Join us in observing Intersex Awareness Day.
Intersex Awareness Day is an internationally observed awareness day of grass-roots action designed to end shame, secrecy and unwanted genital cosmetic surgeries on intersex children. The day also provides an opportunity for reflection and political action. Between October 26 and November 8, intersex organizations bring attention to the challenges intersex individuals face, culminating in the Intersex Day of Remembrance on the birthday of Herculine Barbin, also sometimes known as Intersex Solidarity Day.
October 26, 1996 marks the anniversary of the first public demonstration by intersex people in the United States. Members of the now defunct Intersex Society of North America and their allies arrived in Boston, MA at the annual conference of the American Academy of Pediatrics. They demonstrated and shared their pain in a very public way, denouncing nonconsensual intersex surgeries and demanding the medical industry take notice.
The commemoration day itself began in 2003 with the establishment of a central awareness-raising site by Betsy Driver (founder of Bodies Like Ours) and Emi Koyama. A central awareness-raising site was later re-established in 2015 by Morgan Carpenter with Laura Inter of Brújula Intersexual, and support from Open Society Foundations. Betsy Driver is the first openly intersex elected official in the U.S.
Resources:
https://en.wickipedia.org
https://interactadvocates.org/intersex-awareness-day/
https://intersexday.org/en/betsy-driver-elected-2017/
Contributed by Jean Fowler, Woodinville UU Church, on behalf of the WUUC Welcoming Congregation Team
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