Sex, Lies, And Gender

If you're looking for a learning opportunity for gender and intersex issues, you may wish to check out Sex, Lies, and Gender on the National Geographic Channel. Read more:

It does not seem like a question that should be asked. You know who you are. Or do you? Each year thousands of people around the world are born with ambiguous gender. They do not fit into our binary system of male or female - and shockingly many of them don't know it. Early surgeries transformed their bodies; families and doctors hid the truth.



Now, their stories are starting to be heard. In this hour, Explorer examines the science of gender...and the gray areas in between. From scientists and medical professionals to individuals whose lives are affected, we search for answers, even looking to the lives of other animals for clues.

The show is being broadcast later today on the NGC at 7 PM EDT.

'XXY'

There's an interesting award winning Argentinean movie out called 'XXY' which is out on DVD.

The film has received widespread critical acclaim since its 2007 release. XXY has received twenty different awards in total and won the Critics Week Grand Prize at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival and the ACID/CCAS Support Award.

It received three awards during the 2008 Argentine Film Critics Association Awards including Best Film.

The film focuses on 15 year old intersex teen Alex, who has reached puberty and has a momentous decision to make in addition to all the other drama associated with being a teenager.



Alex Kraken has ambiguous genitalia, and has been living as a girl since birth. Alex has been taking medication to suppress the masculine trails that are trying to rear their heads during puberty, but has stopped taking them for the moment.

She has an understanding family that includes her marine biologist father Nestor who has written a book on sexuality. They move to a seaside village in Uruguay from Argentina in order to protect Alex from a disapproving society.

One day her mother Suli invites a surgeon from Argentina, his wife and their son Alvaro for a visit. The visit has a hidden agenda because Suli, unbeknownst to Alex and Nestor, has extended the invitation in order to discuss the possibilities of a sex-change operation.

Meanwhile, Alex bluntly tells Álvaro that she would like to have sex with him. She successfully seduces Alvaro, but their tryst that includes anal penetration is interrupted when Néstor catches sight of them through an ajar door.

Alex later apologizes to Alvaro for performing anal intercourse on him and Álvaro admits he liked it.

After Alex has a near rape encounter with three boys who forcibly remove her shorts to see her genitals, Nestor realizes that filing a police report exposes Alex's secret to the entire town.

I'll let y'all see the movie to determine how it ends.

The movie title refers to a condition called Klinefelter Syndrome, in which males have an extra X sex chromosome. The theme about intersex organisms in nature is also reflected throughout the movie and the fact that Alex keeps an aquarium full of clownfish, which start male but can end up female.

But it's an interesting peek, albeit a fictionalized account of some of the issues our intersex friends deal with. It also speaks to the increase in more parents of intersex children opting to delay genital surgery until the child expresses a preference for one gender path or the other.

Nigerian Gender Chickens Coming Home To Roost

Here's a classic example of chickens coming home to roost.

Back in November I chronicled the whining and insulting gender based bitching the Nigerian women's national soccer team, AKA the Super Falcons did before, during and after the shocking 1-0 semifinal loss to Equatorial Guinea in the 6th Africa Women's Cup championship tournament.

That tournament was eventually won by the homestanding women of Equatorial Guinea, who beat South Africa 2-1 in the final. It marked the first time that another nation besides African women's soccer powerhouse Nigeria took home the championship since the tournament started in 1998.

The Super Falcons weren't happy campers about their third place finish. Nigeria Football Federation chairman Sani Lulu Abdullahi said afterward, "This is an embarrassment to the nation. It is clear that there must be an overhaul in several aspects of our women's football."

One of them is pull up the big girl panties, learn how to lose gracefully and stop whining. Instead of the five time defending African champion Super Falcons focusing on correcting their lousy play during this tournament, the coaches and players threw 'that's a man' shade at Equatorial Guinea players Binguisa Simpore and Salimata Simpore, and EQ team captain Anonma Genoveva, who scored seven goals and was the MVP of the tournament.

The Nigerians complained so much about it that the CAF, the governing body for soccer on the African continent will begin instituting gender testing before the 2010 tournament. Next year's tournament will be a qualifier for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup tournament being held in Germany.

So now that I've laid out the backstory, here's the interesting part.

