World Council of Churches Supports Gay and Intersex People

by Richard S. Ehrlich | Bangkok, Thailand

A ten-day meeting of the World Council of Churches (WCC) ended in South Korea after expressing support for the world’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community, reunification of the war-torn Korean peninsula, African rape victims and others.

“Some 5,000 Christians, representing more than 300 churches from more than 100 countries” gathered in Busan from October 30 to November 8 at the WCC Assembly which meets every seven years, the organization said on its Facebook page.

In the WCC’s closing prayer, South Africa’s Father Michael Lapsley mentioned his “Facebook friends” and said “God is not limited in the way wisdom is delivered to the human family. For example, I regularly read my NRSV Bible downloaded free on my Samsung phone.”

Lapsley also expressed support for HIV-AIDS sufferers, African rape victims, and honored “the Armenian genocide” of 1915.

“Today I want to say as a Christian, as a priest, to all the LGBTI community, I am deeply sorry for our part as religious people, in the pain you have experienced across the ages,” Lapsley said, referring to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people.

“I have a dream that in my lifetime, I will hear all the leaders of all our great faith traditions making the same apology,” Lapsley said.

“Whilst we have been here in Busan, it was decided in Germany that children could for the first time be registered as male, female, or the space could be left blank — an historic step towards relieving and acknowledging the pain for those who are born intersexed or find themselves to be transgendered.

“We know, as St. Paul taught us, that in Christ there is neither male nor female,” Lapsley said.

The WCC also broadcast messages on an Internet-linked video “news program” including interviews with the Archbishop of Canterbury and others, plus a report on the gigantic “Smoky Mountain” garbage dump where impoverished people pick among trash to find items to recycle on the outskirts of Manila, capital of the predominantly Catholic Philippines.

“The Assembly took action by adopting statements and minutes on issues including peace and reunification of the Korean peninsula,” the WCC said.

“The WCC brings together churches, denominations and church fellowships in more than 110 countries and territories throughout the world, representing over 500 million Christians and including most of the world’s Orthodox churches, scores of Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist and Reformed churches, as well as many United and Independent churches,” the WCC said.

“At the end of 2012, there were 345 member churches. While the bulk of the WCC’s founding churches were European and North American, today most member churches are in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, the Middle East and the Pacific,” it said.

 

*************Richard S. Ehrlich is a Bangkok-based journalist from San Francisco, California, reporting news from Asia since 1978, and recipient of Columbia University’s Foreign Correspondent’s Award. He is a co-author of three non-fiction books about Thailand, including “Hello My Big Big Honey!” Love Letters to Bangkok Bar Girls and Their Revealing Interviews; 60 Stories of Royal Lineage; and Chronicle of Thailand: Headline News Since 1946. Mr. Ehrlich also contributed to the final chapter, Ceremonies and Regalia, in a new book titled King Bhumibol Adulyadej, A Life’s Work: Thailand’s Monarchy in Perspective.

His websites are:
http://asia-correspondent.tumblr.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/animists/sets
https://gumroad.com/l/RHwa

October 26/13 is the 17th Intersex Awareness Day

by Howie Fiedhior and Gina (of OII Australia) edited for 2013

also see:

EU adopts historic intersex resolution October 2013

Being Accountable to the Invisible Community: A Challenge for Intersex Activists and Allies

Intersex people are people who have physical differences of sex anatomy other than brain sex alone. Their anatomical differences might include genetic, hormonal or genital differences or differences in our reproductive parts.

Happy Intersex Awareness Day to the small number of persons here in Jamaica, however here is a post I hope both intersex and non intersex persons will find informative as we do not forget to include the “I” in LGBTI agitation wordwide.

The first Intersex Awareness Day (IAD) came about when the American intersex group named Hermaphrodites with Attitude (HWA) teamed up with American Trans group Trans Menace to picket an American Association of Paediatrics (AAP) conference in Boston on 26th October 1996.

Those picketing this event were outraged that the doctors attending the conference were recommending and conducting infant genital surgery on intersex kids in order to make them more “normal”. Some of those protesting had been subjected to those kinds of surgery when they were infants.

