Monday, March 31st, at 7pm at the Minnesota state capitol, a crowd of over 100 gathered to watch trans people publicly take their HRT (all forms).

The action was put on by a group called TIGERRS (trans, intersex, gender expansive resources and services) and purposefully mentioned that all trans, intersex, gender expansive folks and their friends were welcome, and if they didn’t want to do it publicly/don’t take HRT they should come for community anyways. The action consisted of a local marching band Unlawful Assembly playing them in, a speech by a trans 17 year old, the unraveling of the flag with a new pledge to transness by the artist, a non denominational reminder of trans divinity, public HRT taking, and ended with a sing along and break for snacks. Intersex trans folks were given orchids, and sharps containers were provided. There were registered nurses, and members of community acted as security (though there were no issues). TIGERRS also shared out the Minnesota Trans Resource Directory, a 87-page guide to trans safe doctors, mechanics, restaurants, dentists, therapists, electrolysis spaces, shelters, etc, and resources on how to move to Minnesota. The directory can be found on their website.

Trans folks are not going away. We keep ourselves safe. We share and create resources and we show up for each other. We are here forever

🩵💗🤍💗🩵

this trans day of visibility, i want to highlight and celebrate intersex trans people.

society ignores intersex trans people and tries to erase this overlap. and also ignores complex intersex experiences around gender. society denies our intersexuality, or our transness, or both. even in queer circles we are often seen as "basically cis" or "basically trans" or "intersex aka own separate species that can have nothing in common with other queer people."

intersex trans people are often denied gender affirming care. intersex trans people get their bodily autonomy attacked both as intersex and trans. even in trans accepting circles like gender clinics, we often face ignorance and incompetence.

people feel entitled to know and question our anatomy, physiology, transition goals, identities — everything about us.

our bodies belong to us. our identities belong to us. our experiences belong to us.

we deserve bodily autonomy. we deserve representation. we deserve recognition. we deserve celebration. we deserve pride.

intersex trans people, i love you.

if i was a casting director who saw the description of a catholic cardinal as young and boyish even at 67 i would have said fuck awwwfffff and given up. but thats not what the casting director of conclave said,,, they knew he was out there

Hi y'all!

interACT will be co-hosting a virtual focus group with GLSEN about United States intersex students’ experiences in middle and high school. The focus group will take place in May or June, last 2-3 hours, and you would get $50 for your time and expertise.

The age requirement for participants will be 13-18. However, if you are not currently in high school, individuals who aren't over the age of 19 are accepted as well! Anyone under 18 will need parent or guardian permission, however, given the requirements for research such as this.

If you don't know what a focus group is, it's a style of research that asks a group of people their thoughts and feelings on a specific topic in order to gain insight.

If you are interested or able to be a participant, let me know via DM so I can email you more details!

6/16! An intersex octopus! It’s based on a blue ringed octopus bc I really wanted to incorporate the flag’s circle somehow :>

[ID in alt]

Feeling inspired to make more intersex pride jewelry. The necklace and earrings feature the intersex flags colors 💜💛 plus the sun and the moon. In many mythologies these symbols, have both masculine and feminine characteristics. The sun and moon sometimes even represent intersex deities.

Sending my love to my intersex community. We exist. We deserve love. We deserve respect. We deserve body autonomy

From Trump’s executive order — It basically declares everyone is now a woman.

All human embryos are female at conception…it takes around 6 weeks for fetal testes to produce androgen which counteracts the estrogen which produces male genitalia.

I wish people would stop saying we are all female at conception. This is untrue! Sex cannot be discerned as either male or female at conception, because it has not yet developed as either.

We have our chromosomes, but we still haven't developed our genitalia, gonads, etc. It would be most accurate to say we're sex-neutral at conception, because our sex has the potential to develop in any direction.

We also produce neither the large reproductive cell (ova) nor the small reproductive cell (sperm) at conception. At conception, we simply don't have the organs necessary to produce our gametes; our gonads do not yet exist. Gonadal differentiation starts around 5 weeks after conception. If your body produces ova, this will happen in the womb, but not at conception. If your body produces sperm, this will not happen until puberty, well after being born. On top of all of this, it's entirely possible that you might not produce either of these.