There is a promising Nigerian teen player by the name of Bessy Ekaete Boniface. As a 16 year old striker she was invited in 2007 to the Super Falcons training camp.

Translation, Ekaete has game.

While being given her medical exam for the national team they discovered she was intersex. She not only was denied a chance to compete for and win a spot with the Super Falcons, the club team she was playing for, the Delta Queens of Asaba dropped her as well.

Unfortunately Ekaete was the major breadwinner of her nine person family and it had deleterious effects on them. Her Delta Queen teammates raised ₦50,000 ($337.84 USD) for her, but her career is still in limbo right now.

FIFA defines you as female for the purposes of competition if you're menstruating, even if you have ambiguous genitalia. That's still a problematic definition.

Because the Nigerian Football Federation played themselves and raised a loud public stink about the Equatorial Guinea players, they can't put her on the national team without looking like hypocrites.

The doctor's report that was released with her permission stated, "She has gender identification problem. She was examined and found to have the features of female, beginning from her external appearance, voice and reaction to issues.

"In my opinion, she is phenotypically female and should not be discriminated against. However she requires other investigations, surgery and hormone therapy to put her in perfect condition.'

But that still doesn't help Ekaete's current situation. Gbenga Omole, who runs an organization called Goldenwing33 Nigeria Limited that uses sports to keep kids from turning to organized crime, has begun an effort to raise the ₦2 million ($13,514 USD) for the surgery she'll need to play at the pro and international level.

When Omole announced that he'd set up an account at a local Nigerian bank group for Ekaete, he stated, "Please help this great future Falcon that will bring honour to this country, joy to many homes and pride to those who will help her today.

"Can't wait to see her back like Kanu Nwankwo did (Nigerian Super Eagles team captain), stronger and better. We urge Nigerians to come to her assistance and save a fledgling career".

Too bad y'all didn't show the same level of compassion for the women of the African champion Equatorial Guinea national team you slimed, but better late than never.

Intersex Separatists, Transpeople Aren't Your Enemy

Intersex people are finally beginning to get the attention that they have long deserved concerning their issues and I couldn't be happier for them.

But one of the things that makes me shake my head are the separatists in our alphabet soup movement that seem to get their jollies from saying stupid crap that hinders coalition building.

Lately we've had some intersex activists who have been either regurgitating the same hate screeds from rad fems, claiming that transpeople want to 'oppress' them, or ignorantly state that 'their problem is medical while transgender is mental'.

Yeah, right. The increasing pile of medical studies pointing to a biological cause for transsexuality is exponentially growing, so peddle that BS somewhere else.

What you people exhibiting Bushian level stupidity don't seem to understand is that transgender peeps aren't your enemy. If you're looking for your enemy, you needn't look any farther than at the same Bible thumping right wing idiots we have to fight.

If anything, intersex people and transgender people have some things in common such as the general public phobic at times misunderstanding our issues, shame and guilt issues in conjunction with that, and the fallout from the Religious Right attacks on same gender marriage affecting the legal marriages of intersex and transgender people.

Those are intersectional starting points that which we can respectfully work together on in terms of fighting the Religious Right. But at the same time, we're serving notice that disrespecting or trashing transpeople so intersex separatists can build up your own movement won't be tolerated. If that's what you're attempting to do, it's a strategy that's doomed to failure.

We are not your enemies, intersex people. I think many transpeople would agree that we'd rather work in concert with intersex people on issues of mutual interest that are beneficial to both parties. Contrary to the lie that's being told by some of these disproportionately white separatists, transgender leaders have no desire to 'hijack' your movement or issues. But if you choose to follow your separatists and use the neo-Mattachine gay/lesbian playbook and spew transphobia in the process, then it's on like Donkey Kong and we'll give as good as we get.

We don't need or want that drama right now. The transgender community has been there, done that and we're tired of fighting rear guard actions with our 'allies' while fighting tooth and nail with the Religious Right.

Time for cooler heads to prevail in the intersex community leadership ranks and to repeat this message like a mantra until it sinks in.

Transgender people aren't your enemy.

Sarah Gronert Cleared By WTA To Play Women's Tennis Events

22 year old German tennis player Sarah Gronert was born intersex, had surgery to correct her ambiguous genitalia, and identifies as and was raised female.

