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Tag: Intersex

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  • Today is Intersex Remembrance Day and here’s why that matters

    Today is Intersex Remembrance Day and here’s why that matters

    Every 8th of November is Intersex Remembrance Day. Here’s why it exists and why it matters.

    Every year, Intersex Remembrance Day, which is also known as Intersex Solidarity Day strives to inform and educate people about intersex people, their human rights issues, and the discrimination they face in daily life, including the decision for many to “normalise” their own sex in their own time and if they want to. It takes place on the 8th of November, the same day as the birthday of Herculine Barbin, a French intersex person whose memoirs were later published by Michel Foucault.

    Many find the decision to determine their own sex is taken away from them at birth when parents and doctors make the determination upon the discovery that they are intersex.

    These surgeries can often lead to infertility, pain, and mental suffering.

    Is Intersex Remembrance day the same as Intersex Awareness Day?

    The Intersex Flag
    Photo by Katie Rainbow 🏳️‍🌈 on Pexels.com: The official Intersex Flag

    Essentially these two days are similar. Intersex Awareness Day takes place on the 26th of October and is mainly observed in English-speaking countries such as North America, Australia, the UK, and South Africa. Intersex Remembrance Day is mainly observed in Europe.

    What is Intersex?

    According to Intersexday.org, intersex people are “born with sex characteristics that don’t meet medical and social norms for female or male bodies”.

    It is thought that up to 1.7 percent of babies are intersex. Some are born with obvious intersex traits, whilst in others, it is not apparent until they reach puberty. Some may never exhibit variations in their chromosomes.

    What’s it like to be Intersex?

    The first Intersex Remembrance Day

    The first remembrance day seems to have begun on November 8, 2005, as Intersex Solidarity Day, following an invitation issued by Joëlle-Circé Laramée, then Canadian spokeswoman for Organisation Intersex International. The Organisation invited organisations and groups and individuals to show solidarity by marking: the life of Herculine Barbin, or discussing intersex genital mutilation.

    Need resources?

    InterAct
    IntersexDay.Org

  • BIG GAY GLOSSARY | Intersex

    BIG GAY GLOSSARY | Intersex

    What does intersex mean?

    What does intersex mean?

    Intersex stands for a sex variance between the binary of male and female, or Cisgender.

    Generally speaking, Cisgender people are those whose gender identity or expression conforms with their biological sex or birth sex.

    The Oxford Dictionary of English once determined the word Intersex to mean:

    the abnormal condition of being intermediate between male and female; hermaphroditism.

    • [ count noun ] an intersex individual; a hermaphrodite.

    This was updated to:

    Relating to or denoting a person or animal that has both male and female sex organs or other sexual characteristics: an intersex child | she identifies as intersex. The condition of having both male and female sex organs or other sexual characteristics: people born with intersex.• [count noun] a person or animal having both male and female sex organs or other sexual characteristics: she is different to the other teenagers in one crucial way—she is an intersex.

    Old usage and out of date terminology.

    Hermaphrodite is generally considered a taboo word and shouldn’t be ascribed to someone unless they label themselves as such.

    Intersex and the trans community

    Trans Media Watch describes Intersex as an individual in whom genetic, hormonal and physical features that may be thought typical of both male and female co-exist.

    “individual in whom genetic, hormonal and physical features that may be thought typical of both male and female co-exist.

    “They may be thought of as being male with female features, female with male features, or may have no clearly defined sexual features.”

    Can you expand this definition? Use the comments below and your answer could be used to expand or define this glossary entry.

    Check out more definitions in our Big Gay Glossary

  • Today is Intersex Awareness Day

    Every 26th October it’s Intersex Awareness Day.

    Every year, Intersex Awareness Day strives to inform and educate people about intersex people, their human rights issues and the discriminations they face in daily life, including the decision for many to “normalise” their own sex in their own time and if they want to.

    Many find the decision to determine their own sex is taken away from them at birth when parents and doctors make the determination upon the discovery that they are intersex. These surgeries can often lead to infertility, pain and mental suffering.

    What is Intersex?

    According to Intersexday.org, intersex people are “born with sex characteristics that don’t meet medical and social norms for female or male bodies”.

    It is thought that up to 1.7 percent of babies are intersex. Some are born with an obvious intersex traits, whilst in others, it is not apparent until they reach puberty. Some may never exhibit the variations in their chromosomes.

    What’s it like to be Intersex?

    The first Intersex Awareness Day

    The very first Intersex Awareness Day took part in 1996 when a public demo took place in North America. They marched to highlight their right to choose which sex they should be and not doctors. They also wanted to highlight the fact that intersex people do not need to be “fixed” or “normalised”.

    Need resources?

    InterAct
    IntersexDay.Org

  • ANSWERS | What Does The I In LGBTQI Stand For

    The LGBT initialism is ever growing as more and more letters are added.

    What Does The I In LGBTQI Stand For

    What does the I in the LGBTQI stand for? It stands for Intersex.

    Intersex stands for a sex variance between the binary of male and female, or Cisgender.

    Generally speaking, Cisgender people are those whose gender identity or expression conforms with their biological sex or birth sex.

    Historically there was no word ‘heterosexual’ before 1890 and it did not enter common use until the 1960s.

     

    The Oxford Dictionary of English determines the word Intersex to mean:

    the abnormal condition of being intermediate between male and female; hermaphroditism.

    • [ count noun ] an intersex individual; a hermaphrodite.

    NOTE: this has now been updated to:

    relating to or denoting a person or animal that has both male and female sex organs or other sexual characteristics: an intersex child | she identifies as intersex.

    the condition of having both male and female sex organs or other sexual characteristics: people born with intersex.• [count noun] a person or animal having both male and female sex organs or other sexual characteristics: she is different to the other teenagers in one crucial way—she is an intersex.

    Old usage and out of date terminology.

    Hermaphrodite is generally considered a taboo word and shouldn’t be ascribed to someone unless they label themselves as such.

     

    Intersex and the trans community

    Trans Media Watch describes Intersex as an individual in whom genetic, hormonal and physical features that may be thought typical of both male and female co-exist.

    “individual in whom genetic, hormonal and physical features that may be thought typical of both male and female co-exist.

    “They may be thought of as being male with female features, female with male features, or may have no clearly defined sexual features.”

    Can you define this definition better? Use comments below to update.