The central message of Intersex Awareness Day (IAD) is the de-medicalisation of natural variations in a person’s sex anatomy. Intersex is not a disease, a disorder, a medical “condition”. The use of stigmatising language such as this has led to poor mental health, marginalisation even invisibilisation, and exclusion from social institutions for Intersex people.

On this day we hope to make as many people as possible aware of what intersex is and that intersex people everywhere lack those most fundamental human rights, the right to autonomy over our own bodies, the right to a life without discrimination, the right to a life without shame and secrecy.

In short it is a call for our right to an equal place in society.
Intersex is difference in the same way that eye colour or right- or left-handedness are differences or human biological variations. As with handedness or sexual orientation, societies have, in the past, looked upon human variations through the lens of prejudice and then sought ways to “cure” or eliminate that variation.

At a fundamental level homophobic bigotry, intolerance and ancient superstitions underpin contemporary mistreatment of intersex people.

Intersex people are subjected to forced gendering and surgical alterations to our bodies to “disappear” our differences in a society that regards difference in sex anatomy as deeply suspicious.

More on What is intersex?

Intersex refers to a series of medical conditions in which a child’s genetic sex (chromosomes) and phenotypic sex (genital appearance) do not match, or are somehow different from the “standard” male or female. About one in 2,000 babies are born visibly intersexed, while some others are detected later. The current medical protocol calls for the surgical “reconstruction” of these different but healthy bodies to make them “normal,” but this practice has become increasingly controversial as adults who went through the treatment report being physically, emotionally, and sexually harmed by such procedures.

Beside stopping cosmetic genital surgeries, what are intersex activists working toward?

Surgery is just part of a larger pattern of how intersex children are treated; it is also important to stop shame, secrecy and isolation that are socially and medically imposed on children born with intersex conditions under the theory that the child is better off it they didn’t hear anything about it. Therefore, it’s not enough to simply stop the surgery; we need to replace it with social and psychological support as well as open and honest communication.

What’s so significant about October 26?

On October 26, 1996, intersex activists from Intersex Society of North America (carrying the sign “Hermaphrodites With Attitude”) and our allies from Transexual Menace held the first public intersex demonstration in Boston, where American Academy of Pediatrics was holding its annual conference. The action generated a lot of press coverage, and made it difficult for the medical community to continue to neglect our growing movement. That said, events related to Intersex Awareness Day can take place throughout October and does not necessarily have to be on the 26th.

Important to Remember:

INTERSEX is not a part of transgender because intersex is not about gender. Intersex is about anatomical differences in sex.

Below are some of the differences in the experience of trans and intersex individuals
Trans:
Self-identified gender does not match apparent sex at birth.
Some human rights protection. In NSW this is limited to “recognised transgender” or people thought to be “transgendered” – 36B Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 in Australia.

Can change cardinal documents, but usually requires irreversible surgeries usually involving sterilization and applicants must not be married.

The right to marry someone of the opposite legal gender.

A full and functional reproductive system.

Physical differences limited to brain anatomy.

Transsexual people have an effective medical protocol that produces a 98% effective outcome with long-term studies and follow-ups.

The right to choose the time of surgery with extensive peer support.

The ability to participate fully and in an informed manner in their surgical and hormonal options.

Transsexual people generally have a strongly defined sense of gender – man or woman.

Can compete in sport up to and including Olympic level through established protocols.

Many effective and extensive organizations worldwide, with some NGOs attracting government funding (e.g. NSW Gender
Centre).

also see:

More on Intersexuality

Jamaican Inter-phobia, lack of understanding Inter-sexuality

Being Accountable to the Invisible Community: A Challenge for Intersex Activists and Allies

Offensive Terminology to Avoid when presenting Pro-Gay pointers ………

In light of recent letters to the newspapers and the seemingly over zealous race to bring certain issues to light several mistakes have been presenting themselves to be problematic in our defense and almost playing to the hands of the homophobes while crashing our very points we wish to present, one such letter in the Gleaner recently started off with the term “homosexual lifestyle”

