Intersex

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Intersex refers to any biological ambiguity of an animal's^{[note 1]} sex from "chromosomes, gonads, sex hormones, or genitals".^[1][2] According to Anne Fausto-Sterling, 1.7% of all human births involve intersex babies.^[3] A response to Sterling's finding is that most clinicians do not recognize as intersex, and that in those "conditions in which chromosomal sex is inconsistent with phenotypic sex, or in which the phenotype is not classifiable as either male or female", the prevalence of intersex is about 0.018%.^[4] However, this could be a way to present the data as if intersex people are a minuscule percentage of the population and to dismiss their need for legal rights and protections.^[5] The 0.018% figure excludes, for instance, people with Klinefelter syndrome or Turner syndrome.

One can distinguish intersex people from transgender people, in that intersex individuals have natural physical sex ambiguity; whereas the ambiguity that may be present in a transgender person's body is usually artificial (so long as as neurology is excluded). Like transgender people, intersex people sometimes come to feel that they were assigned the wrong gender at birth, and seek to change that assignment; this is generally distinguished from transgenderism, though it is sometimes used to support the supposition that each individual has an intrinsic gender-identity that cannot be wrongfully imposed.

Terms for non-intersex people include "endosex", "perisex",^[6] or "sexually dyadic"^[7] (simply "dyadic" for short).

Intersex is not hermaphroditism[edit]

Individuals with an ambiguous sex were previously labeled as hermaphrodites; however, this has since dropped out of use due to not correctly describing said individuals.^[8] Unlike intersex, hermaphroditism is a normal biological condition for an organism having fully functional reproductive organs of both sexes.^[9] The ability to produce both gametes (and thus the possibility of self-fertilization) is unknown in humans, though at least hypothetically possible.^[10]

Intersex medical operations[edit]

Medical operations are commonly done to intersex individuals, mainly for cosmetic purposes. Intersex operations have a history of doing more harm than good,^[11][12][13] inflicting victims patients with lifelong issues because their sex ambiguity was too egregious.

Birth defect?[edit]

Short answer: No. Long answer: Not really. A birth defect is a structural change that can affect nearly any part of the body, and they may affect how the body looks, works, or both.^[14] While intersex falls under this definition, many intersex people dislike being seen as birth defects, as being classified and treated as such has led to the forced surgeries mentioned above, side effects which include but aren't limited to: loss of sexual feeling and function, scarring, and sterilization.^[15]

And in extreme cases, intersex individuals are murdered over being perceived as defective.^[16]

Legal protection[edit]

To date, intersex people are not protected under law in most countries across the world. LGBTQI currently is not very widespread.

  Explicit protection on grounds of sex characteristics

  Explicit protection on grounds of intersex status

  Explicit protection on grounds of intersex within attribute of sex

Flags[edit]

Intersex pride flag, created by Organisation Intersex International Australia in 2013.

Notes[edit]

References[edit]