It’s obvious to anyone that the US Republican party is attacking transgender people. It seems like every week, there’s another state law being passed that bans gender-affirming care for minor, for adults, or that polices their ability to use public restrooms. The GOP wants to create a villain. They need to blame the woes of America on someone. Right now, that someone is transgender people and immigrants.
As part of this attack, the GOP is trying to erase intersex people from the conversation. We disprove their false point, so they want to pretend that they don’t exist. This makes our fight intersectional and connected to the transgender fight. I talk about this in my book. I’ve mentioned it here and on social media.
I Was Wrong
After a recent video, I received this comment:
Okay, and cisgender intersex people are being targeted, too. A woman with AIS was forced to shift to M on her license despite her never being trans. Intersex people like myself would be targeted - I do not pass as male or female, despite being a cis woman. We have differences, but ignoring the real overlap happening right now feels like you’re coming from a position of privilege. This is our conversation, too, but treating it like one of solidarity and not of commonality is an ignorant mistake.
I chatted with this person, asking for clarification. I was coming at this from a place of privilege and some ignorance. I read a lot. I try to stay on top of legislation and intersex rights. I also don’t have any other intersex friends, no intersex folks in my immediate circle. I’ve met a few at conventions and online in interactions like this, but I don’t get that steady stream of discussion.
So yes, I was wrong. Intersex people are under attack, too.
AIS? M on Their ID? What Does This Mean?
AIS, or androgen insensitivity syndrome, is the most common intersex variation. Intersex folks with AIS, complete or otherwise, don’t metabolize androgens like testosterone. They are all female, born with a clitoris and vagina, no uterus or fallopian tubes, and undescended testes. They also have XY chromosomes, which are genotypically male, but these people are undeniably female. A woman born with AIS is born a woman and grows up as a woman. If those undescended testes are left alone (they are far too often removed), then their body will metabolize the testosterone from them as estrogen. They will continue to develop as a woman.
Jackie Blankenship, and intersex woman with CAIS
So, placing an M for male on their ID? It makes no sense. Can you imagine Jackie Blankenship (pictured above) walking into a men’s restroom? In those states where these laws are being passed and bigots feel empowered to police bathrooms? It would not go well, to say the least.
The Fight Continues
Maybe you’d expect me to say that I have found an even greater sense of urgency for this fight now that I know intersex people are under attack. I haven’t. I already had urgency. One of my brothers is transgender. I have a lot of transgender friends. I see their struggles, I feel for them and fight for them. Including my own 1.7% of the population in that fight? Done and done.
How can you help? Protest. Write and call your senators and representatives. VOTE, VOTE, VOTE.
And spread knowledge. Still, most people don’t know that intersex people exist. They don’t understand that intersex is naturally occurring not just in human, but throughout the animal kingdom. We’re not aberrations that somehow prove sex is binary (that argument makes no sense). Our existence proves the incredible diversity of biology, including sex, and we cannot be ignore or attacked. We will fight back.
And we need all of you in this fight with us.
