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On May 27, the Human Rights Commission of the City and County of San Francisco held the world's first official hearing on the human rights violations of people born with intersex conditions. Among speakers were intersex activists Thea Hillman, Betsy Driver, Hida Viloria, Blue, David Cameron, Peter Trinkl, and Suegee Tamar-Mattis, who shared their personal experiences. Other supporters, including parents of intersex individuals, scholars and medical professionals also gave testimonies demanding measures to preserve intersex human rights.
You can view the recording of the entire hearing online (with RealOne Player) from the website of SFGTV, the municipal government's cable channel.
The Human Rights Commission is still accepting written testimonies for consideration until June 25, 2004. Submit your stories to Marcus Arana, SF Human Rights Commission, 25 Van Ness Avenue #800, San Francisco, California 94102-6033, or marcus.arana@sfgov.org.
Below is a more detailed report from intersex activist and support organization Bodies Like Ours. It is reprinted here with their permission and is not governed by our general copyright policy.
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On May 27, 2004, the San Francisco Human Rights Commission held a historic hearing on Intersex issues. It was the first public hearing held on Intersex issues in the United States. The hearing room at San Francisco City Hall was packed with intersex people and our allies.
At the beginning of the hearing, Marcus Arana, a discrimination investigator with the Human Rights Commission, briefly laid out the reasons for the hearing. He reported that the SF HRC had received complaints that intersex people were being subjected to infant genital surgery for the purposes of sex assignment without proper consent. While he acknowledged that some childhood genital surgery was necessary for medical reasons, such as providing a functional urinary canal, he expressed concerns about cosmetic surgeries meant to "normalize" the appearance of a child's genitals. He also reported that around 1 in 2000 births. The politics of what constitutes an intersex condition is heavily involved in these figures.
The first person from the public to speak was Dr. Larry Baskin, a urologist working at University of California at San Francisco. UCSF is the main center for infant genital surgery in San Francisco. Dr. Baskin said that the treatment of intersex conditions has improved in recent years. He said that urologists are concerned with the best treatment possible for intersex children. Dr. Baskin disputed the claim that about 40 infant genital surgeries are performed each year at UCSF which was the figure supplied by his colleague Dr. Melvin Grumbach to SF HRC investigators. Baskin claimed that he had performed only 1 infant genital surgery in the last year.
Thea Hillman, former Board President of the Intersex Society of North America shared her experiences growing up with an intersex condition. As a champion of intersex rights, she condemned the concealment model of intersex treatment, which holds that all information about an intersex child's medical treatment should be withheld from the child. She said that ISNA's position is that the child should not be subject to shame and secrecy, but rather be fully informed about medical treatments.
Thea Hillman's testimony was followed by the sharing of personal experiences by the following intersex people- Betsy Driver, Hida Viloria, Blue, David Cameron, Peter Trinkl, and Suegee Tamar-Mattis. The personal experiences shared were incredibly powerful, and deeply moved both the commissioners and the audience. Out of respect for those who shared their deeply personal and often painful experiences, I will not try to summarize the testimony here. The testimony was covered by the city television network, several independent filmmakers, and a court reporter. The testimony of the intersex community has been preserved for the future.
After a short break, the hearing continued with the testimony of parents of intersex children. Freema Hillman, mother of Thea Hillman, shared her experiences of raising an intersex child. The testimony of Debbie Hartman, mother of Kelli Hartman, was read on her behalf into the record.
Following the testimony of parents, a couple of medical providers shared their testimony. Dr. Kate O'Hanlan, OB/GYN presented a powerful slide show on how the medical treatment of intersex children often violates the ethical standards of the medical profession. She presented passages from the Nuremburg Codes and the governing bodies of medical practice in the United States, which posed serious ethical questions about the practice of infant genital surgery. Dr. O'Hanlan also noted the lack of adequate long term follow-up studies on infant genital surgeries. Dr. Milton Diamond, through testimony that was read on his behalf, called for a moratorium of the practice of infant genital surgery on intersex children. He believes that such surgeries should not be performed without the consent of the child.
Members of the educational community addressed the commission. Dr. Joan Roughgarden, with the Department of Biological Sciences at Stanford, following the line of argument in her new book, "Evolution's Rainbow", said that the assumptions of what is "normal" presented in the biological training of pre-med students is contradicted by the actual sexual diversity of the natural world. Dr. Naomi O'Keefe, a psychologist with the Argosy Institute, testified on the psychological harm done to intersex people when the psychological issues confronting us are not openly addressed, but rather hidden behind a veil of secrecy and shame. Joy O'Donnell, Director of Training for the Human Sexuality program at SF State University, testified about progress being made in training around intersex issues. She said that when her program did workshops on intersex topics for medical professionals, that the participants from the medical community expressed deep appreciation to the Human Sexuality program for educating them on intersex issues, because their previous training had been very limited. She also mentioned that the Human Sexuality program is now working on a groundbreaking semester long course on intersex issues.
During the public comments portion of the hearing, several people presented their own moving stories of either being intersex or having been subjected to female circumcision.
After the hearing, several intersex people and our allies had dinner together at a local restaurant.
The next step will be the drafting of a findings and recommendation report by members of the intersex task force. It is expected that will be due out in the fall.
Betsy Driver
Executive Director
Bodies Like Ours
http://www.bodieslikeours.org
PO Box 1732
Easton, PA 18044
610-258-7466 voice
610-258-6631 fax
Bodies Like Ours is a 501(c)(3)organization incorporated in NJ and based in Easton, PA. Bodies Like Ours provides peer support for people born with an intersex condition and helps them erase their shame and secrecy. We are dependent upon your financial support to continue our work. Please consider making a donation today online by visiting our website at http://www.bodieslikeours.org.
Bodies Like Ours needs your generous support financial contributions to help fix a very broken part of our world. Please consider making a donation today at http://www.bodieslikeours.org/Support_Our_Efforts/donate.html
Founded in 2002, Bodies Like Ours provides peer support and information for people born with intersex conditions.
Our mission includes elimination of the shame and secrecy of intersex births through education, awareness, and community. Bodies Like Ours is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization incorporated in NJ and based in Easton, PA.
To learn more about Bodies Like Ours, please visit our website at http://www.bodieslikeours.org
Posted by Emi on Jun 3, 2004