Offensive: “homosexual” (n. or adj.)
Preferred: “gay” (adj.); “gay man” or “lesbian” (n.)
Please use “lesbian” or “gay man” to describe people attracted to members of the same sex. Because of the clinical history of the word “homosexual,” it has been adopted by anti-gay extremists to suggest that lesbians and gay men are somehow diseased or psychologically/emotionally disordered — notions discredited by both the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association in the 1970s. Please avoid using “homosexual” except in direct quotes. Please also avoid using “homosexual” as a style variation simply to avoid repeated use of the word “gay.” The Associated Press, New York Times andWashington Post restrict usage of the term “homosexual”

Offensive: “homosexual relations/relationship,” “homosexual couple,” “homosexual sex,” etc.
Preferred: “relationship” (or “sexual relationship”), “couple” (or, if necessary, “gay couple”), “sex,” etc.
Identifying a same-sex couple as “a homosexual couple,” characterizing their relationship as “a homosexual relationship,” or identifying their intimacy as “homosexual sex” is extremely offensive and should be avoided. These constructions are frequently used by anti-gay extremists to denigrate gay and lesbian people, couples and relationships.

As a rule, try to avoid labeling an activity, emotion or relationship “gay,” “lesbian” or “bisexual” unless you would call the same activity, emotion or relationship “straight” if engaged in by someone of another sexual orientation. In most cases, your readers, viewers or listeners will be able to discern people’s genders and/or sexual orientations through the names of the parties involved, your depictions of their relationships, and your use of pronouns.

Offensive: “sexual preference”
Preferred: “sexual orientation”
The term “sexual preference” is typically used to suggest that being lesbian, gay or bisexual is a choice and therefore can and should be “cured.” Sexual orientation is the accurate description of an individual’s enduring physical, romantic, emotional and/or spiritual attraction to members of the same and/or opposite sex and is inclusive of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and heterosexual or straight men and women

Offensive: “gay lifestyle” or “homosexual lifestyle”
Preferred: “lesbian,” “gay,” “bisexual”
There is no single lesbian, gay or bisexual lifestyle. Lesbians, gay men and bisexuals are diverse in the ways they lead their lives. The phrase “gay lifestyle” is used to denigrate lesbians and gay men, suggesting that their sexual orientation is a choice and therefore can and should be “cured”

Offensive: “admitted homosexual” or “avowed homosexual”
Preferred: “openly lesbian,” “openly gay,” “openly bisexual”
Dated term used to describe those who are openly lesbian, gay or bisexual or who have recently come out of the closet. The words “admitted” or “avowed” suggest that being gay is somehow shameful or inherently secretive. Avoid the use of the word “homosexual” in any case

Offensive: “gay agenda” or “homosexual agenda”
Preferred: “lesbian and gay civil rights movement” or “lesbian and gay movement”
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people are as diverse in our political beliefs as other communities. Our commitment to equal rights is one we share with civil rights advocates who are not necessarily LGBT. “Lesbian and gay civil rights movement” accurately describes the historical efforts, by gay and straight people alike, to achieve understanding and equal treatment for LGBT people. Notions of a “homosexual agenda” are rhetorical inventions of anti-gay extremists seeking to create a climate of fear by portraying the pursuit of civil rights for LGBT people as sinister.

Another disturbing twist the putting into “past tense” transgender to pronounce or write it as “transgendered” one cannot be past something of which they are in other words one cannot now say they are something after being diagnosed as transgender. The Jamaica Observer for example makes that mistake in a recent article

Other terms to remember to use properly

Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Glossary of Terms

Biphobia
Fear of bisexuals, often based on inaccurate stereotypes, including associations with infidelity, promiscuity and transmission of sexually transmitted diseases.

Bisexual
An individual who is physically, romantically, emotionally and/or spiritually attracted to men and women. Bisexuals need not have had equal sexual experience with both men and women; in fact, they need not have had any sexual experience at all to identify as bisexual.

Civil Union
Legal recognition of committed same-sex relationships in Connecticut, New Jersey & Vermont (see IN FOCUS: Civil Unions, Domestic Partnerships and Adoption).

Closeted
Describes a person who is not open about his or her sexual orientation.

Coming Out
A lifelong process of self-acceptance. People forge a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender identity first to themselves and then may reveal it to others. Publicly identifying one’s sexual orientation may or may not be part of coming out.

