Author: Morgan Carpenter

detail from the cover of Golden Boy

“Golden Boy”, by Abigail Tarttelin

I loved this book. It vividly captures the effects of secrecy and shame on an intersex adolescent, and a family in crisis. It’s compassionately and beautifully written, from the perspective of six key characters: Max the protagonist, his brother, parents, doctor and friend. Unlike Jeffrey Eugenides’s Middlesex, which manages to convey the impression that intersex…
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the shape of new south wales, in purple

Intersex people and the NSW government

We’re deeply disappointed in the NSW Government’s late submission on the federal Sex Discrimination Amendment (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Intersex Status) [SDA] Bill. The state says there hasn’t been enough debate to add “intersex status”: In particular, insufficient time has been provided to assess the regulatory implications of the introduction of ‘intersex status’ as…
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The Crawfords

Groundbreaking US law suit filed on genital surgery

Advocates for Informed Choice, the Southern Poverty Law Center, pro bono lawyers and parents Pam and Mark Crawford have filed “the first ever impact litigation lawsuit” in the US for “performing an irreversible and medically unnecessary surgery on an infant who was in the state’s care at the time of the surgery”.

OII Australia logotype

Where the bloody hell were you?

Do you identify as intersex and you’re not a member of OII Australia or AISSGA? Do you think that intersex is part of the trans umbrella? Brain intersex? Well, where were you when it came to the Senate Inquiry on involuntary and coerced sterilisation? Where were you when it came to intersex human rights and…
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Parliament: an icon showing an outline of the Australian Parliament

Government tables Sex Discrimination Amendment (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Intersex Status) Bill 2013

OII Australia welcomes the tabling* of the Sex Discrimination Amendment (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Intersex Status) Bill 2013 in Parliament today. Intersex people even get a mention in the title of the bill. It adds the following definitions to a list of protected attributes: 7 Subsection 4 (1) Insert: intersex status means the status…
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Important new protocols for intersex kids in Victoria

An important new medical protocol has just been released by the Health Department of Victoria today. We welcome this very important improvement in how intersex children are treated, and will provide a full analysis at the weekend. In the immediate term, we can advise that OII Australia’s key intervention came shortly after publication of the…
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