The problem is, people like Trump think that chromosomes are the end-all-be-all of sex and gender, when this is untrue. Sex is made up of many different characteristics, and is neither binary nor immutable. Even if you have XY or XX chromosomes, you could still be trans, and/or be intersex (e.g. AIS, Swyer Syndrome, 5-ARD, 17-beta, LCH, etc). Chromosomes are also not inherently indicative of your ability to carry ova or produce sperm later in development.

Intersex people and trans people aren't going to be fully represented by our chromosomes. Our bodies might not necessarily align with our chromosomes in the way that would be "expected" societally, whether that is spontaneous or due to medical intervention.

In the case of intersex people specifically, they may not necessarily have XX or XY chromosomes to begin with. Though, in this case, they'd probably just say "If a Y is present, they're male, and if not, they're female" (e.g. XXY = male, XO = female, 46XX/46XY chimerism = male), because this form of intersexism already happens in medical literature. This is intersex erasure.

Trump would like you to believe that "has no Y chromosome = person belonging to the sex which carries eggs = female," and "has a Y chromosome = person belonging to the sex which produces sperm = male," when none of these statements are true. Or, I would say he'd like you to believe that, but that implies that I believe he knows anything about sex or biology in general. I don't think he has a clue.

All in all, Trump's EO is terrible, but not just because it's nonsensical. It's terrible because of what it aims to do to trans and intersex people. Not to mention that there is no good reason to deny people the right to self determination of their own gender, nor deny us the right to update our documents to affirm our genders, even if we don't choose to medically transition and are perisex. Each person should be entitled to decide which marker they want representing them on their own documents, whether that is M, F, or X.

We have mountains of evidence showing that gender affirming care, legal recognition, and inclusion saves lives. Trump's decision will kill people, and he has been told that we fear for our lives.

He does not care.

Hey intersex followers! I would love to crowdsource some suggestions, resources, and advice for intersex people who are thinking about coming out to family and friends about being intersex.

If you’ve come out to people as intersex:

What worked well for you?

Are there misconceptions that you have to correct a lot?

What are risks that you think intersex people should be aware of before coming out?

Any particular approach or strategy that really worked for you?

What would you have liked to know before coming out/disclosing intersex?

Or if you haven’t come out and want to share the reasons why, please feel free to respond with that as well!

Intersex followers, feel free to reply to this post or send an ask about this topic.

thank you <3

I’m very out professionally and with friends.

Professionally, people confuse intersex with trans even though my organization has a pretty good mandatory compliance training about it. I’ve leveraged being intersex to create change internally, such as pushing for expansion of gender options on hiring forms (because being nonbinary isn’t enough…). People are nervous when I bring up being intersex and nonbinary but largly don’t pay attention to my pronouns/name preference. I guess I don’t mind being misgendered for a little bit longer as long as it means larger long term positive changes. So it’s a mixed bag.

Friends are unconcerned in the best way. Everyone’s been accepting and supportive.

Family is complicated. My family is dealing with other very pressing needs and my mom, a big time narcissist, believes all gender affirming care is selfish and doesn’t understand how people might not feel completely comfortable in their bodies. I still had gender affirming care and since then she’s doubled down on trying to get me to identify as a woman, even though we’ve been talking about me not being a woman for 20+ years. Now she acts like I’m about to do dental work on her without numbing agents if I try to discuss anything remotely related to gender/bodily autonomy and she makes it all about her. My parents are in their 70s and I’ve long since given up on being seen and accepted. I stay connected because my dad is dying and my mom controls our interactions. When he’s gone, I’m not sure what will happen because she’s toxic.

TLDR: Professionally this is a good time to be out. People don’t know what to make of it so yes, be ready with an elevator pitch. Push for changes.

Friends are supportive.

Family is a no-go for me. At best, mom is indifferent. At worst, it’s somehow about how she failed and I’m blaming her (?). Wife is 10000% supportive.

