Although we’ve seen many instances of intersex people being harmed because we’re different, we’ve also seen so many instances of wonderfully supportive friends, family members, health care workers, co-workers, colleagues, allies and others in our lives. On this Intersex Solidarity Day, also (and originally) observed as the Intersex Day of Remembrance, we send our deepest thanks to everyone who has stood in solidarity with the intersex community over the years and the many who continue to!

We also note that while intersex is defined by being born with sex traits that differ from, or are a combination of, male and female norms, but that is all we have in common. Not only do we come from different racial, ethnic, religious and class backgrounds, even the way that we grow up to look and identify our sex and gender varies as widely as is possible. With all of these differences between us, solidarity is critical.

Some of us live as women or men and don’t use the term intersex to describe ourselves, identifying as people with physical variations who are male or female regardless.

Some of us live as intersex women or men, identifying our sex as different from that of typical males or females, but our gender within the binary categories of women or men.

Some of us live openly as neither male nor female, men nor women, calling ourselves:
— intersex individuals,
— intersex “enbies” (the noun to describe people whose gender identity is non-binary), or,
— herms, the shortened form of our original non-binary label, “hermaphrodite.”

Some of us live as trans women or trans men in addition to, or instead of, intersex, because the sex we were assigned at birth doesn’t match the gender identity we grow up to have as adults.
Some of us have the experience of the sex we were assigned at birth not matching the gender identity we grow up to have as adults, but do not identify as trans because of our intersex history.

Many intersex people use he or she pronouns.
Many non-binary intersex people use gender neutral pronouns like they or ze, but some don’t.

Intersex people are unique and diverse, and we stand in solidarity with all of you!
We look forward to continuing to educate the world on the fact that all intersex experiences and identities are equally valid, and encourage everyone to do the same.

#IntersexSolidarityDay