Mani Mitchell | |
|---|---|
 Mitchell in 2021 | |
| Born | 1953 (age 70–71) Waikato, New Zealand |
| Occupation | Counsellor |
| Known for | Intersex activist and educator |
| Television | Intersexion (2012) Yellow for Hermaphrodite: Mani's Story (2003) [1] |
| Website | www |
Mani Bruce Mitchell MNZM (born 1953) is an intersex activist and counsellor from Wellington, New Zealand. [2] In 2021, Mitchell was recognised as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit. [3]
Mitchell was born and raised in the central North Island on a sheep and cattle farm and educated at Taupo-nui-a-Tia College and the University of Waikato. Identified as a "hermaphrodite" at birth, Mitchell underwent "non-consensual genital 'feminising' surgeries" as a child, and is also a survivor of sexual abuse. [3]
Since 1996, Mitchell has been actively involved in education on intersex and gender variance issues, lecturing at universities and running workshops around the world, and was also involved in the production of several TV documentaries, a film, and a photography book. Mitchell is a member of the New Zealand Association of Counsellors, World Professional Association for Transgender Health and the International Transactional Analysis Association.
Mitchell is the Executive Director of Intersex Trust Aotearoa New Zealand, also known as Intersex Awareness New Zealand. [4]
Mitchell has also narrated the documentary Intersexion (2012), directed by Grant Lahood, which features the story of Mani Mitchell and many other individuals, and looks at how intersex people navigate their way through life. [5]
Mitchell also helped organise the third International Intersex Forum in November/December 2013, [6] and participated in a meeting of New Zealand and Australian intersex organisations in Darlington, Sydney, Australia, leading to publication of the Darlington Statement policy platform. [7]
In 2021, Mitchell spoke of amazement at seeing "intersex people 'moving out of that shame and secrecy and into a playful, joyful place' over the years". [3]
In the 2021 Queen's Birthday Honours, Mitchell was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for their work as a human rights advocate and educator. [3] [7] Mitchell is thought to be one of the first intersex non-binary New Zealanders to receive the award. [3]
Dame Alice Joan Metge is a New Zealand social anthropologist, educator, lecturer and writer.
Dame Iritana Te Rangi Tāwhiwhirangi is a New Zealand advocate of Māori language education and the Kōhanga Reo movement.
Intersex Awareness Day is an internationally observed awareness day each October 26, designed to highlight human rights issues faced by intersex people.
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 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.
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. It was written, directed and edited by Grant Lahood and produced by John Keir.
Intersex civil society organizations have existed since at least the mid-1980s. They include peer support groups and advocacy organizations active on health and medical issues, human rights, legal recognition, and peer and family support. Some groups, including the earliest, were open to people with specific intersex traits, while others are open to people with many different kinds of intersex traits.
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.
Intersex Aotearoa is a nonprofit organisation based in New Zealand, and is a national advocacy and peer support organisation for intersex people. The organisation was founded in 1996 by Mani Mitchell, and has previously been known as the Intersex Trust Aotearoa New Zealand and Intersex Awareness New Zealand.
Sally Gross was an anti-apartheid and intersex activist. A member of the African National Congress during the apartheid era, and the founder of Intersex South Africa, Gross acted as a mentor to intersex activists around the globe.
Intersex, in humans and other animals, describes variations in sex characteristics including chromosomes, gonads, sex hormones, 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 is a part of nature and that is reflected in some representations of intersex in film and other media.
Intersex Peer Support Australia (IPSA), also known as the Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome Support Group Australia, is possibly the oldest known intersex organization, established in 1985. It provides peer and family support, information and advocacy. The group is run by volunteers, for people with intersex variations such as androgen insensitivity syndrome. It changed name from the Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome Support Group Australia (AISSGA) to Intersex Peer Support Australia in 2019.
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.
Sir Robert Kinsela Workman, commonly known as Kim Workman, is a New Zealand criminal justice advocate.
Dame Carolyn Henwood is a former District and Youth Court judge in New Zealand, and an advocate for youth justice and the welfare of children in state care. She is active in the arts, particularly theatre and was a founder of Circa Theatre in Wellington.
Elizabeth Anne Hakaraia is a New Zealand film producer and director.
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