Author: Admin

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‘ISGD’ and the appropriation of intersex

“I’ve been waiting for years for you to show up. It’s clear that transsexuals are not going to get our rights until intersexuals do.” (quoted by Suzanne Kessler, 1998) “Intersex is not one but many sites of contested being, [with] temporally sutured biomedical, political and social imperatives… ‘Intersex’ is a sign constantly under erasure, whose…
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Intersex and the Sex Files: good for trans*, bad for intersex

OII Australia supports trans people in their call for human rights, in the same way we support all LGBTI peoples and other marginalized minorities. Sometimes, however, rights called for by one minority group can disadvantage another unless close strategic alliances are maintained so that proposed changes to the law do not accidentally impinge on rights….
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an open eye

Australian Human Rights Commission releases 2011 consultation report

The Australian Human Rights Commission 2011 consultative report Addressing sexual orientation and sex and/or gender identity discrimination is a landmark report. The inclusion of intersex people in this report indicates how crucial it is for us to directly engage with government and its agencies in seeking equality and human rights for intersex people. No nation…
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Intersex refugees not included in any nation’s refugee policies

Our thoughts have recently been on the possible fate of our friends and allies in African nations where homophobic persecution is rife. Intersex people living in countries with homophobic laws and practices face the death penalty simply for being born different. In some African nations intersex newborns are known to be killed as a matter…
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Phoebe Hart’s “Orchids: My Intersex Adventure” comes to Sydney

BRISBANE documentary-maker Phoebe Hart’s long-awaited film Orchids: My Intersex Adventure will show in Sydney on Wednesday 23rd February 2011 at 7pm at the Dendy cinema in Newtown. Orchids is being shown as part of the 2011 New Mardi Gras Film Festival, Sydney’s premier event for film-goers wishing to see features and documentaries made on LGBTQI-related…
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The Yogyakarta Principles and intersex people

The 2006 Yogyakarta Principles on the application of international human rights law in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity are an important development, primarily furthering the rights of LGBT people, but with a crucial principle of particular interest to intersex people. Principle 1: The Right to the Universal Enjoyment of Human Rights All human…
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Intersex Solidarity Day today, 8 November

Today is Intersex Solidarity Day and Herculine Barbin‘s Birthday. OII Australia and Organisation Intersex International would like to invite others to join us each year by commemorating November 8 as Intersex Solidarity Day. All human rights organizations, feminist allies, academics and gender specialists, as well as other groups and individuals interested in intersex human rights,…
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Response to Lee and Houk on the role of support and advocacy groups in relation to CAH

The rapid progression of intersex medicalization since the mid-1950s has directly influenced the development of intersex support and advocacy groups. These have a significant presence on the internet and many, such as OII also have a physical presence in countries that have set up affiliate organizations. Organisation Intersex International (OII) and other advocacy and support…
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screenshot from the Australian intersex documentary Orchids, My Intersex Adventure

Orchids, my intersex adventure, by Phoebe Hart

Phoebe Hart’s autobiographical documentary is highly recommended. Documentary filmmaker, Phoebe Hart, comes clean on her journey of self-discovery to embrace her future and reconcile the past shame and family secrecy surrounding her intersex condition. Despite her mother’s outright refusal to be in the film, Phoebe decides she must push on with her quest to resolve…
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Teaching intersex issues

This report, on the ways that intersex is used by educators, was published in June 2001. The analysis and recommendations are as valid today as they were then.