Domestic Partnership
Civil or legal recognition of a relationship between two people (domestic partners) that sometimes extends limited protections to them (see IN FOCUS: Civil Unions, Domestic Partnerships and Adoption).

Gay
The adjective used to describe people whose enduring physical, romantic, emotional and/or spiritual attractions are to people of the same sex (e.g., gay man, gay people). In contemporary contexts, lesbian (n.) is often a preferred term for women. Avoid identifying gay people as “homosexuals”

Heterosexual Man / Woman
A person whose enduring physical, romantic, emotional and/or spiritual attraction is to people of the opposite sex. Also straight.

Heterosexism
The attitude that heterosexuality is the only valid sexual orientation. Often takes the form of ignoring lesbians, gay men and bisexuals. For example: a feature on numerous Valentine’s Day couples that omit same-sex couples.

Homosexual
Outdated clinical term considered derogatory and offensive by many gay people. Gay and/or lesbian accurately describe people who are attracted to members of the same sex.

Homophobia
Fear of lesbians and gay men. Prejudice is usually a more accurate description of hatred or antipathy toward LGBT people.

Lesbian
A woman whose enduring physical, romantic, emotional and/or spiritual attraction is to other women. Avoid identifying lesbians as “homosexuals,” a derogatory term.

LGBT / GLBT
Acronyms for “lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender.” LGBT and/or GLBT are often used because they are more inclusive of the diversity of the community.

Lifestyle
Inaccurate term often used by anti-gay extremists to denigrate lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender lives. Avoid using. As there is no one heterosexual or straight lifestyle, there is no one lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender lifestyle.

Openly Gay
Describes people who self-identify as lesbian or gay in their public and/or professional lives. Also openly lesbian, openly bisexual, openly transgender.

Outing
The act of publicly declaring (sometimes based on rumor and/or speculation) or revealing another person’s sexual orientation without his or her consent. Considered inappropriate by a large portion of the LGBT community.

Queer
Traditionally a pejorative term, queer has been appropriated by some LGBT people to describe themselves. Some value the term for its defiance and because it can be inclusive of the entire LGBT community. Nevertheless, it is not universally accepted even within the LGBT community and should be avoided unless quoting someone who self-identifies that way.

Sexual Orientation
The scientifically accurate term for an individual’s enduring physical, romantic, emotional and/or spiritual attraction to members of the same and/or opposite sex, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and heterosexual orientations. Avoid the offensive term “sexual preference,” which is used to suggest that being gay or lesbian is a choice and therefore “curable.”

Sodomy Laws
Historically used to selectively persecute gay men, lesbians and bisexuals, the state laws often referred to as “sodomy laws” were ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court inLawrence v. Texas (2003). “Sodomy” should never be used to describe gay, lesbian or bisexual relationships, sex or sexuality.

TRANSGENDER TERMINOLOGY TO AVOID

PROBLEMATIC TERMINOLOGY

PROBLEMATIC: “transgenders,” “a transgender”
PREFERRED: “transgender people,” “a transgender person”
Transgender should be used as an adjective, not as a noun. Do not say, “Tony is a transgender,” or “The parade included many transgenders.” Instead say, “Tony is a transgender person,” or “The parade included many transgender people.”

PROBLEMATIC: “transgendered”
PREFERRED: “transgender”
The word transgender never needs the extraneous “ed” at the end of the word. In fact, such a construction is grammatically incorrect. Only verbs can be transformed into participles by adding “-ed” to the end of the word, and transgender is an adjective, not a verb.

PROBLEMATIC: “sex change,” “pre-operative,” “post-operative”
PREFERRED: “transition”
Referring to a sex change operation, or using terms such as pre- or post-operative, inaccurately suggests that one must have surgery in order to truly change one’s sex.

PROBLEMATIC: “hermaphrodite”
PREFERRED: “intersex person”
The word “hermaphrodite” is an outdated, stigmatizing and misleading word, usually used to sensationalize intersex people.

