Organization for Intersex International (OII)

Bodies Like Ours

E-mail : rife@webglaz.ch
Phone and fax :
+41 (0)22 860 11 44

Mailing address :
RIFE
CP 214
CH-1226 Thonex/Geneva
Switzerland

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Some of the intersexed, despite being direct victims both within their flesh and their soul of the absurd concept of the dichotomy of the sexes, do not escape the conditioning of their societies. 

Just because one is a woman does not make one a feminist. For the same reason, just being born intersexed does not automatically undo all the brainwashing that is however the reason for their discomfort.

In psychology, this reaction in which the victims become an unconscious accomplice of their oppressors is a phenomenon known as the Stockholm Syndrome with reference to hostages that after months of confinement end up excusing their executioners in order to alleviate the injustice of their confinement. Actually, it is easier to accept oppression if one is persuaded that at some level, one is partially responsible. Don’t forget also that we are speaking about infants, very young ones who are subjected to mutilating surgeries, suffering and trauma which are imposed on them by this abject society in order to “normalise” them. They will be permanently affected for life.  A profound sense of shame will always be at the core of their very young heart.

The role of organizations such as OII and FINE for sure is to be supportive of all intersexed persons who are victims of society, but more importantly, we wish to take actions which will eradicate the cause which is generating the persecution. We have the sacred mission of eradicating evil.  We must fight so that our sisters and brothers who will be born will enter a better world, a world which accepts their differences so that they will not suffer what we have.

Just because someone is a woman does not make them a victim. Just the opposite: it is because society is sexist that women are victims. It is not because we are intersexed that we are victims.  It is just the opposite: it is because society, in spite of all evidence, only admits two sexes and for this reason categorizes the intersexed as freaks and therefore subjects to totalitarian treatments for “normalization”. To demand recognition of the fact that there are not just two sexes will give the intersexed the respect and the place they deserve in society and will stop making them freaks.

When one is born intersexed, it may seem paradoxical to say that one is the normal result of the diversity inherent within the natural biological ecosystem and still want medical treatment. This is true, but one should not forget that no one can escape the pressures of society. In the present state of society (except for those intersexed persons who are of exceptional fortitude or moderately intersexed) it can be extremely psychologically uncomfortable in one’s everyday social relationships (family, intimate relationships, professional life, travel, border checks..) not to correspond to what society feels a man or a woman is. In such instances, some intersexed adults – we are speaking only of adults because they are free to make a choice – will choose to follow medical treatments for “normalization”. We should support them even more because they are doubly victimized in comparison to the intersexed who resist. An intersexed person can have very serious reasons for rejecting their original sex assignment, such as having been subjected to a sex-change at birth without their consent or a total rejection of the success of the early treatments.  So: 
We must insist that persons who are intersexed and who want to change their legal sex: 
- not be classified as suffering from Gender Identity Disorder. 
- and that the choice of official sex be left totally to the individual. 
- and that no so-called medical treatment for “normalization” purposes be required to change legal sex. 

Otherwise, these intersexed individuals will be doubly stigmatized. They will be abnormal both because of their biological condition and because of their psychological state, whereas the sex which was assigned to them at birth was assigned in an arbitrary manner according to the decision of a doctor who is more than fallible because there is no serious training for intersex within the medical community – including pediatricians. The sex of the child is assigned as part of an emergency procedure because the sex is required on the birth certificate and cannot be delayed. 

Therefore, it is not the intersexed individual who is suffering from Gender Identity Disorder. It is the surrounding society which has a policy resembling that of an ostrich by recognizing only two sexes. This is why we are in total solidarity with this intersexed persons, often the victims of medical incompetence in assigning sex at birth.