Intersex topics |
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Intersex people are born with sex characteristics, such as chromosomes, gonads, or genitals that, according to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies". [1]
According to the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions, few countries have provided for the legal recognition of intersex people. The Asia Pacific Forum states that the legal recognition of intersex people is firstly about access to the same rights as other men and women, when assigned male or female; secondly it is about access to administrative corrections to legal documents when an original sex assignment is not appropriate; and thirdly it is not about the creation of a third sex or gender classification for intersex people as a population but it is, instead, about self determination. [2]
The Asia Pacific Forum, the Council of Europe, [3] and the Malta declaration of the Third International Intersex Forum have called for non-binary gender classifications to be available on a voluntary, opt-in basis. [2] The Council of Europe has called for greater consideration of the implications of new sex classifications on intersex people, [3] while the Third International Intersex Forum called for the long term removal of sex or gender from official identification documents. [2]
In some countries, legal recognition may be limited, access to any form of birth certificate may be difficult, [4] while some other countries recognise that intersex people may have non-binary gender identities. [2] Sociological research in Australia, a country with a non-binary gender marker, has shown that 19% of people born with atypical sex characteristics may prefer that option. [5]
In European societies, Roman law, post-classical Canon law, and later Common law, referred to a person's sex as male, female or hermaphrodite, with legal rights as male or female depending on the characteristics that appeared most dominant. Under Roman law, a hermaphrodite had to be classed as either male or female. [6] The 12th-century Decretum Gratiani states that "Whether an hermaphrodite may witness a testament, depends on which sex prevails". [7] [8] [9] The foundation of common law, the 16th Century Institutes of the Lawes of England described how a hermaphrodite could inherit "either as male or female, according to that kind of sexe which doth prevaile." [10] [11] Single cases have been described in Canon law and other legal cases over the centuries.
Intersex scholar Morgan Holmes states that much early anthropological material on non-European cultures described gender systems with more than two categories as "primitive", but also that subsequent analysis of third sexes and genders is simplistic or romanticized: [12]
much of the existing work on cultural systems that incorporate a 'third sex' portray simplistic visions in which societies with more than two sex/gender categories are cast as superior to those that divide the world into just two. I argue that to understand whether a system is more or less oppressive than another we have to understand how it treats its various members, not only its 'thirds'... recognition of third sexes and third genders is not equal to valuing the presence of those who were neither male nor female, and often hinges on the explicit devaluation of women [12]
In recent years, civil society organization and human rights institutions have raised issues relating to legal recognition.
Research indicates a growing consensus that diverse intersex bodies are normal—if relatively rare—forms of human biology, [13] and human rights institutions are placing increasing scrutiny on medical practices and issues of discrimination against intersex people. A 2013 first international pilot study. Human Rights between the Sexes, by Dan Christian Ghattas, [14] [15] found that intersex people are discriminated against worldwide: "Intersex individuals are considered individuals with a «disorder» in all areas in which Western medicine prevails. They are more or less obviously treated as sick or «abnormal», depending on the respective society." [14]
In 2015, an Issue Paper on Human rights and intersex people by the Council of Europe highlighted several areas of concern, including legal recognition:
According to the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions, few countries have provided for the legal recognition of intersex people. The Asia Pacific Forum states that the legal recognition of intersex people is firstly about access to the same rights as other men and women, when assigned male or female; secondly it is about access to administrative corrections to legal documents when an original sex assignment is not appropriate; and thirdly, while opt in schemes may help some individuals, legal recognition is not about the creation of a third sex or gender classification for intersex people as a population. [2]
On January 20, 2025, US president Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14168, entitled "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government". This executive order asserts that it is the policy of the United States that there are only two sexes, male and female, and that these sexes are immutable throughout a person's life, starting at conception. [16] The executive order does not acknowledge the existence of, or make provision for, intersex people. According to intersex advocate Alicia Roth Weigel, this order "attempts to negate our very existence". [17]
