This year at London's BFI Flare I spoke at after-show
talks and Q&A's for the film Third Person, by Guf Shlishi. The
documentary is about a 35 year old Intersex person, Suzan, who
lives in Israel.
Suzan discovers that she is intersex, and that for
aesthetic and cosmetic reasons surgeons decided to perform a
complete cliterodectomy on her infant body. This atrocious act by
doctors is couched in terms of a 'solution' so that 'society' will
be able to tolerate her body.
As an intersex person I have been asked
to talk after the screening so that I can clarify that Suzan's
experience is not an isolated incident, or something that only
happens in other cultures.
Surgeries are routinely performed worldwide on intersex
people, often in infancy and without their consent.
Only Malta and Chile have implemented legislation - in 2015 -
to protect intersex people. The UK has no such legislation. The
film is funny, moving, and, because of the attitudes of the medical
profession, at times incensing to watch. Suzan's integrity and
strength throughout is inspiring.
The National Film Theatre's screening room is almost full. I
want the audience to feel empowered to create change. I
mention support groups such as Intersex UK (intersexuk.org),
and Organisation Intersex International UK (oiiuk.org), as well
as ILGA.ORG,
and UN.ORG who support intersex
rights.
Many people in the audience will have not knowingly met an
intersex person before. The message from the medical profession in
the film, is that these surgeries are necessary because society
cannot accept intersex people. I say that we, all of us here in
this room, we are society, and we can stop this from happening. An
important way to support intersex people is to increase our
visibility by making the 'I' visible in LGBTI.
If you go to an LGBT event, ask why the 'I' hasn't been
included, bring Intersex into the conversation. Another way, is to
raise awareness that sex is not binary. For many years, in
texts such as Evolution's Rainbow (Joan Roughgarden 2004),
biologists have explained that variation is normal.
The Gender Recognition Act 2004, which serves to offer
protections for UK trans people, makes explicit that for those
seeking to transition, sex category must be determined by their
sense of gender identity, and not inferred by their physical
characteristics at birth; and yet doctors continue to impose sex
categories on intersex people based upon physical characteristics
at birth.
I know how useful the media can be to our cause. Between 2010
and 2012 there was a surge of activity regarding trans people and
the media. At that time, I wasn't fully 'out' as an intersex
person, but was out as a trans person, and for me it seemed that
being intersex was far more taboo than being trans.
As an activist for trans rights, I was deeply involved in the
process of creating change in the Media. I worked with Trans Media
Watch developing their Media Style Guide. I gave a speech at
the launch of Channel 4's Memorandum of Understanding.
Producers approached me at that event, and I became one of the
activists who advised and consulted with twenty twenty tv
production company for their Channel
4 TV series My Transsexual Summer (2011).
I stressed the importance of representing non-binary as well as
binary trans identities. Onroad Media was also instrumental,
and contributed to the positive changes in trans representation and
media portrayal. Today, looking online for intersex inclusion in
these spaces gives sparse results. Intersex is referred to in a
Pink News article about Channel 4's Memorandum of
Understanding, but intersex is not actually mentioned in the
Memorandum document itself.
Intersex is only mentioned in a couple of sentences on the Trans
Media Watch online site. Searching the BBC's and Channel 4's online
diversity pages, I cannot find Intersex listed. I find LGBT, but I
cannot find LGBTI.
As part of a minority group seeking equality, I hope to raise
awareness for Intersex issues in a brief meeting with one of the
journalists from the Thursday screening. He hurriedly
jots down notes. I ask to be acknowledged as an activist who
provided him with information, perhaps in a note at the bottom of
the article, and I also ask if I can read through the relevant part
of the article to check for accuracy before it goes to press. The
journalist awkwardly refuses both requests. I say allowing me to
check the article would be a safety net to prevent inaccuracies
that could potentially harm the intersex cause. He says he
has his own safety nets.
As an activist I feel frustrated. Very little is known about
Intersex in the UK, so although it is important to increase
awareness: accuracy is vital, and the best way to obtain accuracy
is to allow the intersex person you have consulted to check the
article before it goes to press.
Also, I think it is vital for journalists to acknowledge the
activists who work with them. Jane Czyzselska's fantastic article
in DIVA magazine (May 2016) demonstrates how journalists can get it
right when it comes to inclusivity and acknowledgement.
Crucially she affords the intersex contributors the option to
check her article for accurate representation before sending it to
press. These basic requirements seem obvious, but in the majority
of cases remain elusive.
I believe we need to develop a 'best practice' for journalists
who work with intersex activists and interviewees. Intersex
activists are seeking: equality, legislative protections, and
inclusivity in the UK and worldwide, and this can happen much
faster if journalists work with us.
