Intersex. A word that means so many things to so many people. It is when a human is born with both sexes. Sometimes it’s very obvious where you have a vagina and a penis next to each other; other times, it’s variations of sex characteristics. It is possible for the differences to be so minute that there is no discernible difference unless you open the body in an autopsy.

If the child is born and there is no immediate showing of both sexes, they may still show up during puberty. At puberty, the body starts going through major changes of hormones; one hormone is secreted more than the other and those genitals and other secondary changes happen. In other cases, both types of hormones are appeared and they develop both sexes.

All humans are born with X or Y chromosomes. Females are born as XX, whereas the males are born XY. What happens when there are more X or Y chromosomes? Physical changes happen. XXY or XYY. Gender identity is a big issue when you are intersex. Especially if you were raised in one gender and feel like the other.

The issues that many Intersex individuals face have to do with society’s gender expectations. Children that are born intersex are sometimes inhumanely mutilated in order to save their parents social standing. If a child is born with both sexes and they are incongruent; the doctor helps the parents make the decision castrate and remove the penis so the child will grow up to be a girl. Very rarely does the opposite happen. This in itself a dangerous thing to do. There is no guarantee that the child will identify as female. Often the testosterone hormones are the ones that develop and their body goes through secondary changes except for the penis and the further lacking of hormones from the gonads.

Intersex is a common natural occurrence. However, with a society that defines strongly a male or female body, the issues of intersex individuals are never discussed in public. There have not been enough studies done and the laws are not up to date for protection.

These issues are being recognized as human rights abuses, with statements from both international and national human rights and ethics institutions. In 2011, the International Intersex Forum was formed to bring together intersex individuals and organizations to make changes in our laws and societies view.

A passage from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersex):

In 2011, Christiane Völling became the first intersex person known to have successfully sued for damages in a case brought by non-consensual surgical intervention. [12] In April 2015, Malta became the first country to outlaw non-consensual medical interventions to modify sex anatomy, including that of intersex people. [13] [14]

Intersex is not widely known and many people don’t understand it. It’s time we educate ourselves and one another on the differences that the Rainbow represents and it includes all humans, which by definition: we are all normal.