autostraddle:

Claudia Is Intersex, Let’s Talk About It

Hey there, Autostraddlers. I’m Claudia, and I’m intersex.

Hello!

I mean, I’m lots of things. For…

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Omg, you guys. Claudia is amazing.

I first contacted her in 2010 after reading her blog. Then, over a year later, I spoke with her at Intersex Awareness Day in 2011. Now she’s bringing the intersex message to Autostraddle. So inspiring.

Eden Atwood and Jim Bruce Interview

Amazing.

Beyond Coming Out: Politics of Queer Millenials (HuffPost Live)

Extremely engaging segment with a lot of super-important questions being discussed.

feminaquotes:

Feminism is not simply a struggle to end male chauvinism, or a movement to ensure that women have equal rights with men; It is a commitment to eradicate the ideology of domination that permeates Western culture on various levels — Sex, Race, Class, to name a few — and a commitment to reorganizing US society so that the self-development of people can take precedence over imperialism, economic expansion, & material desires. ~ bell hooks

National Coming Out Day

I feel a particular tension on this day. It was actually on NCOD two years ago that I started telling people that I was gay. The only people who had known previously were those who knew about my entire situation, with liking girls as kind of an afterthought to everything else. As my facebook feed fills with various posts from my queer friends about the day - I am both tempted to post something of my own, and paralyzed with anxiety.

I honestly don’t care who knows that I date women, I actually wish everyone did (well perhaps everyone besides my Russian grandparents and the like). But the act of using a platform such as facebook to clarify that fact to the hundreds of people I’m ‘friends’ with who may not, is just a tad annoying. 

And then, when it comes to Everything Else…well that’s where things get complicated. Because my identity is fucking complicated. Trying to explain that in a facebook post is not really something I wish to do.

I understand the value of coming out. It’s something that increases understanding and makes it okay for others to do the same. But at the same time, my identity is my own. The fact that straight/non-intersex people don’t have to come out is a privilege.

My life is my own, and I think keeping a part of that to myself is just fine.

Pop Theory: What’s (Legally) in a Choice?

Excellent article, and commentary (including a discussion of intersex in relation to homosexuality). This Marcie does a fantastic job of articulating exactly how I feel with respect to the whole “Born This Way” phenomenon in the LGBTQ movement.

Inter/Act: AIC's Summer 2012 Newsletter - The Youth Edition!

Oh hayyy, that’s me :)

inter-actyouth:

Shana: What Inter/Act Means to Me

In November 2010, a friend of mine asked if I might be interested in getting involved with the development of a new project. It would be an online space designed specifically for young people with intersex conditions (DSD’s) to express themselves and…

Sex Verification: You Say You’re a Woman? That Should Be Enough

By Rebecca Jordan-Young and Katrina Karkazis (the latter of whom I met and whose work is truly inspiring)

Some other intersex stories

Just wanted to post this link if anyone is interested in seeing other intersex stories, from some people who are braver than I currently am, as far as putting themselves out there publicly and sharing the most vulnerable aspects of themselves with the world.

We Who Feel Differently

Very sad I missed the May 4-5 symposium, but happy that the presentations were recorded and are available at this site. Tiger Devore’s talk “The Preservation of Difference” within the panel “Genderfull Lives, Genderfull Politics” speaks most directly to my personal story, but above all, it’s so great to see the inclusion of that section of experiences within larger conversations around gender, queerness and social justice.