Should be an open an shut case in terms of her gender identity, correct?

Not when you're playing professional tennis and you have people like Schlomo Tzoref ignorantly asserting she has an unfair advantage by dint of her intersex status.

"This is not a woman, it's a man. She does not have the power of a woman and no woman has such a technique."

Tzoref's comments have the strong whiff of sour grapes. They came in the wake of Gronert serving 20 aces to beat down Julia Glushko, one of the tour players he coaches in the quarterfinals of a tournament Gronert went on to win.

Gronert is making rapid progress climbing up in the world tennis rankings. She's currently as of this writing ranked a career high 555th in the world. She has played in 9 tournaments over the last three years, won two of them, but has yet to win a major.

There is growing unrest among some people in tennis who claim her intersex birth status may give her an edge over other cisgender female players. Under WTA Tour rules, if there is "any question as to the eligibility" of a player, the WTA has the right to "require a player to submit to gender verification to determine sexual status".

Gronert has also been subjected to cruel and derogatory comments similar to Tzoref's to the point that she nearly quit playing the sport.

Despite a WTA spokeperson admitting that he wasn't directly aware of any complaint being filed against Gronert by other players or coaches, her case was recently reviewed by a Women's Tennis Association Tour medical delegate to make sure that she satisfied all the requirements to compete in the women's game.

The delegate concluded that there was "sufficient independent and verifiable evidence" to show that Gronert was eligible to play women's tennis. The positive ruling means that Gronert is eligible to compete in any tennis event that her rankings and wild cards allow her to play in.

"The Tour's gender determination rule is similar to the International Olympic Committee's rule, and under this rule, Gronert is allowed to play Tour events as a female," a spokesman said.

That affirmative gender determination also clears Gronert to play in International Tennis Federation tour events as well.

An ITF spokeswoman said that like the WTA, the governing body had never received any formal inquiry or complaint about Gronert's eligibility.

"Sarah Gronert is legally and biologically a woman," the spokeswoman said, "and as such perfectly entitled to compete in ITF Pro Circuit events and, at some point if her ranking warrants it, in WTA Tour events."

Yo Schlomo, Sarah can play, so deal with it. While you're at it, deal with your intersexphobic behavior as well.

Atlanta Police Officer Shares Story Of Being Intersex

TransGriot Note: I've had the pleasure of meeting Atlanta police officer Darlene Harris at the 2004 SCC. I found this story interesting since I'm always on the lookout for stories about intersex people in order to expand my own understanding of it, and especially about intersex people who share my cultural heritage.

Going public part of 'healing process,' LGBT liaison says

By DYANA BAGBY,
Southern Voice (Atlanta)
Jul 4, 2:06 PM

In front of approximately 20 people at the Midtown nightclub Halo Thursday night, the Atlanta Police Department’s LGBT liaison, Officer Darlene Harris, shared for the very first time in a public forum the journey to discovering being intersex.

“What actually happened is the young lady I’m seeing said, ‘You know, it’s not normal for you to not have a regular cycle,’” said Harris, 35, who formerly identified as a lesbian but now identifies as intersex.

But Harris had never had a menstrual consistent period and didn’t think there was anything wrong. Besides, Harris said, “You know a woman who wants to have it every month?” bringing several chuckles from the queer men and women listening.

Harris’ girlfriend, without telling Harris, made an appointment with a gynecologist early this year. Harris dutifully kept the appointment and when the gynecologist learned Harris had never had a regular menstrual cycle, she decided to run several tests to determine, among other things, Harris’ levels of estrogen and testosterone.

When Harris returned to the doctor’s office to find out the lab results, the doctor expressed concern because most of the test results came back abnormal.

“The doctor pulled everything up on the computer, and I see lots of red lettering. I didn’t know what it meant, but she said that each of these tests came back in red and for her that’s a problem,” Harris said.

The tests revealed Harris’ testosterone levels were much higher than the range for the average male. At first, the doctor worried Harris may have tumors. She began months of medical testing with an endocrinologist that eventually concluded with a chromosome test. That test revealed Harris had the XY chromosome — the male chromosome.

