Human Rights
Online petition for the United States government to end intersex genital mutilation – IGM
AN intersex activist in the United States of America has placed a petition online, asking for the end of intersex genital mutilation – IGM – in that country. Female genital mutilation – FGM – is illegal in the US but intersex genital mutilation continues unabated. Melissa Lynn’s petition is directed at Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the U.S. Department…
Read MoreUS Department of Housing and Urban Development issues LGBT housing rule, but no sign of intersex anywhere
IN a worthy move on behalf of our LGBT allies within the LGBTI community, United States Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Secretary Shaun Donovan has announced a new HUD rule, Equal Access to Housing in HUD Programs – Regardless of Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity. The rule does not include intersex. Intersex people are…
Read MoreUS Fourth Periodic Report to UN Committee on Human Rights does not mention intersex once
REGRETTABLY, the United States government’s Fourth Periodic Report to the United Nations Committee on Human Rights concerning the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights does not include intersex at all. Perhaps we should not be surprised, given US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s exclusion of intersex in her remarks to the UN in Geneva…
Read MoreIntersex and Medically Unnecessary, Irreversible Treatments
Discriminatory Views Create Discriminatory Medical Treatment Author: Hida Viloria, Chairperson, Organisation Intersex International (OII) Note: A small percentage of intersex variations sometimes require medical attention for immediate health reasons. This treatment is necessary, and is not what I am referring to below. People who promote nonconsensual genital surgeries and/or hormone therapy for intersex infants and children…
Read MoreThe Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) of the Organization of American States (OAS) advertises intersex inclusive LGBTI fellowship
YET again a human rights organization based in the United States of America demonstrates that it is possible to include intersex in its remit and not cause the world to come crashing down. Some “experts” seem to think that I for intersex in the acronym LGBTI is one step too far for the world to accept. Clearly…
Read MoreViloria’s letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asking for full intersex inclusion in White House human rights initiatives
HIDA Viloria, Chairperson of Organisation Intersex International – OII – and Director of Organisation Intersex International United States – OII USA – has written a letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asking for intersex people to be included in the White House’s recently announced global efforts on behalf of LGBT equality. Ms Viloria,…
Read MoreIntersex-inclusive inter-American human rights commission shows the way via new unit for LGBTI rights
WHILE its counterparts in other parts of the globe prevaricate about including intersex people in their human rights work, the Organization of American States’ (OAS) pan-American human rights commission the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has created “a Unit on the Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex (LGBTI) Persons, in order to…
Read MoreOur E.D. on Lobbying the IOC on Behalf of Intersex Women Athletes
In October, 2010, our E.D. Hida Viloria participated, by invitation, in the International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s meeting, “Athletes with Disorders of Sex Development and their participation in competitive sport,” held in Lausanne, Switzerland (see below). The meeting was the second gathering of experts convened in the wake of Caster Semenya’s gender verification testing…
Read MoreOII’s Petition to the IOC: Depathologization & Fair Policies for Intersex Athletes
OII’s Human Rights Spokesperson, writer and activist Hida Viloria, has authored a petition to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on behalf of the Organization intersex international (OII). The petition was inspired by the negligent, discriminatory treatment of South African track star Caster Semenya, who, on August 19th, 2009, had her gold medal and her…
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