRKH.org

(information from Intersex Initiatives) 

What is intersex?

Intersex is physical differences in sex. They are differences where a person may appear to have features typical of both a male and a female, where a person may not be fully male or female or where a person is neither male nor female.

What causes intersex?

The search for the things that cause intersex has lead medical practitioners to treat intersex differences like a sickness.

OII Australia disagrees with this approach and holds that intersex is one of a number of physical differences in the spectrum of all the differences that are humanly possible.

All information from OII Australia