DEFAMATORY TERMINOLOGY

Defamatory: “deceptive,” “fooling,” “pretending,” “posing,” or “masquerading”
Gender identity is an integral part of a person’s identity. Please do not characterize transgender people as “deceptive,” as “fooling” other people, or as “pretending” to be, “posing” or “masquerading” as a man or a woman. Such descriptions are extremely insulting.

Defamatory: “she-male,” “he-she,” “it,” “trannie,” “tranny,” “gender-bender”
These words only serve to dehumanize transgender people and should not be use

Transvestite
DEROGATORY see Cross-Dressing in US standards but locally the term has been used to separate a transgender person from a drag queen in our advancing culture in the mainstream.

TRANSGENDER-SPECIFIC TERMINOLOGY

Transgender
An umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or gender expression differs from the sex they were assigned at birth. The term may include but is not limited to: transsexuals, cross-dressers, and other gender-variant people. Transgender people may identify as female-to-male (FTM) or male-to-female (MTF). Use the descriptive term (transgender, transsexual, cross-dresser, FTM or MTF) preferred by the individual. Transgender people may or may not choose to alter their bodies hormonally and/or surgically.

Transsexual (also Transexual)
An older term which originated in the medical and psychological communities. Many transgender people prefer the term “transgender” to “transsexual.” Some transsexual people still prefer to use the term to describe themselves. However, unlike transgender, transsexual is not an umbrella term, and many transgender people do not identify as transsexual. It is best to ask which term an individual prefers.

Transition
Altering one’s birth sex is not a one-step procedure; it is a complex process that occurs over a long period of time. Transition includes some or all of the following cultural, legal and medical adjustments: telling one’s family, friends, and/or co-workers; changing one’s name and/or sex on legal documents; hormone therapy; and possibly (though not always) some form of surgical alteration.

Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS)
Refers to surgical alteration, and is only one small part of transition (see Transition above). Preferred term to “sex change operation.” Not all transgender people choose to or can afford to have SRS. Journalists should avoid overemphasizing the importance of SRS to the transition process.

Cross-Dressing
To occasionally wear clothes traditionally associated with people of the other sex. Cross-dressers are usually comfortable with the sex they were assigned at birth and do not wish to change it. “Cross-dresser” should NOT be used to describe someone who has transitioned to live full-time as the other sex, or who intends to do so in the future.Cross-dressing is a form of gender expression and is not necessarily tied to erotic activity. Cross-dressing is not indicative of sexual orientation.

Gender Identity Disorder (GID)
A controversial DSM-IV diagnosis given to transgender and other gender-variant people. Because it labels people as “disordered,” Gender Identity Disorder is often considered offensive. The diagnosis is frequently given to children who don’t conform to expected gender norms in terms of dress, play or behavior. Such children are often subjected to intense psychotherapy, behavior modification and/or institutionalization. Replaces the outdated term “gender dysphoria.”

Intersex
Describing a person whose biological sex is ambiguous. There are many genetic, hormonal or anatomical variations which make a person’s sex ambiguous (i.e., Klinefelter Syndrome, Adrenal Hyperplasia). Parents and medical professionals usually assign intersex infants a sex and perform surgical operations to conform the infant’s body to that assignment. This practice has become increasingly controversial as intersex adults are speaking out against the practice, accusing doctors of genital mutilation.

GENERAL TERMINOLOGY

Sex
The classification of people as male or female. At birth, infants are assigned a sex based on a combination of bodily characteristics including: chromosomes, hormones, internal reproductive organs, and genitals.

Gender Identity
One’s internal, personal sense of being a man or a woman (or a boy or girl.) For transgender people, their birth-assigned sex and their own internal sense of gender identity do not match.

Gender Expression
External manifestation of one’s gender identity, usually expressed through “masculine,” “feminine” or gender variant behavior, clothing, haircut, voice or body characteristics. Typically, transgender people seek to make their gender expression match their gender identity, rather than their birth-assigned sex.

Sexual Orientation
Describes an individual’s enduring physical, romantic, emotional and/or spiritual attraction to another person. Gender identity and sexual orientation are not the same. Transgender people may be heterosexual, lesbian, gay, or bisexual. For example, a man who becomes a woman and is attracted to other women would be identified as a lesbian.

