Main Menu
Projects
Resources
© 2003-2005 Intersex Initiative
Unless otherwise indicated, you may copy, reprint, distribute, and even modify contents of this web site under the Creative Commons license.
Note: Information contained in the back issue of newsletter may be outdated.
Hello friends!
School is out, and we have a fabulous intern working with us this summer! Erin Lloyd is a graduate of Portland State University and currently the second-year law student at City University of New York--and she is not (yet) evil. As the former editor-in-chief of PSU's student newspaper (which has published a good article about intersex under her tenure), Erin brings both excellent writing and editing skills along with the ability to research and summarize legal documents. With her help, we are planning to make significant improvements to the Intersex & Law section of our website over next two months!
NEXT, we're putting on a public event next week! It's the screening of "Mani's Story," which in my opinion is the BEST documentary ever made on the topic of intersex. In fact, it's much bigger than just about intersex. It traces the life of Mani Bruce Mitchell, a long- time intersex activist from New Zealand, and is the winner of Qantas Media Award for the best TV documentary. Below is the public announcement--please forward to and invite friends!
#####
JUNE 24: AWARD-WINNING INTERSEX DOCUMENTARY
SHOWN AT NORTH PORTLAND PUBLIC LIBRARY
Contact: info@intersexinitiative.org
On June 24, Intersex Initiative will host a screening of "Mani's Story," the award-winning documentary film from New Zealand that traces the life of intersex activist Mani Bruce Mitchell. You will meet Mani and other intersex activists/stars from the earlier film, "Hermaphrodites Speak!" (1996) and how the intersex movement has impacted the lives of those activists who paved the way. The film received prestigious Qantas Media Award for the best TV documentary in 2003.
The New Zealand Herald stated: "The documentary's strength comes from the fact that it is nearly all told in Mani's own words. Strong and articulate, she traces the momentous changes in her life which led to self-acceptance and lack of fear in drawing attention to her ambiguous appearance... [It] is a courageous and unsentimental account of a person who has confronted and overcome extraordinary pressures and exclusion." Also featured in the film are American intersex activists Angela Moreno and David Vandertie.
Mani herself says about the film: "I was asked to make this documentary after a TV researcher learned of my proposed trip to America to attend the annual GLBT Creating Change Conference in Milwaukee 2001... I agreed to do this as a queer identified intersex person who believes with passion about creating change. Creating a world where it will be safe, a world that respects and enjoys ALL who are different. I thought the documentary would be an easy process... It was not. It became probably the most challenging, powerful, unusual and creative task I have ever done outside of a therapeutic setting."
The screening is held at 6:30pm at the public meeting room of the North Portland Branch of Multnomah County Library (512 N Killingsworth) and is free and open to all.
Intersex Initiative is a Portland, Oregon based national advocacy organization for people born with intersex conditions. Please see http://www.intersexinitiative.org for more information.
#####
Other news from ipdxWIRE Intersex News...
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS IN THE STUDY ON PSYCHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENT OF WOMEN WITH CAH
In the paper published in Journal of Pediatrics (June 2004; vol. 144, no. 6), Penn State University psychologist Sheri Berenbaum and others report that children and young adults who have congenital adrenal hyperplasia do not show any more psychological problems compared to their siblings and relatives of similar age. Authors claim that the data indicate that psychological adjustment is not negatively affected by either the condition itself or its treatment, which often includes clitoral recession and vaginoplasty surgeries in girls with CAH. Astonishingly, however, the research omits investigation of the psychological aspect of sexual functioning as experienced by women whose genitals have been repeatedly operated....
FULL STORY: http://www.intersexinitiative.org/news/000125.html
MAGAZINE ASKS SEVEN QUESTIONS TO ALICE DREGER
The latest (June 7; vol. 1 no. 16) edition of Seven Oaks, the progressive Canadian magazine dedicated to "social justice, world peace, gender and racial equality" among other causes, featured Michigan State University ethicist Alice Dreger in its "Seven Questions" corner. Interviewer Stephen Hui asks such fabulous questions, including "What sparked your involvement with intersex people's efforts to reform the medical establishment and society's treatment of them?" and "How have [pop culture] representations of helped or hindered progress?"
FULL STORY: http://www.intersexinitiative.org/news/000123.html
SLATE MAGAZINE EXPLORES INTERSEX CONTROVERSY
Microsoft-owned online magazine Slate followed up its report of David Reimer's passing with a new article about the intersex controversy. From the article: "... The great majority of ambiguous-looking babies will still be 'normalized' with radical, irrevocable surgery in their first year of life. But the anecdotal and scientific evidence is making it increasingly clear that this approach, which once seemed obvious, is not in every child's best interest." For the full article, visit Slate's website. Thanks Claudia Kolker!
FULL STORY: http://www.intersexinitiative.org/news/000121.html
HISTORIC INTERSEX PUBLIC HEARING IN SAN FRANCISCO
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....
FULL STORY: http://www.intersexinitiative.org/news/000119.html
INTERSEX PEOPLE "CAUGHT IN CROSSFIRE" BETWEEN TALK-SHOW HOSTS
On June 2, former "Saturday Night Live" comedian and the progressive radio talk-show host Al Franken made a joke reference to intersex that many felt was hurtful. The comment came during his three-hour weekday show, The O'Franken Factor, in a segment titled "Fighting (conservative pundit and FOX News host Sean) Hannity's Lies With Lies About Hannity." Below is the excerpt of the transcript from the show...
FULL STORY: http://www.intersexinitiative.org/news/000143.html
For more news & commentaries on intersex, visit:
http://www.intersexinitiative.org/
Emi Koyama
Director, Intersex Initiative
http://www.intersexinitiative.org/
Email: emi@intersexinitiative.org
AIM: emigrlpdx
To subscribe to ipdxWIRE Digest, the newsletter of Intersex Initiative, enter your email address in the field below and click "Subscribe." Our newsletter is low-volume (1-2 times a month) and we will not sell or give away your email address to anyone else, so it won't clog your mailbox. In addition, each message sent to ipdxWIRE Digest will have a link you can use to quickly unsubscribe if you choose to do so.