Personal Comment

Personal opinions and comment by OII members

From Pakistan to the USA and the International Olympics Committee, Intersex People are Treated as Less or Other than Human

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Author: Bhakti Ananda Goswami, board member, OII USA “Some sociologists and legal experts have suggested that eligibility for new ID cards or other benefits might require a physical exam and test to see how claimants urinate.” This ‘suggestion’ by “sociologists and legal experts” is appalling in its anti-scientific ignorance. Objective scientists and biologists know that…
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About the Term Intersex Versus the Term DSD

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Author: Bhakti Ananda Goswami, board member, OII USA Disclaimer: This article represents the views of its author and does not represent Organisation Intersex International policy nor that of its affiliates. The views of the author may well have changed since this article was written. About The General Scientific and Medical Use of The Term ‘Intersex’…
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A problem of disorder

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Recently, people were asked for feedback on a couple of pamphlets released for guidelines for care of, and advice to parents of, intersex children.  What say can I have on guidelines for dealing with children and advice for their parents? I have no children and am not in a position to do so. Those who…
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Mutilations or non-consensual “normalization” treatments?

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We have been asked why OII’s Official Position on Health Care does not mention mutilations. There are many reasons for this. Most intersex activism has been focused on just denouncing surgery (basically feminizing surgery), while insisting on a gender assignment as soon as possible. However, this does not seem to have helped intersex infants and…
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Intergender and intersex

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Why is the intergender community so important to the intersex community? Often those of us who are intersex who also affirm our intergender identity are marginalized not only by society at large but by the intersex community itself. It is time that we take our rightful place at the table and articulate our own views about…
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How to define a term without defining the person

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Presented at the 1st European OII Intersex Event, Paris I would like to express my thanks to the organisers of this conference, and OII France and Belgium, for asking me to speak today. I had only intended to come to show solidarity with my fellows here in Paris today, so please forgive me if this…
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