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July 12, 2003
Dear Emi,
Sorry it took over a week to get back to you, but coordinating reply with a group takes a awhile with the time zones, etc. After consultation with Monica and the rest of the ISNA board, we're writing to respond to your email concerning ISNA's work with BDRC.
We appreciate your thoughts about ISNA working with BDRC. As you know, intersex conditions are increasingly being discussed in terms of their possible relation to environmental toxins. Because we feel ISNA needs to be involved as much as possible in any important discussion of intersex, and because we care about the fact that people born with intersex conditions often face debilitating medical concerns (like urinary problems and adrenal crises), we believe it is important that ISNA get involved and remain involved in the issue of the causes of intersex conditions. We are not advocating elimination of intersex conditions by looking at possible causes, and our mission to end shame, secrecy, unwanted surgeries has not budged.
To quote Monica from our press release of June 16 (available at http://www.isna.org/pr/pr20030615.html): "There are many opportunities for learning through this project. In addition to gaining knowledge about the relationship between intersex conditions and toxins, we intend to address social, ethical, and political issues regarding that relationship. Here at ISNA we are especially excited about engaging with environmental health issues and communities as we continue to advocate for the rights of all people with intersex conditions, regardless of the origin or cause of their condition."
As you can see, in this work and all our work, ISNA's focus remains the rights of people with intersex conditions. We hope that in our relationship with BDRC they can be educated in the same way we seek to educate ourselves, and all other groups ISNA chooses to work with. In short, we think engagement is the way to go here, and that not engaging would be failing in our mission to build a world free of shame, secrecy, and unwanted genital surgeries for people born with atypical sex anatomies.
As always, your experience, knowledge, and vision are important to ISNA. We hope you will feel free to call or email Monica, Thea, or me, (now that I am the Board's activist and support group liaison) in the future. Another collaboration the Board is working on is in fact exploring how we can learn from the disability rights movement, among others.
We look forward to working with you on the film festival, as well as other collaborations.
With best wishes,
***** and ***** on behalf of the ISNA board
[note: removed board members' names on July 29, 2003]