Oct. 26 is Intersex Awareness Day

Oct. 26 is the date of the second Intersex Awareness Day, a time to increase public education and awareness of intersex issues. Intersex refers to a series of medical conditions in which a child's genetic sex (chromosomes) and phenotypic sex (genital appearance) do not match, or are somehow different from the "standard" male or female.
About one in 2,000 babies are born visibly intersexed, while some others are detected later. The current medical protocol calls for the surgical "reconstruction" of these different but healthy bodies to make them "normal," but this practice has become increasingly controversial as adults who went through the treatment report being physically, emotionally, and sexually harmed by such procedures.
According to the organizers of Intersex Awareness Day, it is critical that the unnecessary surgeries end as well as the isolation that surrounds them.
Intersex Awareness Day is supported by the National Center for Transgender Equality.
The date was chosen to mark the anniversary of a demonstration held outside a meeting of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The Intersex Society of North America, along with allies from Transgender Menace, picketed in order to raise awareness among pediatricians and the general public.
For more information about Intersex Awareness Day go to http://www.intersex-awareness-day.org. Bodies Like Ours, Intersex Initiative, and the Intersex Society of North America have all endorsed Intersex Awareness Day. As of press time, there were no reports of activities being planned in Michigan.