In honor of Intersex Day of Remembrance on November 8 and Intersex Awareness Day on October 26, the LGBT Helpline draws attention to some of the issues faced by the intersex community and highlights some excellent resources created by intersex activists to explain what it means to be intersex.
November 8th is Intersex Day of Remembrance, also known as Intersex Solidarity Day. It marks the end of the Fourteen Days of Intersex that begin with Intersex Awareness Day on October 26th and it also commemorates Herculine Barbin’s birthday. Barbin was a French intersex person who lived in the 19th century and is the first intersex person to have written an autobiography, which describes how Barbin was made to identify within the gender binary according to external appearances and without regard to internal knowledge of the self – a process that numerous intersex people experience to this day. The Intersex Day of Remembrance pays tribute to intersex people of the past and present who have made advancements in intersex human rights.
This international awareness day aims to draw attention to the issues that members of the intersex community experience. Many people may be unfamiliar with the term ‘intersex’ or may have heard of the term but still be somewhat confused about what intersex is or how to better support intersex people. The following articles and videos created by intersex individuals clarify what it means to be intersex, discuss some experiences of being intersex, and explain how people can support intersex individuals and the intersex movement.
Learn about what it means to be intersex:
I’m Intersex! Here’s What That Means by Alex Antaras
Things You Only Know If You Are Born Intersex by Susannah Temko
What It’s Like To Be Intersex – video featuring four intersex perspectives
Find out more about what’s going on in the intersex movement and how to be supportive of intersex people:
Intersexperiences – youtube channel from intersex activist Emily Quinn
9 Damaging Lies Doctors Told Me When I Was Growing Up Intersex by Pidgeon Pagonis
Battle of the Sexes by D. Joyce-Ahearne, based on talks with Irish intersex activist Gavan Coleman
This Is What Intersex Individuals Want You To Know About Their Lives – video discussing intersex experiences