Intersex Awareness Week
During Intersex Awareness Week, the documentary film “Intersexion” was screened on November 4th 2014 at UQAM, 6 :00 pm in room N-M140 of Paul-Guérin-Lajoie (N) building. A discussion with activists and a testimonial by an intersex person followed the screening of the movie.
The invitation (in French)
October 26th 2014 is International Intersex Visibility Day. It highlights the first public collective demonstration by intersex activists that happened in 1996. They held a march against the annual meeting of the American Pediatrics Association in Boston. This year, the Intersex Awareness Week will end on November 8th, the Intersex Day of Remembrance. This date was chosen as it the anniversary of Herculine Babin, a “hermaphrodite” (as she was called at that time) who lived in the 19th century and was the first to produced her autobiography.
Who are intersex people?
Intersex people are individuals whose body at birth or at puberty challenges the physical distinction between man and woman. They present a combination of primary or secondary sexual characteristics, usually attributed to one sex or the other. Gender identities and sexual orientations of intersex people vary. Although many intersex persons are heterosexual, they also suffer from heterosexism and heteronormativity. Some identify as women, intersex-women, men, intersex-men, intersex person, or as hermaphrodite. Intersex people share the common experience of having their bodies invalidated.