Like all individuals, some intersex individuals may be raised as a particular sex (male or female) but then identify with another later in life, while most do not. [18] [19] [20] A 2012 clinical review suggests that between 8.5-20% of persons with intersex conditions may experience gender dysphoria, distress or discomfort as a result of the sex and gender they were assigned at birth. [21]
Like non-intersex people, some intersex individuals may not identify themselves as either exclusively female or exclusively male. Sociological research in Australia, a country with a third 'X' sex classification, shows that 19% of people born with atypical sex characteristics selected an "X" or "other" option, while 52% are women, 23% men, and 6% unsure. [5] [22] At birth, 52% of persons in the study were assigned female, and 41% were assigned male. [5]
Research has also shown gender identities of intersex individuals to be independent of sexual orientation. [23]
Intersex advocate Morgan Carpenter states that intersex should not be reduced to a gender identity issue; "intersex as identity is polymorphic, but asserts the dignity of stigmatised embodiment." [24] Dan Christian Ghattas states that "People who do not have an intersex body and want to use ‘intersex’ to describe their gender identity, should be aware of the fact that, unfortunately, they are actually making intersex human rights violations less visible." [25]
Currently, depending on the jurisdiction, access to any birth certificate may be an issue, [4] including a birth certificate with a sex marker, [26] and in the absence of surgical requirements. [27]
In 2014 a Kenyan court ordered its government to issue a birth certificate to a five-year-old child born with ambiguous genitalia, necessary to allow the child to attend school and obtain a national identity document. [4] Many intersex persons in Uganda are understood to be stateless due to historical difficulties in obtaining identification documents, despite a birth registration law that permits intersex minors to change assignment. [28]
A 2017 submission by Justicia Intersex and Zwischengeschlecht to the United Nations Committee Against Torture identified two Argentinian cases of children denied birth certificates without parental consent to irreversible medical interventions. [27]
The Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions states that:
Recognition before the law means having legal personhood and the legal protections that flow from that. For intersex people, this is neither primarily nor solely about amending birth registrations or other official documents. Firstly, it is about intersex people who have been issued a male or a female birth certificate being able to enjoy the same legal rights as other men and women [2]
Accessing the same rights as other men and women supposes the elimination of stigma and discrimination on grounds of sex characteristics, and rights to physical integrity and freedom from torture and ill-treatment.
The Asia Pacific Forum also highlights access to sport and concerns with sex verification policies. [2] Sex testing began at the 1966 European Athletics Championships in response to suspicion that several of the best women athletes from the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe were actually men. [29] At the Olympics, testing was introduced in 1968. Initially, sex verification took the form of physical examinations. It subsequently evolved into chromosome testing, and later testosterone testing. Reports have shown how elite women athletes with intersex conditions have been humiliated, excluded, and suffered human rights violations as a result of sex verification testing. [30] [31] [32] Such cases have included female genital mutilation and sterilization. [32]
Access to a birth certificate with a correct sex marker may be an issue for intersex people who do not identify with their sex assigned at birth. [3] [2]
Some countries have the gender self-determination legal model such as Argentina, Belgium, Malta, Denmark, Greece, France, Portugal, Norway, Chile, Uruguay, Luxembourg, Colombia, Ecuador, Iceland, and Ireland permit changes to sex classifications via simple administrative methods. [33] Some countries, such as Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, some jurisdictions in both Australia and the United States and many European countries only permit changes to sex classifications following sexual reassignment surgery. [2] Other countries do not permit intersex people to change sex assignment at all or, such as the United Kingdom, only by declaring that they are transgender and obtaining a diagnosis of gender dysphoria. [34]
The passports and identification documents of Australia, New Zealand and some other nationalities have adopted "X" as a valid third category besides "M" (male) and "F" (female), at least since 2003. [35] [36] US states have recognised third options since at least 2012, in the case of an 'hermaphrodite' birth certificate sex marker in Ohio. [37] In 2013, Germany became the first European nation to register babies with characteristics of both sexes as indeterminate gender on birth certificates, amidst opposition and skepticism from intersex organisations who point out that the law mandates exclusion from male or female categories. [38] [39] [40] [41]