Radio program “Love & Sex” on Sexual Identities & Transgenderism (Were you born in the wrong body?)

December 1st, World AIDS Day the Jamaican transgender community got a chance to voice their concerns through representative “Jane” on a radio program aired on Newstalk 93FM

named :Love and Sex” hosted by Jamaican Clinical Sexologist of The Caribbean Sexuality Research Group (CSRG) Dr. Karen Carpenter and co-host Gavin Walters. Sexual identities were the broader subject of the discussion as other variants and orientations were also examined. It is not very often the local transgender community gets an opportunity on the airwaves to share real information on their lives and to dispel the misconceptions about their community and the mix up with the Lesbian, Bisexual and Gay lifestyles.

Host Dr. Karen Carpenter made mention of Cuba’s lead in public education on sexual identities and their interventions with the various groups. She highlighted the outreach there as providing jobs and overlooking the packaging of persons but more so seeing people as people.

Dr. Marilyn Volker famed international Sex Therapist who has worked with transsexuals in the United Stated as well was also a guest on the one hour and forty two minute discussion touched on the possible causes of transgenderism to sexual orientations and identities.

(photo from GIRES) Gender Identity Research and Education Society UK

The opening dialogue before the interview also dealt with the differences between Transgender, Transvestite and or Cross dressers. Being the qualified person that Dr. Carpenter is she simply defined the differences.

• Transgender – seems themselves as a different gender than the one they were born as physically also known as body dysmorphia or born in the wrong body. The person is unable to conceptualize themselves as the sex they are physical in. Sexual re-assignment surgery is used to make the changes for the individual.
• Transvestite – Persons who like to dress in clothing of the opposite sex mostly for entertainment.
• Inter sexual – persons born with undefined genitalia or sexual organs.
• Drag Queens – Dr. Carpenter referred to famed diva Rupaul or males who wear female clothing either for entertainment or just comfort.

Dr. Marilyn Volker Adjunct Professor with the University of Miami Florida, Florida International University and Diplomat of the American Board of Sexology, Associate Fellow of the American Academy of Clinical Sexologists and teacher to Dr. Karen Carpenter was introduced. She also hosted a program Sex with Marilyn. She contributed much to the discussion.
She contributed among other things:

Sexual Identity: consists of four parts, Biology consisting of chromosomes and hormones persons need to look at the brain structure and not the sexual organs to determine the finality. Gender identity is the second part; it’s the brain that determines sexual identity not the genitals. i.e. male, female or in between no matter what sexual organ the person has. The there is gender role that means how persons appear or dress, if we went by what the sexual organs are and not what exist between the ears we may be dressing a child or person of a different gender. We must see children and people with the heart and not by outward appearance. Gender role is on the external, Gender identity is on the internal Sexual orientation is the last no matter what is between the legs of the person, or the brain orientation is who one is attracted to.

So a transgendered person could be right handed or ambidextrous, heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual. It is very complicated at times but bear in mind what’s between the legs and ears doesn’t necessarily match how a person dresses.

Dr. Volker referred to twin studies where pairs of twins have different orientations that suggest there is more than just parenting, social and chromosomal and hormonal structure of each person. A child in as far as identity is concerned that may be born with a vagina may get more male hormones when in the uterus it could develop a masculine brain with feminine private parts.
The term for matches in sync with brain identity versus physical genitalia is CISGENDER transgender is the opposite and doesn’t match. In one in every two to five thousand births there is some difference in chromosomes and hormones. There maybe ambiguous development during birth. When there is a combination of chromosomal hormones in the middle that leads to ambiguous genitalia it is called inter sexuality also called androgyny (outside of entertainment use for rock music). Androgyny comes from the Greek word “Andro” Male and “Gyny” Female suggesting behaviour roles as well identifying with a wide range of activities and feelings excluding biological concepts.