Harris does have ovaries and plans to have a hysterectomy — what she termed a “full cleansing” — to stave off potential future health concerns, rather than take hormones.

Being intersex, Harris explained, is when “your body is in direct contradiction to what your insides say. You may have a female body, but inside you are male, or you may have a male body, but inside you are female.”

For Harris, who has identified as female her entire life, finding out she is a male genetically felt like a burden lifted after growing up feeling so different than everyone else, even sometimes within the queer community.

“When I came out as a lesbian, the women I dated would say something’s not right. I’d say I’m fine, you’re just small,” Harris said, referring to having an enlarged clitoris. “Of course, I said that to feel comfortable with myself.”

She said right now she is not concerned with what pronouns people use to identify her — “he” or “she” is fine. But while she has the option to legally change her birth certificate to male, Harris said she is not going to take that route because she has lived her life so long legally and socially as female.

“I decided not to ‘change over.’ I’m going to be who I am,” Harris said. “I have prayed and I need to be comfortable in my skin. Some may think it’s better to change over. At this point, after two kids, I don’t want to go through the situation explaining. I choose to stay this way.”

As a child, Harris said her mom used to tell her she was “supposed to be a boy” because that’s what an amniocentesis test revealed. And while her father called his other daughters “pretty,” he always said Harris was his “handsome daughter.”

“And that used to bug me. I didn’t understand,” she said.

Harris shared childhood memories of being potty-trained and always standing up to use the restroom. Her mother begged her to sit on the toilet, telling her that life would be hard if she went into a female restroom and was seen by someone else standing to urinate.

In the sixth grade, that did happen. The incident so embarrassed Harris that Harris finally learned to use the restroom sitting down.

Then there was the attraction to other girls.

“I knew I was always attracted to females growing up. It was natural to me. Mentally, when I dated women, I thought in male terms,” Harris said.

Since Harris was in junior high school, she has been able to grow a full beard and moustache and shaves every day. She said she also grows excessive hair on her chest and stomach —signs that someone might be intersex. Her enlarged clitoris, or micro-penis, was also a sign. But never knowing what being intersex was or having anyone to talk with about what she was going through caused Harris to keep her confusion stuffed inside.

“The reason I’m here is this is a healing process for me. It’s important to share my story,” Harris said.

“Growing up, not knowing what was going on, was hard. There was something not right. Now I know all the things I felt growing up weren’t me just bugging out,” Harris said. “If I can help just one person, this is worth it.”

Don't Diss My Community To Build Pride In Yours

I happened to be off from work on the day Oprah broadcast her show on intersex people. It's a community that can definitely use the media face time and I eagerly tuned in to watch and learn more about a community that definitely needed the media face time. I was enjoying the show until a panellist made this comment in an effort to explain the differences between the transgender and intersex communities:

"Intersex is a medical problem, transgender is a mental one."

FYI to that person, there is increasing research into transsexuallity that point ot such causes as the 'hormone wash' theory and the BSTc brain regions of transgender people being being at variance with the biological birth gender identity. That would make it a MEDICAL condition.

Transgender people have to deal with enough drama from the religious Right, conservatives, ignorant sheeple in society, right wing talk show hosts and elements of the GLB community. The last thing we want or need is piling on from the intersex community as well. You can respectfully point out the differences between our communities without making incorrect statements as this person did on Oprah.

So what is intersex? It's the preferred description for what used to be called hermaphroditism, which according to the Intersex Society of North America, is a general term used for a variety of conditions in which a person is born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t seem to fit the typical definitions of female or male. It occurs in one out of every 1500-2000 births.

For example, a person might be born appearing to be female on the outside, but having mostly male-typical anatomy on the inside. Or a person may be born with genitals that seem to be in-between the usual male and female types—for example, a girl may be born with a noticeably large clitoris, or lacking a vaginal opening, or a boy may be born with a notably small penis, or with a scrotum that is divided so that it has formed more like labia. Or a person may be born with mosaic genetics, so that some of her cells have XX chromosomes and some of them have XY.

Intersex is the preferred term of the community. Using the old hermaphrodite term is considered by some people in the intersex community as an insulting and derogatory slur, while others are seeking to reclaim it as a pride word to describe themselves like some people in the GLBT community did for the words 'queer' and 'dyke'.

