Last month, the intersex community marked the 15th Intersex Awareness Day on October 26. It kicked off the 14 days of Intersex – two weeks dedicated to highlighting a variety of issues that still face the intersex community.
Organisation Intersex International Chairperson Gina Wilson said in a statement that intersex people faced the same intolerance that affected homosexuals.
‘Intersex Awareness Day seeks to make as many people as possible aware of what intersex is and that intersex people everywhere lack that most fundamental of fundamental human rights, the right to autonomy over our own bodies,’ Wilson said.
‘The same impulses of homophobic bigotry, intolerance and ancient superstitions underpin contemporary mistreatment of intersex people.’
‘Intersex people are subjected to forced gendering and surgical alterations to our bodies to “disappear†our differences in a society that regards difference in sex anatomy as deeply suspicious if not utterly repulsive.’
According to OII, intersex people are people who have physical differences of sex anatomy other than brain sex alone. The anatomical differences might include genetic, hormonal or genital differences or differences in reproductive parts.
November 8 marks this year’s Intersex Day of Remembrance.
For more information, visit the www.oiiaustralia.com.
OIP Staff
