Roughly 1.7% of the world’s population is born intersex with variations in sex characteristics ranging from chromosomes, gonads, sex hormones or genitals that do not fit the stereotypical definitions for male or female bodies. Intersex activists work hard to bring greater awareness to their community by providing much-needed representation and visibility, while also fighting for bodily autonomy.
One of the most pressing issues for intersex people are the surgical interventions that doctors regularly undertake in attempt to fit a child into the binary. These surgeries are often performed without informed consent and have negative long-term impacts that many have deemed human rights violations. Many intersex children are left uninformed about their gender until they reach puberty, and the information can be jarring and scary.
The eight activists outlined below are just a few of the inspiring people doing incredible work to help the intersex community.
Alicia Roth Weigel
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Activist and writer Alicia Roth Weigel (she/they) famously addressed the Texas legislature about her intersex identity, and now she advocates for laws protecting the bodily autonomy of intersex children. Her memoir Inverse Cowgirl documents how she felt ashamed of her body while growing up and how she fights to reclaim bodily autonomy.
In addition to her intersex advocacy, Alicia works to reduce sexual assault, human trafficking, and homelessness. She was awarded the Ceci Gratias Guardian Award by the Austin LGBT Chamber of Commerce in Texas in 2019.
River Gallo
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River (they/them) is a Salvadoran-American filmmaker and actor who created the 2019 short film Ponyboi, which is the first film to feature an openly intersex actor playing an intersex person. In their activism, they have vocally supported California Senate Bill 201, which would ban doctors from performing cosmetic surgeries on children with intersex variations until they are old enough to consent.
Valentino Vecchietti
I created the Intersex-Inclusive Pride flag in 2021. It is a #SOGIESC flag. Representing natural diversity in sexual orientation, gender identity and expression and sex characteristics (intersex) This is a human rights framework https://t.co/AoUnz2x6GJ. pic.twitter.com/FHzsPrnOLj
— Valentino Vecchietti (She/They) (@ValentinoInter) March 27, 2023
Valentino (she/they) is a writer, artist and presenter who created the Intersex-Inclusive Pride flag in 2021. The intersex symbol was added to the 2018 Progress Pride flag created by Daniel Quasar, which incorporated five arrow-shaped black, brown, pink, light blue and white stripes to represent the inclusion of marginalised communities and the Transgender Pride Flag.
Mari Wrobi
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Mari Wrobi (they/them) is an intersex Latinx person from Sacramento, California who works at a homeless shelter for LGBTQ+ youth.
As an intersex rights artist and educator, Mari is passionate about intersex communities, which they describe as “…people who stood up for themselves and shouted their support for others like them from the rooftops; parents who wanted nothing but the best for their intersex children and would move mountains to make sure they got it; doctors and legislators who could see the injustices that our community faces and aimed to change that.”
Holly Greenberry Pullen
I am #intersex &I’m #lgbtiq proud &stand in #pride. I also stand as a candidate &represent #libdem #equality & #intersextional inclusion.I vote for the longest running party who stand for equality #voteLibDem @LibDems @YoungLiberalsUK @LibDemLords@DevonLibDems @green_susie100 pic.twitter.com/aFgsLvSGd8
— Holly Greenberry Pullen LD ? (@GreenberryHolly) July 2, 2023
Holly (she/her) was one of the first people to come out as intersex in the UK. As the founder of Intersex Equality Rights UK and now as a vocal politician, she fights to protect the bodily autonomy of intersex children.
Pidgeon Pagonis
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Pidgeon (they/them) is a writer who has been an activist for over a decade. They testified at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in 2013. Their memoir Nobody Needs to Know details the medical interventions they were forced to endure as a child.
Sean Saifa Wall
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Sean Saifa Wall (he/him) is the co-founder of the Intersex Justice Project a campaign that persuaded Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago to become the first children’s hospital in the US to denounce genital surgeries on intersex infants.
Sean famously confronted the surgeon who performed his gonadectomy (an operation to remove the gonads) on live television at the age of 13 without his consent. In his work, Sean spreads awareness about the impact of these invasive medical procedures.
Ki Griffin
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Ki (they/he) is a Black, queer, non-binary intersex actor based in London. They play Ripley Lennox on the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, and in 2021, he gave a powerful speech on Intersex Awareness Day sharing: “LGBTIQA. What does the I stand for? It stands for me: an intersex person. My name is Ki Griffin, my pronouns are they/he – that’s quite new – and I’m a Black, queer, non-binary, intersex person.”
Hiker Chiu
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Hiker is a Taiwanese activist who has been advocating for intersex people since 2008.
In 2018, alongside intersex activists from 10 Asian countries including Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, Hiker helped create Intersex Asia “to work toward the promotion and protection of human rights of intersex people in Asia […] and to ensure that the rights to life, bodily integrity, physical autonomy and self-determination of intersex people are promoted and protected everywhere.”
Even though these identities are just as common as having green eyes or red hair, intersex representation is severely lacking, and these identities are often ignored, misrepresented or threatened. Thankfully, intersex identities are gaining more visibility every year. Several of these activists including River, Sean and Alicia are featured in a documentary called Every Body that celebrates intersex lives and offers viewers new insight into the struggles and joys of living as an intersex person.
Intersex Ireland advocates for intersex people and calls for an end to unnecessary surgical procedures. In recent years, countries across the EU, including Ireland, have called on the United Nations to protect intersex persons in their autonomy and right to health.
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