But a sometimes contentious debate in the intersex community roils up about not only how far do they go to raise awareness and educate the public on these issues, but how to build coalitions with allied groups to advocate for the interests of intersex people.

Some of that debate is exposing some peeps in the intersex community's frustrations with being lumped in transgender people. There are some intersex people who have expressed the opinion that 'transgender activists' are 'forcing them into an unwanted association with the GLB and transgender communities and trampling their rights to self-determination'.

As someone who is one of those 'activists' that peeps love to throw shade at, speaking for myself, that charge is ludicrous and baseless.

The last thing that I or any transgender person wants, given our own tortured history with the GLB community, is to be perceived as someone or a group interfering with the self-determination rights of others like our intersex friends.

I lived for two years with a roomie that was intersex, and I'm deeply aware of some of the shame and guilt issues she had (and still has to) deal with along with her post-surgery gender transition during her late teens. As Lynell Stephani Long can tell you, it ain't easy being an African-American and growing up intersex.

I agree with this closing paragraph from the ISNA website in the section concerning the differences between transgender and intersex people.

People who identify as transgender or transsexual also face discrimination and deserve equality. We also believe that people with intersex conditions and folks who identify as transgender or transsexual can and should continue to work together on human rights issues; however, there are important differences to keep in mind so that both groups can work toward a better future.

Amen. There are issues in which intersex and transgender people can collaborate on that will result in a win-win partnership for both groups. The anti-gay marriage push has negative effects on our and intersex people's marriages. We need to be in coalition fighting ANY Religious Right sponsored legislation that seeks to fix gender definitions based on birth genitalia, makes it harder to change identity documents or even narrowly defines what a woman or a man is legally. We also have shame and guilt issues we have to work out, and that's common ground for jump starting a dialogue between our communities.

But those working partnerships have to be built on a foundation of mutual respect and trust.

Lynnell Stephani Long

Another installment in my ongoing series of articles on transgender and non-transgender women who have qualities that I admire.

Lynnell Stephani Long is a trailblazer in her own right. I first became aware of her during the summer of 1999 when I was part of the activist team putting together NTAC. She was 'ejumacating' us on intersex issues. I traded e-mail with her for a while before we lost contact with each other.

She's a voice for a community that many African-Americans aren't aware exists, the intersex one.

According to ISNA, the Intersex Society of North America, about one in every 1500 children is born with genitalia ambiguous enough to call in a sex differentiation specialist.

Lynnell was one of those kids. She was born in Chicago on June 11, 1963 with ambiguous genitalia. After being surgically altered by doctors she was raised male most of her life. She went through major drama in her life until she saw ISNA's Cheryl Chase on TV in 1997 and discovered she was intersex. She eventually met Cheryl Chase at a 1999 GenderPac Lobby Day (how did I miss meeting both of them?) and began working with the organization by telling her story about growing up Black and intersex.

As any transperson can tell you, being outside the norms in the Black community can be a pain in the ass, and being an intersex child wasn't easy for her. As she wrote in a 2003 BLACKlines article,

"Growing up in an all-Black community and going to an all-Black high school was rough as hell. While a lot of the other boys walked around nude, proud of the size of their penis, I tried my best to hide. Hiding didn’t stop the questions though. Questions like, “Why is your penis so small? Why do you have breasts? What are you, a boy or a girl?”

She also states that African-Americans need to educate themselves on intersex issues. "There isn’t any one thing an organization like ISNA can do to help the Black community, except make sure information is available. I strongly believe people of color need to educate themselves."

"We need to step outside myths and stereotypes. If a child is born with a small penis, that child may be Intersex. If a girl is born with an enlarged clitoris, chances are she is Intersex. There is nothing to be ashamed about. There is no reason to hide the child or try to get that child fixed unless the child needs medical treatment."

She does her part to educate us by writing columns for various magazines, her website, appearing twice on the Montel Williams Show, doing performance art, and telling her story. She's a member of ISNA's Speakers Bureau and has spoken in the Chicago area and across the United States and Canada on ending intersex genital mutilation.

Lynnell's doing her part to let us know that intersex issues aren't just a 'white thang'.