Don't Leave Out the I

The event recording under review encapsulated a workshop titled "Don't Leave Out the I - Proud 2016" which took place at the University of Otago Wellington School of Medicine. This event addressed intersex issues within New Zealand, Australia, and the Pacific region, broadly covering experiences from the 1950s through the 2010s. Key speakers included Denise Steers, Eliana Rubashkyn, Mani Bruce Mitchell, and Tommy Hamilton.

During the 49 minutes recording, a range of topics pertinent to the intersex community were discussed. The conversation commenced with a reflection on self-identification, self-love, and the significance of symbols such as the heart and yellow color, the latter representing the intersex community's claim to visibility and recognition. Importantly, the use of yellow aims to challenge the traditional gender dichotomy symbolized by blue and pink.

The workshop highlighted the historical narrative of intersex individuals and shed light on the binary model underpinning medical responses to intersex conditions, stressing the need for a more nuanced understanding. The notion, popularized by New Zealand sexologist John Money, that gender identity is environmentally determined was critically examined. Money's theory, now recognized as flawed and oversimplified, suggested that children could be socialized into a gender regardless of their physical characteristics, thereby fueling the practice of 'normalizing' intersex children through surgery and hormonal treatments.

The speakers shared personal stories, with one having undergone a sex assignment change from male to female in infancy, characterizing the profound impact of such actions on both their childhood and family dynamics.

A significant portion of the discussion delved into the need for better representation and acknowledgment of intersex voices, emphasizing the diversity within the intersex community itself and its position within the broader LGBTI community. The need to combat medical violence, like non-consensual normalization surgeries—recognized by the UN as a form of torture—was underlined, and legislative changes to protect intersex individuals were advocated for.

The event also called out the medical community for pathologizing intersex conditions and perpetuating discrimination through inappropriate treatment protocols. Further discussion point included the intersex individuals’ struggles regarding fertility treatments and the right to adopt, highlighting the disparity in access to these rights compared to non-intersex individuals.

Towards the end of the workshop, the speakers encouraged the intersex community to offer input at an upcoming plenary and suggested sharing the compiled feedback at the intersex round table hosted by the Human Rights Commission. This proposition was met with consensus as part of a broader effort toward visibility and recognition.

Ultimately, the event championed a strong message of inclusion, self-determination, and the pursuit of human rights for the intersex community. The call for better education, informed consent protocols, and the end of harmful medical practices resonated throughout the discussion, suggesting a shift toward a more informed and empathetic approach to intersex issues globally. To reinforce the community's collective voice and the historical importance of their efforts, participants were encouraged to acknowledge each other with eye contact before the conclusion of the event.

The recording, while capturing narratives of pain and invisibility, simultaneously narrated a tale of resilience and hope, aiming to inspire a world that acknowledges and celebrates the full spectrum of human diversity.

This summary is created using Generative AI. Although it is based on the recording's transcription, it may contain errors or omissions. Click here to learn more about how this summary was created.

Denise Steers Eliana Rubashkyn Mani Bruce Mitchell Tommy Hamilton

1950s, 2010s, adoption, allies, ambiguous genitalia, androgen insensitivity syndrome (ais), aotearoa new zealand, asia pacific outgames, auckland, awhi, badges, binary, bodily autonomy, body diversity, button, chicago, church, cisgender, civil defence, conference, convention refugee, counselling, crystals, denise steers, discrimination, diversity education, dysphoria, education, eliana rubashkyn, environment, fertility treatment, gender, gender binary, gender dysphoria, gender fluid, gender identity, healing, heterosexual, human rights, human rights commission, hypospadias, identity, identity documents, india, infertility, informed consent, international lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex association (ilga), intersex, intersex conditions, intersex trust aotearoa new zealand (itanz), invisibility, isolation, john money, legacy, malta, mani bruce mitchell, margaret sparrow, media, medicalisation, non-binary, normal, normalisation surgery, pacific, pain, parents, pathologisation, plastic surgery, proud 2016 (wellington), queer, rainbow within a rainbow, rawa karetai, reclaim, refugee, renato sabbadini, salvation army, self determination, sexology, surgery, tabby besley, taonga, tattoo, tokenism, tommy hamilton, torture, trans, transexual, transgender, transition, transvestism, united states of america, university of otago wellington school of medicine, visibility, wellington, xy, yellow, youth

access, adelaide, army, assumptions, audience, australia, beauty, belief, belonging, bisexual, board, boat, boxes, building, cancer, change, children, choice, coming up, commonality, community, conflict, consent, conversation, courts, crying, david, desire, difference, diversity, documentary, expression, face, family, farm, feelings, fluidity, fraud, frustration, gay, gender expression, growing up, hate, health, health care, heterosexual, history, hit, hope, hospital, inclusion, job, journey, knowledge, korea, language, legislation, lesbian, lgbt, library, loneliness, love, masculinity, medicine, mental health, monitor, narrative, nature, news, oceania, opportunity, other, outsider, people, podcast, prayer, press release, rage, rainbow, reading, recognition, records, recovery, research, resource, respect, running, sex, sexual health, sexual orientation, siblings, silence, social, space, speech, stole, straight, stuff, suit, support, teaching, time, top, tough, tradition, training, transphobia, transvestite, travel, trust, truth, understanding, uniform, vice, violence, voice, women, work, workshop