Many people in and outside of the LGBT+ community have debated about intersex people having congenital DSD and whether they be considered a part of the said community.

Before addressing the question at hand, let’s contemplate the ideal contextualization of sex. In conventional terms, sex refers to binary anatomical differences which distinguish whether an individual is a male or a female. However, this understanding of sex stands outdated, and hence, disposable. In fact, the existence of intersex individuals serves to undermine the aforementioned explanation. Generally speaking, Intersex people are individuals who have the external anatomy of a different sex than the one their chromosomal sex would suggest. For example, an individual’s outward appearance may be interpreted as female, due to their resemblancewith stereotypical characteristics usually associated with cis women, despite their internal anatomy being somewhat masculine.

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Owing to this variation, a wide number of intersex people are accused of being ‘freaks of nature’ which leads us to think that maybe our sub-par standards of natural acceptance are in the need of a severe pervasive upgrade. At the risk of being religiously controversial, it would be advisable to consider the fact that if these people were born this way, then perhaps God had an intention behind that.

For instance, a majority of people forget that the Kinnar Community of India doesn’t just consist of Trans feminine people. The community in question houses a conglomeration of Trans people, non-binary people and intersex people. Conversely though, the absence of awareness and open disregard about these people ensures preconceived notions and avoidance in the impressionable minds of our younger generation. The mere hints at the sudden discovery of a different anatomy, and the subsequent disowned abandonment faced by intersex people, are devastatingly explosive when investigated.

“But intersex is a birth defect not a gender.” ~ The opinions of some LGBT+ interactive app users, the same community which claims to accept any and all gender variations. (Source)

The problem with the reception of intersex persons is that, people don’t seem to grasp whether a congenital anomaly should be brought under the rainbow umbrella or not. They use phrases like defects or disorders, to support their arguments and therefore, imply an inherent feeling of ‘wrong’ in the spectators’ sub consciousness. These phrases are no less derogatory than using terms like ‘hermaphrodite’ in regards to intersex people.

Many intersex people choose to conform themselves with a binary gender and thus do not prefer to be undertaken as LGBT+ folks. In contrast though, such is not the case with all the intersex persons. Due to public backlash, the unity of the LGBT+ community soothes their insecurity like compressed ice on a bruise.

The most usual types of intersex are those, which either have internal male reproductive organs or internal female reproductive organs. Their uniqueness is stigmatized to such an extent that the parents of intersex infants choose to have those organs surgically removed just after birth. Correspondingly, intersex surgeries are being majorly detested as they supply the message that intersex people need to be rectified. Organisations and individuals like interACT and Pidgeon Pagonis work diligently to improve intersex validation and protest intersex surgeries, respectively. As long as those internal set of organs do not risk being cancerous in the future, there’s no reason of ejecting them from one’s body like a bad case of hernia.

Ruminations over whether intersex persons are the results of a birth defect, and/or a legitimized gender identity, can be explored through this simplification. Intersex individuals are indubitably non-cisgender human beings. Any and all non-cisgender persons deserve to be under the proud shade of the rainbow umbrella. Furthermore, whatever their bodily genitalia portraits is ultimately insignificant and regardless inconclusive. The only deciding factor adhered should be their subjective gender identity. So maybe, being intersex is a birth defect but that certainly doesn’t mean that it cannot be a gender identity. This statement is further fastened due to the fact that intersex people have their own pride flag.

To wrap it all up, any set of individuals whose anatomical differences become an obstacle in their social acceptance should be implemented as rightful members of the LGBTQ+ community. Be it Trans folks, non-binary people, genderqueers, agender persons and intersex individuals. If intersex persons want to be LGBT+, then under no circumstances should they be denied that right, however if they do not want to associate themselves with the said community, then that’s a decision they are entitled to. Additionally, anyone who is denied their ontological rights, concerning their sexual orientation, gender identity and romantic disposition, should be a member of the LGBT+ Community on principle alone. Being aware of the oral abuses faced by all non-cisgender persons and still not including intersex people in our community is undoubtedly hypocritical and a blatant contradiction of all the fundamental ideas we prize ourselves on. Knowing and deliberately choosing to turn a blind eye is a worse offense than not knowing.

Aakshi Srivastava
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