Intersexion

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Intersexion
Intersexion.jpg
Directed byGrant Lahood
Produced byJohn Keir
Starring Mani Mitchell
Tamara Beck
Cheryl Chase
Caitlin Petrakis Childs
Gavan Coleman
Jim Costich
Tiger Devore
Sally Gross
Esther Morris Leidolf
Stephanie Long
Jen Pagonis
Michel Reiter
David Cameron Strachan
Anne Tamar-Mattis
Suegee Tamar-Mattis
Hida Viloria
Gina Wilson
Production
company
Ponsonby Productions Limited
Release date
  • 5 April 2012 (2012-04-05)
Running time
68 minutes
Country New Zealand
LanguageEnglish

Intersexion (2012) is a documentary about intersex people. The film was researched and presented by activist Mani Mitchell, New Zealand's first "out" intersex person. [1] It was written, directed and edited by Grant Lahood and produced by John Keir. [2]

Contents

Synopsis

Mani Mitchell and Grant Lahood set out to "de-mystify" intersex, looking "beyond the shame and secrecy that defines many intersex births". Interviewing intersex people around the world, the film explores how they "navigate their way through childhood, adolescence, relationships and adulthood, when they don’t fit the binary model of a solely male and female world". [1] [3] The film follows Mitchell on a tour, visiting intersex people in America, Ireland, Germany, South Africa and Australia. Interviews with sex researchers are also included, as well as some history of the treatment of intersex conditions. Those who had early surgical interventions, per the theories of researchers such as John Money, contrast their experiences with those who grew up without these interventions. [1]

Cast

The cast of Intersexion includes intersex activists from around the world, including Mani Mitchell, Bo Laurent, also known as Cheryl Chase, Caitlin Petrakis Childs, Gavan Coleman, Jim Costich, Tiger Devore, Sally Gross, Esther Morris Leidolf, Stephanie Long, Pidgeon Pagonis (then known as Jen), Michel Reiter, David Cameron Strachan, Anne Tamar-Mattis, Suegee Tamar-Mattis, Peter Trinkl, Hida Viloria and Gina Wilson.

Reception

Graham Adams, writing for New Zealand magazine Metro describes how, "while the frankness of his subjects can be arresting, Lahood's interest in them is never prurient, or patronising. And the documentary fairly skips along." [4] Jennie Kermode, writing for Eye For Film, writes, "Intersexion is a vital film not only in bringing it to public view, but in doing so primarily through the stories of intersex people themselves". [5] The movie has a 7.6 star rating at IMDb. [6]

Awards

Intersexion won 'Best New Zealand Documentary' and 'Best Editing' at the Documentary Edge Festival in 2012. [7] It was a runner up in the Derek Oyston Film Prize in the London BFI Lesbian and Gay Film Festival 2013, and recipient of the Audience Award for Best Documentary in the Hamburg International Queer Film Festival, 2012. [8] [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Mani Bruce Mitchell is an intersex activist and counsellor from Wellington, New Zealand. In 2021, Mitchell was recognised as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

Advocates for Informed Choice, dba interACT or interACT Advocates for Intersex Youth, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization using innovative strategies to advocate for the legal and human rights of children with intersex traits. The organization was founded in 2006 and formally incorporated on April 12, 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intersex Human Rights Australia</span> Intersex organization in Australia

Intersex Human Rights Australia (IHRA) is a voluntary organisation for intersex people that promotes the human rights and bodily autonomy of intersex people in Australia, and provides education and information services. Established in 2009 and incorporated as a charitable company in 2010, it was formerly known as Organisation Intersex International Australia, or OII Australia. It is recognised as a Public Benevolent Institution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hida Viloria</span> American activist (born 1968)

Hida Viloria is a Latine American writer, author, producer, and human rights activist. Viloria is intersex, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming, using they/them pronouns. They are known for their writing, their intersex and non-binary human rights activism, and as one of the first people to come out in national and international media as a nonbinary intersex person. Viloria is Founding Director of the Intersex Campaign for Equality.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intersex civil society organizations</span> Intersex Human Rights Organizations: Worldwide

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Intersex Forum</span>

The International Intersex Forum is an annual event organised, then later supported, by the ILGA and ILGA-Europe that and organisations from multiple regions of the world, and it is believed to be the first and only such intersex event.

Tiger Devore, previously known as Howard Devore and Tiger Howard Devore, is an American clinical psychologist, sex therapist, and spokesperson on intersex issues. He was a member of the defunct Intersex Society of North America. Historian Alice Dreger credits him with starting the work of the intersex movement.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Films about intersex</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Literature about intersex</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pidgeon Pagonis</span> American activist, writer, artist, and consultant

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intersex and LGBT</span> Relationship between different sex and gender minorities

Intersex people are born with sex characteristics that "do not fit the typical definitions for male or female bodies". They are substantially more likely to identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) than the non-intersex population, with an estimated 52% identifying as non-heterosexual and 8.5% to 20% experiencing gender dysphoria. Although many intersex people are heterosexual and cisgender, this overlap and "shared experiences of harm arising from dominant societal sex and gender norms" has led to intersex people often being included under the LGBT umbrella, with the acronym sometimes expanded to LGBTI. Some intersex activists and organisations have criticised this inclusion as distracting from intersex-specific issues such as involuntary medical interventions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intersex rights in New Zealand</span> Overview of intersex peoples rights in New Zealand

Intersex rights in New Zealand are protections and rights afforded to intersex people. Protection from discrimination is implied by the Human Rights Act and the Bill of Rights Act, but remains untested. The New Zealand Human Rights Commission states that there has seemingly been a "lack of political will to address issues involved in current practices of genital normalisation on intersex children".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intersex rights in the United States</span> Overview of intersex peoples rights in the United States of America

Intersex people in the United States have some of the same rights as other people, but with significant gaps, particularly in protection from non-consensual cosmetic medical interventions and violence, and protection from discrimination. Actions by intersex civil society organizations aim to eliminate harmful practices, promote social acceptance, and equality. In recent years, intersex activists have also secured some forms of legal recognition. Since April 11, 2022 US Passports give the sex/gender options of male, female and X by self determination.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genetic diagnosis of intersex</span>

Intersex people are born with natural variations in physical and sex characteristics including those of the chromosomes, gonads, sex hormones, or genitals that, according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit the typical definitions for male or female bodies". Such variations may involve genital ambiguity, and combinations of chromosomal genotype and sexual phenotype other than XY-male and XX-female. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis allows the elimination of embryos and fetuses with intersex traits and thus has an impact on discrimination against intersex people.

Esther Morris Leidolf is an American medical sociologist, and author of NOT UNCOMMON, Just Unheard of. An intersex activist, writer, and the founder of the MRKH Organization, Leidolf was the board secretary for the Intersex Society of North America.

References