We at OII Australia have been stunned and amazed at how everyone else except us was asked by members of the Australian media to speak about intersex and on behalf of intersex people when the Caster Semenya story was given a fresh turn recently.
We were almost uniformly appalled at what was said about Mokgadi Caster Semenya and intersex itself by the people who were asked to comment.
The ignorance, and even the hatefulness, we read and heard were unpleasant. None of these ‘experts’ did it with our consent or approval. We were not asked by any journalist to speak on our own behalf or to recommend people who we might approve of to do so.
However, there was one person who was asked to speak who did it with excellent intentions who and did her very best given her then knowledge of intersex. We thank her wholeheartedly for doing it with good intent.
What she said was not without its limitations, though. We are publishing an extract from a thank you note to her here as we feel it may be instructive to the media and to everyone, as it deals with some all-too-common misconceptions about intersex.
I was in Melbourne listening to Richard Stubbs on the ABC last week.
Congratulations on picking up the cudgel for us. I was pleased to see the ‘hermaphrodite’ terminology directly challenged.
A couple of things though. I am not sure where you get your information from, however OII and OII Australia do not use ‘condition’ or ‘disorder’ in connection with intersex.
So intersex individuals do not have ‘intersex conditions’ or ‘intersex disorders.’ We are sex diverse and have sex differences.
We are not ‘intersexed’ in the same way people are not ‘talled,’ ‘whited’ or ‘blacked.’
We are not ‘intersexual’ or ‘intersexuals’ in the same way people are not ‘talluals’ or ‘blackuals’ or ‘whiteuals.’
We are a part of the gamut of possibilities between the idealised possibilities of male and female. I say ‘idealised’ because no one is absolutely either and there is no way of determining in absolute terms what exactly male and female are.
The term ‘intersex’ is sufficient when referring to intersex.
So I am an intersex woman. I have friends who are intersex males and others who are simply intersex.
We have intersex, transsex and transgender, Hijra, twinspirits, pansexual and pangender and many otherwise identified members amongst the constellation of possibilities our membership represents.
You indicated to Richard that we do not want to be seen as only our intersex and you were right to say that, however saying we have an ‘intersex condition’ is no more helpful than saying someone has a mental health condition or a transgender condition.
I think the way people will eventually see us as more than our differences is when they get to know us rather than through terminology.
Many intersex find ‘intersexed’ and ‘intersexual’ as insulting as ‘hermaphrodite.’ I am amongst those.
That aside, you came over well on the radio and did us a great service. Thanks so much for your concern for us.