I feel you - it’s been way easier and productive for me to be out with friends at work than with family.

My experience of being out at work is people mistaking me for non-binary/trans and then misgendering me with they/them (I use she/her). It’s been kind of exhausting for me because I just don’t feel safe at all with they/them pronouns.

The silver lining is that more junior trans/nb people at work have come out. They also get they/themed regardless of preferred pronouns, but at least the ones who do want they/them are getting gendered properly. Baby steps.

i think being hyperandrogen intersex has made my experience of antitransmasculinity just... that much deeper, that much more lonely. before i even knew i was trans, i would stare into the mirror and pick my face and body apart. why don't i look like the other girls? what's wrong with me? why do i look so wrong in a dress? why do i feel like i take up too much space? will anyone ever love me?

i was punished for my masculinity and androgyny before i even had the chance to (voluntarily) express it. it stung even more, as i've always had an affinity to traditionally feminine things. where i once found joy and bliss in dressing up and posing for the camera, i found myself hiding my body in hoodies and leggings. if anyone pointed a camera at me, i would collapse to the floor and start having a panic attack.

now, as i've grown older, i've found safety in masculinity and androgyny. people don't find it quite as strange, as if my body/facial hair, broad shoulders, stocky build, and androgynous face make it make sense - femininity is obviously off limits for someone like me, yet it's still expected of me. getting "masculinizing" gender affirming care terrifies me. i'd be casting off the last of what makes me desirable, pretty, and unassuming. but the little girl inside me wants to wear dresses, makeup, jewelry - just this time, as a man.

but men aren't supposed to be pretty - least of all fat, hairy, disabled men. so i'm caught. i can neglect myself, out of fear of being seen as even more disgusting and off putting, just so i can cling to the few expressions of femininity i can display... or, i can be myself, and open myself up to the very hurt i've been trying to avoid all these years. but then, i can look my true self in the mirror, and finally say: you're not like other girls (and that's okay). nothing's wrong with you. you still look beautiful in a dress. you don't take up any space that isn't already yours. and you are already very, very loved.

and one day, i will. because that's what we deserve to hear - trans people, intersex people, people who are both. we deserve to do whatever we need to be our most authentic selves. all this judgement, fear mongering, it's all made up - to hurt us. and that's awful. that's scary, and i hope someday, we live in a world where we don't have to be afraid anymore. and part of me - part of you - knows, one day, we will.

being intersex changes the experience of being trans in a way most people do not understand at all. like my experience with transition is nothing like a dyadic person-i had to get off estrogen in order to get on testosterone. i’ve been dealing with intersexism since a young age because of the ways in which bio sex is false and birth assignment is fake. i’ve had body hair since a young age, didn’t go through typical puberty,  a million other fucking things that meant i was being denied the right to be considered enough of a “girl” despite being assigned female at birth. i had to fight to be seen as enough of a girl but at the same time i started to realize i wasn’t a girl. it is fucking tough navigating simultaneously being told i’m failing at being a girl and then coming out and being like “no i’m trans” and then for the first time in my life being told over and over that actually, i am a girl. the lengths to which my body was policed was extensive and i was treated like a gender failure no matter what i did. and if we’re talking about intersexism it’s like.  i got hatecrimed for being intersex by another transmasc person because they were mad that i had a larger dick than him because neither of us were on T at that point. like. i do not think that is something that most transmasc people experience if we are being honest.  i do not have a dyadic trans experience and never will. it is hard to talk about being trans without talking about being intersex because they are so tied together in my life. 

Perisex people I am begging you: MTF is not a synonym for transfeminine and FTM is not a synonym for transmasculine.

Intersex people who are trans frequently have transition experiences that do not match FTM or MTF. Not every trans person is starting from a perinormative idea of bodily sex or gender.

(And for the millionth time: gender assignment at birth is an event not a kind of body. For intersex people, AGAB implies absolutely nothing about what organs or hormone balance they have send also implies nothing about what gender(s) they have had socially imposed on them.)