US organization Intersex Campaign for Equality successfully pursued third sex/gender classification through a federal court case filed on Intersex Awareness Day, October, 26, 2015. On November 22, 2016, the United States District Court for the District of Colorado ruled in favor of intersex Navy veteran Dana Zzyym, associate director of Intersex Campaign for Equality, stating that the State Department violated federal law in denying Zzyym a passport because they did not select M/male or F/female as their sex marker. [42] [43] On October 27, 2021, the very first US X Passport was issued to Dana Zzyym. As stated by Lambda Legal, Zzyym's legal representatives in the lawsuit, the X is a "sex/gender" marker representing both intersex and non-binary/gender nonconforming people. [44] The X passport was issued to Zzyym because their medical records demonstrated to the courts that they are not male or female but intersex; in keeping with federal precedent regarding M/F markers, and statewide precedent regarding the X markers, the passport X represents both sex and gender identity. It does not require medical documentation, and will be available to any citizen who wishes to opt out of binary sex/gender classifications. On September 26, 2016, intersex California resident Sara Kelly Keenan became the second person in the United States to legally change her gender to non-binary. [45] In December 2016, Keenan received a birth certificate with an 'Intersex' sex marker from New York City. Press coverage also disclosed that Ohio issued a birth certificate with a sex marker of 'hermaphrodite' in 2012. [46] [37]
The intersex movement supports voluntary and opt-in non-binary and multiple sex classifications, described in the statement of the Third International Intersex Forum. The Open Society Foundations published a report, License to Be Yourself in May 2014, documenting "some of the world's most progressive and rights-based laws and policies" enabling changes to gender markers on official documents. [47] The report comments on the recognition of third classifications, stating:
From a rights-based perspective, third sex / gender options should be voluntary... Those identifying as a third sex / gender should have the same rights as those identifying as male or female. [47]
The Council of Europe acknowledged concerns about recognition of third and blank classifications in a 2015 Issue Paper, stating that these may lead to "forced outings" and "lead to an increase in pressure on parents of intersex children to decide in favour of one sex." [3] The Issue Paper argues that "further reflection on non-binary legal identification is necessary":
Mauro Cabral, Global Action for Trans Equality (GATE) Co-Director, indicated that any recognition outside the "F"/"M" dichotomy needs to be adequately planned and executed with a human rights point of view, noting that: "People tend to identify a third sex with freedom from the gender binary, but that is not necessarily the case. If only trans and/or intersex people can access that third category, or if they are compulsively assigned a third sex, then the gender binary gets stronger, not weaker" [3]
The Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions recognised the right of individuals to non-binary or third sex classifications, but stated that, "creating a third, separate category for the registration of people born with an intersex trait ... would risk segregating and potentially stigmatising intersex people. It would also remove their right to determine their own sex or gender." [2]
In March 2017, an Australian and New Zealand community statement called for an end to legal classification of sex, stating that legal third classifications, like binary classifications, were based on structural violence and failed to respect diversity and a "right to self-determination". [48] [49]
The statement of the Third International Intersex Forum calls for an end to official classification by sex or gender on identification documents. Dan Christian Ghattas of OII Europe states that, "providing the options for all parents to leave the sex/ gender entry open for their child would promote the equality of all sexes and genders". [25] Laura Inter of Mexican intersex organization Brújula Intersexual, imagines a society where sex or gender classifications are removed from birth certificates and other official identification documents, [50] and Morgan Carpenter of OII Australia states that, "the removal of sex and gender, like race and religion, from official documentation" is "a more universal, long-term policy goal". [24]
In March 2017, an Australian and New Zealand community statement called for an end to legal classification of sex, stating that legal third classifications, like binary classifications, were based on structural violence and failed to respect diversity and a "right to self-determination". It also called for the criminalization of deferrable intersex medical interventions. [48] [49]
Distinctions between sex and gender are lost in many official or legal documents, [51] and also online. In 2014, Facebook introduced dozens of options for users to specify their gender, including the option of intersex. [52]
The Malta declaration by the Third International Intersex Forum, in 2013, called for infants and children to be assigned male or female, on the understanding that later identification may differ:
- To register intersex children as females or males, with the awareness that, like all people, they may grow up to identify with a different sex or gender.
