InterACT board member Axel Keating lead the Intersex Awareness Day Workshop in Breslin Hall on Thursday, Oct. 24, where they taught students basic information about intersex variations and intersex traits. InterACT, Advocates for Intersex Youth, is a nonprofit organization founded to protect the rights of intersex kids.
“We focus on legal and policy advocacy, media consulting and a youth program to help develop intersex leaders and advocates for the next generation,” Keating said. “We make sure that people are able to have the choice of what happens to their body.”
There are many misconceptions about intersex variations and a lack of understanding of the problems that intersex people face. Keating and interACT define intersex as “an umbrella term that refers to people born with one or more of a range of variations in sex characteristics that fall outside of traditional conceptions of male or female bodies.”
Intersex people struggle with many problems: nonconsensual genital surgeries after birth, which lead to several surgeries throughout their life, mental problems such as depression and discrimination through misgendering, medical care, housing practices and lack of representation.
The intersex movement advocates for ending nonconsensual genital surgeries, better education within schools and the medical field and spreading awareness.
While some intersex characteristics are discovered at birth, “other people may not discover they have intersex traits until puberty or later in life,” Keating said. Intersex people may have variations in their genitals, chromosomes or internal organs.
Although it is important to be mindful and respectful of intersex people’s stories, nobody is an expert. “There is no such thing as an ‘expert’ when it comes to LGBTQ+ identities because you can only be an expert in your own story, not in the stories of others,” said Amanda Del Gaudio, assistant director of LGBTQ+ Advocacy and Awareness within the Office of Intercultural Engagement and Inclusion.
In terms of intersex people being part of the LGBTQ+ community, Keating stated there are multiple arguments on either side as to why it may or may not be helpful.
“For me, as someone who is trans[gender] and intersex, being able to share those resources between my two communities is really helpful,” Keating said. “But when you lump intersex people into a larger community, intersex issues can get erased and people might claim that they’re intersex inclusive but don’t have any intersex staff, intersex resources or any work dedicated to the intersex movement.
Ellie Spurlock, a sophomore political science major, said that intersex people being part of the LGBTQ+ community is an individual’s choice. “While many intersex people don’t identify within this cohort, it’s important to acknowledge that some do, and both responses are equally valid and should be completely self-determined.
This workshop not only paved the way for students and the general public to be better educated about intersex people, but it also spread awareness in schools. “Never in biology class, both in high school and college, have I ever been taught about intersex people,” said sophomore journalism major Athena Dawson.
“Students should be taught in depth about intersex people and the struggles that they deal with throughout their lives in order to be better allies and advocates.”
The workshop encouraged people to avoid using the outdated and derogatory term “hermaphrodite” when speaking to or about intersex people, and to avoid labeling an intersex person as having “disorders of sex development.”
Keating emphasized that it is important to ask intersex people for their preferred pronouns, as well as make sure they are comfortable with talking about their bodies, medical experiences or stories in general before asking personal questions.