For an introduction to these issues, see our page on discrimination
In the second half of 2013, OII Australia participated in a ground-breaking study by GATE and American Jewish World Service (AJWS) on funding for trans* and intersex community and human rights work. The study, The State of Trans* and Intersex Organizing, was published in December 2013 and the results are somewhat challenging, particularly for intersex…
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Between 29 November and 1 December 2013, the Third International Intersex Forum, supported by ILGA and ILGA-Europe, took place in Valletta, Malta. The event brought together 34 activists representing 30 intersex organisations from all continents, and produced a common declaration.
Here are this year’s Intersex Awareness Day words, by Morgan Carpenter, OII Australia president.
On 18 June 2013, The Guardian newspaper kindly published an article by OII Australia president Morgan Carpenter on recent progress for intersex people in Australia.
Overnight Australian time, the Council of Europe, a 47-member country institution that overseas human rights, pharma and many other issues across those countries, adopted a resolution on the protection of children’s rights to physical integrity. A “provisional” version of Resolution 1952 (2013) showing “Text adopted by the Assembly on 1 October 2013” includes a specific…
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We welcome the passing of the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Amendment Bill 2012 yesterday. This Bill, although only just passed, was the first instance of a Bill presented to an Australian parliament with a specific “intersex” attribute. Developed several years ago with community consultation, the Bill provided a benchmark for federal legislation that the previous government acknowledged…
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We have made a brief submission on a proposed amendment to NSW anti-discrimination legislation to extend protections to children at private schools, calling for improvements to the proposals.
Given a time extension for the Senate Inquiry on involuntary or coerced sterilisation, and also a rapidly changing context due to new information, we took the opportunity to make a concluding submission to the Senate Committee on Community Affairs.
Over recent days, there have been a number of articles stating that the German federal government is proposing a “third gender” or blank sex designation on birth certificates for intersex people. As with recent federal Australian identity guidelines, the German proposals have generated enormous interest. From Der Spiegel: The option of selecting “blank”, in addition…
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LGBTI human rights organisations today welcomed the commencement of federal protections on the grounds of ‘sexual orientation’, ‘gender identity’, ‘intersex status’ and ‘marital or relationship status’.
It’s time to stop. In 2013, cosmetic genital surgeries still take place on intersex infants in Australia to make them “appear normal”. The surgeries are carried out primarily for social reasons: fears of family and social stigma. Clinicians themselves acknowledge that there is no firm evidence of good outcomes, especially for sexual function and sensation….
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The Senate’s Community Affairs Reference Committee has just published its first document on involuntary or coerced sterilisation. A second report, focusing on intersex people, will be published in a couple of weeks (update: likely in late September). We welcome the report, its focus on the human rights of people subjected to non-consensual sterilisation, and its…
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