Intersex Awareness Week is held annually in late February as a time of education and awareness around intersex issues and experiences. It is organized under the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center. Events vary greatly, from speakers, to activist projects, Intersex 101 and academic discussions of community intersections (to name just a few).
Intersex conditions can include, but are not limited to: 5-alpha reductase deficiency, Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS), Aphallia, Clitoromegally (large clitoris), Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH), gonadal dysgenesis (partial & complete), hypospadias, Klinefelter Syndrome, micropenis, mosaicism involving “sex” chromosomes, MRKH (Mullerian agenesis; vaginal agenesis; congenital absence of vagina), ovo-testes (formely called “true hermaphroditism”), Partial Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (PAIS), penile raphe, Progestin Induced Virilization, Swyer Syndrome, Turner Syndrome. These conditions are popularly known for the gender issues they present, but many are also associated with chronic health issues that require lifelong medical care ranging from hormone treatment, bone density issues to cardiac conditions.
The 2011 Intersex Awareness Week is from February 28 – March 4, 2011. The schedule is as follows:
MONDAY 2/28
Intersex 101 3-4 PM Fielder Room (MU) A basic introduction to the history and importance of intersex issues, we’ll be answering frequently asked questions regarding the intersex community. No background knowledge necessary – everyone is welcome!
Safe Zone 5-8 PM Safe Zone is a three-hour training designed to raise awareness and discuss ways to make the spaces we live and work in more welcoming and safe for LGBTQ people. After completing the training, you have the option of receiving a sign to designate your space as a Safe Zone. To sign up email Sara Farooqi: [email protected] or call the LGBT Resource Center at 530-752-2452.
WEDNESDAY 3/2
Keynote: Hida Viloria 7 PM MU II Hida Viloria is the Human Rights Spokesperson for the Organisation Intersex International (OII), the largest intersex organization in the world. She has a degree in Gender and Sexuality from U.C. Berkeley, and has been on the vanguard of intersex activism since attending the first intersex conference in history in 1996, and appearing in the first intersex documentary, Hermaphrodites Speak. She has lectured and spoken extensively on the topic of intersex, including appearances on ABC's "20/20," "The Oprah Winfrey Show," and the documentary films Gendernauts and One in 2000. Viloria is currently the only intersex person in the world who was not medically altered (either non-consensually as a child or by choice), who openly advocates for an end to so-called "medical correction" of ambiguous intersex bodies like her own. Last October, in the wake of the Caster Semenya controversy, she served, by invitation, as the intersex representative at the International Olympic Committee's meeting of experts in Lausanne, Switzerland, where she argued against the pathologization of the intersexed, and for the inclusion of intersex female athletes in competitive sport.
THURSDAY 3/3
Body Image Beyond Gender A Collaboration with Celebrate Your Body Week 12-1 PM Fielder Room (MU) In this program, we’ll explore the messages we receive living in a genderized society, process reactions related to intersecting identities, and connect to a deeper sense of our bodies beyond gender.
FRIDAY 3/4
Popcorn Movienoons 11-1 PM LGBT Resource Center (University House Annex) "XXY" Alex is a 15-year-old intersex person form Buenos Aires who lives secluded with her parents in a fishing village in Uruguay. At birth, her parents decided not to have her operated on in order for her to choose her own gender, meanwhile raising her as a girl. Her parents keep her hidden away at a coastal town amongst the dunes of the shoreline, buying time before they must decide on a life-threatening operation.
Crafternoons! 3:30-5 PM LGBT Resource Center (University House Annex) Come craft and hang out at the LGBTRC! Everyone’s welcome – supplies and abundant crafting knowledge provided!
Closed Session 5 PM Righteous Babes Lounge, WRRC, North Hall A safe space for intersex-identified people to have discussion and find support.
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Ongoing at the LGBT Resource Center:
Book Display Also at the Women’s Resources and Research Center Check out a table of books from the LGBTRC’s extensive library, as well as other resources related to the intersex community!
"Let Us Pee in Peace" Poster Campaign Grab some posters at the LGBTRC about the importance of safe and gender-neutral restrooms for transgender, gender non-conforming and intersex people. Put them up on whatever bathrooms you use!
For more information, visit our website at lgbtcenter.ucdavis.edu or contact Leanne Soter at [email protected]
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Also this week:
Principles of Community Week
WEDNESDAY 3/3
RISE UP! Queer Discussion 12-1 PM LGBT Resource Center (University House Annex) Rise Up is a weekly discussion series that is open to everybody and anybody who is interested in talking things out. This is a great way to come and check out the LGBT Resource Center as well as join in on casual discussions that are related to the Queer Community.
Kate Bornstein - Hello, Cruel World: An Outlaw's Mini-Guide to Survival 7 PM Roessler 66 Sometimes, whatever it is that gives you the most joy, pleasure or relief also gets you into the deepest trouble—especially when you try to explain it to other people. Like when you love someone you're not supposed to love. Or when the way you express yourself makes other people queasy. As harmless as you feel you're being, people may still think you're bad, wrong or immoral. There are far too many people who are in that position in life, and it goes far beyond simply sex and gender. This workshop is 90-120 minutes of Kate talking with you about doing anything it takes to make your life more worth living. Anything. With the single rule: Don’t be mean. KATE BORNSTEIN is an author, playwright and performance artist whose work to date has been in service to sex positivity, gender anarchy, and to building a coalition of those who live on cultural margins. Kate's book, "Hello, Cruel World: 101 Alternatives To Suicide For Teens, Freaks, and Other Outlaws," was published in 2007. Her ground-breaking books "Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women and the Rest of Us" and "My Gender Workbook" are taught in over 150 colleges around the world. A new anthology, "Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation," co-edited with S. Bear Bergman, recently hit bookstores. Her memoir, "Kate Bornstein Is A Queer and Pleasant Danger" is due out before the end of 2011.
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Past events have included:
Keynote: Revisiting Intersex IPOC (Intersex People of Color) Workshop Campus Resources Roundtable Intersex and Sexuality Transgender, Gender Variant & Intersex Justice Project Movie and Discussion: Yellow is for Hemaphrodite: Mani's Story
Past keynotes have included Thea Hillman and Lynnell Stephani Long.
