Intersex Awareness Day: Listening, Respect and Bodily Autonomy

Intersex is an umbrella term for natural variations in sex characteristics, including chromosomes, hormones, reproductive anatomy or genitals. Intersex people have always existed, although many grow up surrounded by silence or medical language that treats their bodies as a problem.

Intersex Awareness Day is an opportunity to listen to intersex people and support bodily autonomy. It is not an invitation to debate somebody's body or ask for private medical details.

Intersex and trans are different experiences

Some intersex people are trans, non-binary or queer and some are not. Intersex relates to sex characteristics; trans describes a gender that differs from the sex someone was assigned at birth. Keeping that distinction clear helps us offer support without collapsing different communities into one.

• Use the language an intersex person chooses for themselves.

• Do not ask invasive questions about anatomy, surgery or fertility.

• Support informed consent and bodily autonomy in healthcare.

• Include intersex people in policies and education without using them as a debate point.

• Challenge jokes, secrecy and shame around variations in bodies.

Mental health support should make room for medical trauma

Some intersex people may be carrying secrecy, shame, difficult healthcare experiences or decisions that were made without their consent. Support should be led by the person, move at their pace and never assume that intersex variation itself is the problem.

At Be/Here, person-centred and trauma-informed care means listening to what an experience means to you. You should not have to reduce yourself to a diagnosis or defend your right to respectful support.

You can contact Be/Here to talk about therapy, workshops or appropriate signposting.