Intersex Women are Women. The Discrimination and Harm We Suffer is a Women’s Rights Issue.

For myself, this year’s International Women’s Day has catalyzed self-reflection and resolve around what defines a “woman.” As a woman born with innate variations of sex anatomy that don’t align with typical notions of either a female or male body, I have been forced to ponder this question more than ever before but continue to confidently consider myself  as “an intersex woman.”  

U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent executive order narrowly defines sex and gender and not only erases the existence of transgender individuals but also erases my existence as an intersex woman.  Despite my XY chromosomes, my birth certificate has always said female, and at the age of 58, I have yet to experience life as a male. In fact, I have been happily married to my husband for more than thirty years and a mother to my adopted daughters for more than twenty-three. In high school, I was both captain of the girls' lacrosse team and a cheerleader. I was also subjected to medically unnecessary and nonconsensual surgery to remove my healthy internal hormone-producing testes. Doctors tried to force me to undergo further surgery to create a deeper vagina “to have sex with a husband someday.” The physical and emotional scars are still present. Sadly, I am not alone.

Many intersex women across the world have suffered from harmful medical practices as children, including irreversible surgeries, in an attempt to make them fit stereotypical notions of what a female body should look like. All women’s bodies, including their sex anatomy, exist in different shapes and sizes, yet intersex women are particularly vulnerable to non-consensual surgeries as children. One of the most common intersex conditions is congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). All too often infants and young girls with this condition are subjected to a legal form of female genital mutilation, causing life-long physical and emotional damage. While female genital mutilation is illegal in 59 countries, only 6 countries have banned intersex genital mutilation (IGM), and it remains a common practice across much of the globe - even in countries where other forms of female genital mutilation have been criminalized. The Canadian law outlawing female genital mutilation even contains a specific exception expressly allowing the same procedures on intersex girls. 
 
In some parts of the world today, intersex girls born with visible variations of sex anatomy are labeled as evil and bad omens, then abandoned or even killed. Furthermore, birth mothers are sometimes stigmatized and rejected by their husbands, family members, and larger communities simply for giving birth to an intersex baby – doubling the harmful gender discrimination.

Another area intersex women and girls are discriminated explicitly against is in sports. Particularly visible at the elite competitive levels, women with innate variations of sex anatomy are being scrutinized and denied the right to compete as women. These hardworking, determined athletes have always lived as females while dedicating their lives to competitive sports. Still, they are denied the chance to fulfill their dreams simply due to their natural physical anatomy. Recently, the World Athletics Association announced it is considering new regulations, including invasive physical testing for both transgender and intersex women. 

Discrimination in sports is not limited to elite levels of competition.  Governments are increasingly intervening to control access to sports for intersex as well as transgender school-aged girls. Another executive order President Trump issued aims to prohibit transgender women and girls from competing in women’s sports and to withdraw federal funding for any schools that refused to comply. Using the same definition of sex outlined in his previous order, it effectively bans many intersex girls from playing on girls’ sports teams. Someone like me, for example, now may never have the opportunity to benefit from playing girls' lacrosse in school just because she happens to have XY chromosomes. 

As democracies wither around the world, Trump’s words and actions are noticed beyond  US borders.  They will embolden other governments to adopt them, making intersex women more vulnerable everywhere. This was immediately evident in Kenya, where even though intersex people have gained some legal recognition and protections, President William Ruto publicly praised President Trump for his executive order narrowly defining sex just days after it was issued.   

Like other women who have had their identity and self-worth challenged or abused, the shame and stigma from the judgment of others can be a barrier for intersex women. Like all women, we are vulnerable to misogyny and oppression at the hands of society and the state. We experience it in health care settings, schools, the workplace, places of worship, and even at home. Let’s face it: a common reality of being a woman anywhere in the world is the regular experience of discrimination and disadvantage that comes from social expectations around biology, appearances, and roles. Intersex women live with this and more. 

The latest attempts to control the definition of women, despite what science demonstrates, require all of us to speak out and support one another in the protection of our collective autonomy and rights to self-determination. On International Women’s Day, let’s recognize the urgent need to end violence, discrimination, and exclusion of intersex women for what it is: a core women’s rights issue that everyone working for women’s equality should embrace.