Employers’ guide to intersex inclusion
We are proud and delighted to partner with Pride in Diversity to publish the Employers’ guide to intersex inclusion. Written by Morgan Carpenter and Dawn Hough, the guide is kindly sponsored by IBM.
A world-first, the guide presents information about intersex for employers, including:
- An introduction to intersex.
- Intersex bodies, identities, and inclusive language.
- Disclosure, medical issues in the workplace, and travel.
- Protections related to “intersex status” in Commonwealth law.
- Information for diversity and inclusion professionals.
- Top 10 ways to be an intersex ally.
- Information for parents of intersex children.
- Additional information and a glossary of terms.
Morgan Carpenter, president of OII Australia (now Intersex Human Rights Australia), stated:
Intersex status appeared as a new attribute in Commonwealth anti-discrimination law in 2013, yet employer and community understanding of intersex remains limited. This guide is here to help. It hopes to enable more people with intersex variations to just be ourselves, as we are.
Social and cultural attitudes towards intersex have a huge impact on our lives at work and outside it. We hope this guide will make a difference to intersex people who are employed by your organisation, and those who are clients or customers of your business. In the words of an international intersex community consensus statement, we hope that it will help create supportive, safe and celebratory workplaces.
Dawn Hough, director of Pride in Diversity, commented:
This publication has been specifically written for those working in Human Resources, Diversity and Network Leadership roles but will have a much broader reach in terms of educating people more generally on some of the shared (LGBTI) and unique workplaces experiences of our intersex employees.
There is an opportunity to lead the way in this aspect of LGBTI workplace inclusion globally. We need to be advocates and allies for our intersex employees and colleagues. I challenge and encourage you to be a leader in this area, both personally and organisationally. This publication has been written to instigate change. Change requires action. Here is an opportunity to be at the forefront of LGBTI inclusion and make a real difference to the lived experience of intersex employees within our organisations and beyond.
The guide is available as a free download or in print form (for a fee) from Pride in Diversity. Print copies are available free for members of Pride in Diversity.
Background information
OII Australia (now Intersex Human Rights Australia) is a national Public Benevolent Institution by and for intersex people. The organisation’s goals are to support people with intersex variations, to help create a society where sex differences are not stigmatised and where intersex people’s human rights are recognised.
Pride in Diversity is Australia’s first and only national not- for-profit employer support program for all aspects of LGBTI workplace inclusion. Specialists in HR, organisational change and workplace diversity, Pride in Diversity has established itself as an internationally recognised program and a parter to many LGBTI employer support organisations across the globe.
IBM has generously sponsored annual publications by Pride in Diversity for the last four years. Without their support, publications such as this would not be possible.
Thank you also to Tony Briffa and Phoebe Hart, and each of the case study contributors and reviewers. Thanks to Professor Gillian Triggs and Tim Wilson (Australian Human Rights Commission) and Assistant Commissioner Justine Saunders (Australian Federal Police) for contributing and appearing.
Citation and catalogue information
Carpenter, M., Hough, D. (2014) Employers’ Guide to Intersex Inclusion. Sydney: Pride in Diversity and Organisation Intersex International Australia.
ISBN 978-0-646-92905-7.
More information
- Key intersex community priorities – concluding statement of the third international intersex forum.
- Read demographic data from a 2015 study of 272 people born with atypical sex characteristics.
- Statement on the Senate report ‘Involuntary or coerced sterilisation of intersex people in Australia’.
- On intersectionalities with gay and lesbian communities.
- On intersectionalities with trans experiences.
- On intersectionalities with disability.
- Defining intersex: Australian and international definitions.
- All FAQs listed – a curated list of key articles on the Intersex Human Rights Australia site.
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