“Jane” the leading local transgendered voice was introduced to the program where she explained she discovered she was trans when she was six years old but never started the process of living as trans female until her late twenties. She explained she was born male growing up she acted effeminate and liked doing girl’s things. “Living in Jamaica one knows that kind of thing is not normal” so she hid it depicting a male persona even becoming a bully at school using it as a shield. She adopted a very macho personality using it as a shield and became in Jamaican terms “a girl’s man” i.e having many girls and hyper masculine or the stereotypical yard man. In doing so she tried to purge the feelings within and the guilt of growing in a Christian home with heathen thoughts. She adopted a destructive cycle while cross dressing in private with suicidal thoughts which temporarily relived the tension. She would often destroy and burn feminine personal possessions only to recycle the same actions all over again. She struggled with the fact that she was still a man; the early morning boner was like “alien appendage” to her. She also had a fiancée while as a man but eventually broke off the engagement; persons were shocked upon discovering her “change” as family shunned her save and except for her father surprisingly as mothers are expected to cope with this better, she has since become accommodating.

Dr. Volker responded by emphasizing doctors are now realising through brain scans, hormonal tests and chromosomal tests to say to parents with children who are possibly transgendered that one may have a child who has a particular genitalia but is the opposite sex in the brain. If many parents and troubled transgendered persons were told as early as birth what the proper diagnosis is then a lot of the problems similar to the ones described by Jane would have been avoided. She also touched on chromosomal issues as in X and Y versus hormonal levels in determination of the baby’s sex, usually in a female it’s XX and a male XY, there are children born XXY born with a penis but an extra female chromosome meaning they could look more feminine or look masculine on the outside with a penis with a feminised brain, things can occur during birth. Usually girls get XX patterns with more estrogen and progesterone while most boys gets XY patterns with testosterone and androgen sometimes there is a mix in the uterus where a mix of chromosomes like XXY leading to less masculine development somewhere. There may even be more testicular tissue in girls where this mix up occurs. The available tests now can see into the hormonal and chromosomal structures. The pediatrician can now ask a parent does the they like to or want to know the chromosomal structure of their child.

Jane continued that she harnessed the power of the Internet as there were few doctors in Jamaica who knew about transgenderism. She sourced her own hormones from the Internet, she looked at the Harry Benjamin principles of care and read where possible medical journals. Dr. Volker noted that several Trans persons have to teach their doctors about the issues. Jane noted her website was down at this time. She is aware of ten individuals in Jamaica living as women some of whom are lost in the gay community due to the lack of education for them. Dr. Volker said the important thing is what the brain is attracted to and not the physical. There maybe a heterosexual female born in a girl who has a penis her brain maybe attracted to a male who maybe mistaken as gay. There maybe need for a serious re-socialization process globally to deal with these new phenomenons. One would have to also go to gender specialists, endocrinologist to get more professional and detailed information.

Jane highlighted she is pre-operative transgender meaning she has not done the full sexual re-assignment procedure so she can father a child now but after surgery cannot have children naturally or get pregnant. She plans to have the surgery as soon as she can find the money.
In answering Dr. Volker’s questions on her orientation Jane responded bisexual. Dr. Volker continued to explain that gender identity and orientation differ in the trans world. She has worked with transgendered who have moved from having a penis while trying to be heterosexual male but their brain was heterosexual female but couldn’t express it as they would look as if they were gay on the outside,” it is confusing to persons going through the issues.” She emphasized the need for support. Jane continued on the lack of support systems in Jamaica except the Internet or possibly contacting JFLAG who may put one on to other transgendered persons.

Dr. Carpenter noted that the Caribbean Sexuality Research Group (CSRG) offers some support to transgender persons and runs a free clinic at the UHWI Psychiatry Unit which has been running for the last month by calling 977-0316 with a small registration fee of $500.00, leave a message for appointments as all calls are answered.

She also remarked on the misconception of homosexuality and paedophilia and the tabloid papers sensationalism creating the homo-negative perceptions over time. “The minute we find out someone’s sexual orientation is different from others we begin to monitor, oh they must be about to hit on somebody which is inappropriate.”
She highlighted that paedophilia happens when there is an economy is depressed and the power differential between the adult versus the young person despite sexual orientation is wide.On the matter of gender variant children from a caller to the program Dr. Volker suggested that the child be monitored by a pediatric endocrinologist or a child psychiatrist who understands gender. Children who present with the mis-match usually the assessment is done in early puberty where hormones may be administered dependent on the case to stop the actions opposite to the physical presentation but the sexual re-assignment surgery is left to later in life in most cases unless they were born with both genitals or intersex. (A practice which is opposed by some intersex activists)Program continues to the end.

