Ruth Baldacchino

Last updated

Ruth Baldacchino
BornDecember 1979 (1979-12) (age 43)
Nationality Maltese
Occupation(s)Former ILGA Co-Secretary General; Senior Program Officer - Intersex Human Rights Find at Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice
Known for LGBT rights

Ruth Baldacchino (born 1979) is an LGBT and intersex activist, former Co-Secretary General of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA World), [1] and Senior Program Officer for the first intersex human rights fund. [1]

Contents

Education

Baldacchino holds an M.A. in Women's Studies from University College Dublin and a B.A. (Honours) in Sociology from University of Malta. They lecture Queer Studies and Sociology at the University of Malta. [1]

Activism and career

Baldacchino has previously served on the boards of the Malta Gay Rights Movement, [2] IGLYO and ILGA-Europe and also serves as senior program officer for the first intersex human rights fund. [1] They were a visiting lecturer at the University of Malta. [3] Between 2014 and 2019, they served as co-secretary general of ILGA World. [4] Since 2015 they have worked as program officer for the first intersex human rights fund, at the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice. [1]

Prior to joining Astraea, Baldacchino worked at the Ministry for Civil Liberties in Malta on human rights and social integration, participating in the process of developing and passing a groundbreaking Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sex Characteristics Act. [1] [5]

Baldacchino has a non-binary gender identity, [1] and describes the Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sex Characteristics Act as providing "freedom to an individual to develop, establish and express their gender, rather than having the State or the medical professionals deciding that. In other words, ... to be allowed to determine what identity fits ... best and how ... to embody that identity." [6]

Baldacchino has also closely engaged with intersex activists, particularly through the co-facilitation and coordination of ILGA's International Intersex Forums. [7]

Baldacchino contributed to a 2015 national education policy on Trans, Gender Variant and Intersex Students in Schools. [1] [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association</span> International umbrella organization for LGBTI organizations

The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) is an organization which is committed to advancing human rights to all people, disregarding gender identity, sex characteristics and expression. ILGA participates in a multitude of agendas within the United Nations, such as creating visibility for LGBTI issues by conducting advocacy and outreach at the Human Rights Council, working with members to help their government improve LGBTI rights, ensuring LGBTI members are not forgotten in international law, and advocating for LBTI women's issues at the Commission on the Status of Women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ILGA-Europe</span> Part of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association

ILGA-Europe is the European region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association. It is an advocacy group promoting the interests of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) people, at the European level. Its membership comprises more than 500 organisations from throughout Europe and Central Asia. The association enjoys consultative status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council and participatory status at the Council of Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OutRight Action International</span> LGBTIQ human rights organization

OutRight International (OutRight) is an LGBTIQ human rights non-governmental organization that addresses human rights violations and abuses against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people. OutRight International documents human rights discrimination and abuses based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics in partnership with activists, advocates, media, NGOs and allies on a local, regional, national and international level. OutRight International holds consultative status with ECOSOC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in Malta</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights in Malta rank among the highest in the world. Throughout the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the rights of the LGBT community received more awareness and same-sex sexual activity was legalized on 29 January 1973. The prohibition was already dormant by the 1890s.

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

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mauro Cabral Grinspan</span> Argentinian transgender activist

Mauro Cabral Grinspan, also known as Mauro Cabral, is an Argentinian intersex and trans activist, who serves as the Senior Officer for Gender Justice and Equity at the Global Philanthropy Project. Before that, he was the Executive Director of GATE. His work - as a signatory of the Yogyakarta Principles - focuses on the reform of medical protocols and law reform. In July 2015, Cabral received the inaugural Bob Hepple Equality Award.

Oii-Chinese is an intersex advocacy and support group and the Chinese-language affiliate of Organisation Intersex International. Oii-Chinese, founded by Hiker Chiu in 2008, is active in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and other areas in East Asia.

Kenita Placide is a human rights, HIV and LGBT activist from St. Lucia. She is the executive director of United and Strong and the Eastern Caribbean Coordinator of Caribbean Forum for Liberation and Acceptance of Genders and Sexualities (CariFLAGS). Between 2014 and 2016, she served at the Women's Secretariat for the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association. She has been on the forefront of bringing LGBT issues into discussion throughout the Anglo-Caribbean and international community. In 2013, she was selected as Star Publishing's People’s Choice for Person of the Year in St. Lucia, the first time an LGBT person had been honored with the award in her country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice</span> International foundation for LGBT rights

The Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice is an international charitable foundation based in the United States focused on issues related to LGBT and intersex rights for people of color. The organization provide grants to individuals and organizations, promotes philanthropy, and provides capacity building assistance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hiker Chiu</span> Intersex activist

Hiker Chiu is a Taiwanese intersex human rights activist who founded Oii-Chinese in 2008 and cofounded Intersex Asia in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Christian Ghattas</span> Intersex activist

Dan Christian Ghattas is an intersex activist, university lecturer and author who co-founded OII Europe in 2012 and is now executive director. In 2013, he authored Human Rights between the Sexes, a first comparative international analysis of the human rights situation of intersex people.

Natasha Jiménez is a trans and intersex activist and author who is currently the General Coordinator for MULABI, Latin American Space for Sexualities and Rights, the first host of the Intersex Secretariat for ILGA. She is an advisory board member for the first intersex human rights fund and participated in the first intersex hearing on human rights before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

Nthabiseng Mokoena is a prominent South African intersex activist and an advisory board member for the first intersex human rights fund.

Gloria Angélica Careaga Pérez is a Mexican social psychologist and feminist. She has taught at the Faculty of Psychology in the National Autonomous University of Mexico since 1979. She is co-founder of Mexican organization El Closet de Sor Juana and former co-Secretary General of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association.

Insight is a Ukrainian LGBTQI organization. Unlike most Ukrainian LGBT organizations focused on work with gay men and MSM, Insight’s priority is to help lesbians, bisexual women, transgender, queer and intersex people. Insight is one of the few public organizations in working with transgender people.

<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">Malta declaration (International Intersex Forum)</span> Statement of the Third International Intersex Forum, which took place in Valletta, Malta, in 2013

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intersex rights in Malta</span>

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.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Introducing the Intersex Fund team at Astraea!". Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice. June 16, 2015. Archived from the original on July 3, 2015. Retrieved July 2, 2015.
  2. Calleja, Claudia (March 29, 2012). "Milkshake seeks to dismantle taboos". Times of Malta . Retrieved July 19, 2015.
  3. "Visiting Staff". University of Malta. February 4, 2015. Archived from the original on August 10, 2016. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
  4. "Press Release – ILGA Annual Report on State-Sponsored Homophobia". SOGI News.com. RFSL. May 14, 2015. Archived from the original on July 16, 2015. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
  5. Lavers, Michael (April 1, 2015). "Maltese lawmakers approve 'cutting-edge' gender identity bill". Washington Blade . Retrieved July 19, 2015.
  6. Akpınar, Ömer (April 3, 2015). "Malta: "I am allowed to determine what identity fits me best"". Kaos GL. Archived from the original on June 25, 2019. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
  7. Hay, Mark (April 7, 2015), What Will Malta's New Intersex Law Mean for the Rest of the World?, Vice
  8. Trans, Gender Variant and Intersex Students in Schools: Policy (PDF), Ministry for Education and Employment, Malta, June 2015, archived from the original (PDF) on December 10, 2022