- To ensure that sex or gender classifications are amendable through a simple administrative procedure at the request of the individuals concerned. All adults and capable minors should be able to choose between female (F), male (M), non-binary or multiple options. In the future, as with race or religion, sex or gender should not be a category on birth certificates or identification documents for anybody. (Third International Intersex Forum) [2]
Country/jurisdiction | Physical integrity and bodily autonomy | Anti-discrimination protection | Access to identification documents | Access to same rights as other men and women | Changing M/F identification documents | Third gender or sex classifications | Ending official classification by sex or gender | Sex and gender distinctions | Assign infants and children to male or female |
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Country/jurisdiction | Physical integrity and bodily autonomy | Anti-discrimination protection | Access to identification documents | Access to same rights as other men and women | Changing M/F identification documents | Third gender or sex classifications | Ending official classification by sex or gender | Sex and gender distinctions | Assign infants and children to male or female |
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Country/jurisdiction | Physical integrity and bodily autonomy | Anti-discrimination protection | Access to identification documents | Access to same rights as other men and women | Changing M/F identification documents | Third gender or sex classifications | Ending official classification by sex or gender | Sex and gender distinctions | Assign infants and children to male or female |
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Country/jurisdiction | Physical integrity and bodily autonomy | Anti-discrimination protection | Access to identification documents | Access to same rights as other men and women | Changing M/F identification documents | Third gender or sex classifications | Ending official classification by sex or gender | Sex and gender distinctions | Assign infants and children to male or female |
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)In law, sex characteristic refers to an attribute defined for the purposes of protecting individuals from discrimination due to their sexual features. The attribute of sex characteristics was first defined in national law in Malta in 2015. The legal term has since been adopted by United Nations, European, and Asia-Pacific institutions, and in a 2017 update to the Yogyakarta Principles on the application of international human rights law in relation to sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics.
Intersex people are individuals born with any of several sex characteristics, including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies".
Discrimination against non-binary people, people who do not identify exclusively as male or female, may occur in social, legal, or medical contexts.
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.
Hida Viloria is an American writer, author, producer, and human rights activist of Latin American origin. Viloria is intersex, nonbinary, and genderfluid, 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 media as a nonbinary intersex person. Viloria is Founding Director of the Intersex Campaign for Equality.
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.
Morgan Carpenter is a bioethicist, intersex activist and researcher. In 2013, he created an intersex flag, and became president of Intersex Human Rights Australia. He is now executive director. Following enactment of legislative protections for people with innate variations of sex characteristics in the Australian Capital Territory, Carpenter is a member of the Variations in Sex Characteristics Restricted Medical Treatment Assessment Board.
Intersex people are born with sex characteristics, such as chromosomes, gonads, or genitals, that, according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies."
Intersex people are born with sex characteristics, such as chromosomes, gonads, or genitals that, according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies". "Because their bodies are seen as different, intersex children and adults are often stigmatized and subjected to multiple human rights violations".
Transgender rights in Australia have legal protection under federal and state/territory laws, but the requirements for gender recognition vary depending on the jurisdiction. For example, birth certificates, recognised details certificates, and driver licences are regulated by the states and territories, while Medicare and passports are matters for the Commonwealth.
Multiple countries legally recognize non-binary or third gender classifications. These classifications are typically based on a person's gender identity. In some countries, such classifications may only be available to intersex people, born with sex characteristics that "do not fit the typical definitions for male or female bodies."
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 endosex people. According to a study done in Australia of Australian citizens with intersex conditions, participants labeled 'heterosexual' as the most popular single label with the rest being scattered among various other labels. According to another study, an estimated 8.5% to 20% experiencing gender dysphoria. Although many intersex people are heterosexual and cisgender, and not all of them identify as LGBTQ+, 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.
The following is a timeline of intersex history.
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".
Intersex rights in Australia are protections and rights afforded to intersex people through statutes, regulations, and international human rights treaties, including through the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) which makes it unlawful to discriminate against a person based upon that person's intersex status in contexts such as work, education, provision of services, and accommodation.
The Malta declaration is the statement of the Third International Intersex Forum, which took place in Valletta, Malta, in 2013. The event was supported by the ILGA and ILGA-Europe and brought together 34 people representing 30 organisations from multiple regions of the world.
Intersex rights in Malta since 2015 are among the most progressive in the world. Intersex children in Malta have world-first protections from non-consensual cosmetic medical interventions, following the passing into law of the Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sex Characteristics Act in 2015. All Maltese intersex persons have protection from discrimination. Individuals who seek it can access simple administrative methods of changing sex assignment, with binary and non-binary forms of identification available.
Intersex people in Germany have legal recognition of their rights to physical integrity and bodily autonomy, with exceptions, but no specific protections from discrimination on the basis of sex characteristics. In response to an inquiry by the German Ethics Council in 2012, the government passed legislation in 2013 designed to classify some intersex infants as a de facto third category. The legislation has been criticized by civil society and human rights organizations as misguided.
Intersex people are born with sex characteristics, such as chromosomes, gonads, 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.
Intersex people in Taiwan currently face some gaps in legal protection of their rights to physical integrity and bodily autonomy, and in protection from discrimination on the basis of sex characteristics, with significant improvements in recent years.