Peace and tolerance.

H

So, You Wanna Know About “Hermaphrodites”?

by Emi Koyama, Intersex Initiative

In biology, “hermaphrodite” means an organism that has both “male” and “female” sets of reproductive organs (like snails and earthworms). In humans, there are no actual “hermaphrodites” in this sense, although doctors have called people withintersex conditions as “hermaphrodites” because intersex bodies do not neatly comform to what doctors define as the “normal” male or female bodies.

Intersex is defined as the “congenital anomalies of the reproductive system” (National Institute of Health), which include internal reproductive organs, external genital appearances, or genetic and hormonal systems that are “different” from most males and females.

Not all “intersex” conditions are the same–“intersex” covers a wide range of medical conditions that are very different from one another; what makes intersex people similar is our experience, not our biology.

The current medical protocol calls for surgical “reconstruction” of bodies that are visibly intersex to socially and medically eliminate intersex bodies despite the fact that there is no long-term study confirming that such procedure is necessary, safe, or effective. The surgical concealment of intersex conditions typically takes place when the child is too young to comprehend or consent to such invasive and irreversible operations.

Since 1993, intersex people and our supporters have been organizing to end shame, secrecy and unwanted genital surgeries on children too young to give informed consent. As children, many children with intersex conditions grow up feelingconfused, isolated and ashamed, not just because of the surgery and the silence that surrounds it, but also because of therepeated exposure to medical gaze as they parade through multiple doctors, nurses and medical students so they can look at our naked genital areas, poking and prodding (this happens to children with many other rare medical conditions also; within the disability movement, this practice is known as “public stripping“).

In response, there is a growing current within the medical community to reconsider the surgical concealment of intersex bodies, although the official protocol has not yet changed. There is an increasing number of follow-up studies that show that, not only are surgeries detrimental to the child’s emotional and sexual functioning, but they do not even deliver what they are intended to, which is the genital that looks “normal” and enables the individual to engage in “normal” heterosexual intercourse.

Contrary to the popular belief, intersex people are not suffering from a “gender” issue: most people with intersex conditions identify simply as a regular man or a woman. Therefore it is not the goal of the intersex movement to create a third gender category to raise intersex children in. Instead, we ask parents of intersex children to: 1) raise the child either as a boy or as a girl, based on the best available prediction of what the child will be most comfortable with, 2) delay all non-emergency surgeries until the child is old enough to understand and to have a say in it, and 3) be open to adjustment if and when the child decides that s/he wants to live as a gender different from his/her initial assignment. By postponing the surgery until the child is mature enough, we can preserve the widest range of possibilities for the child to choose from, and spare the child of a childhood rife with sexual and emotional traumas. We believe that a good medical practice is the one that pays attention to the person’s overall quality of life, rather than simply to the appearance of one’s genitals.

When doctors see an intersex child, they see a “gender” problem, and focus on fixing the child’s gender identity and genital appearances. Some allies of intersex people view intersex as a gender “variation” that should be accepted and honored rather than an unacceptable gender “deviance” that need to be eliminated. But this approach is inadequate because it reproduces the same old framing of intersexuality as a peculiar gender phenomenon. We are calling for our friends to insteadfocus on the lived experiences of intersex people, which is about living through and healing from deep stigma and trauma.

To read more about intersex people’s experiences, please pick up a copy of Intersex in the Age of Ethics ed. by Alice Dreger at your friendly local independent bookseller, or visit our web site at http://www.intersexinitiative.org.

Oh, and one last thing–we find the word “hermaphrodite” misleading, mythical, and stigmatizing. Although some intersex activists do reclaim and use this term to describe themselves, it is not an appropriate term to refer to intersex people in general. So, can we please use the word “intersex” instead when we are talking about humans? Snails are the hermaphrodites; humans are not.

This material is provided to you by:

Intersex Initiative
PO Box 40570, Portland OR 97240
Email: info@ipdx.org