Organisation Intersex International
Encyclopedia
The Organisation Intersex International (OII) is a global advocacy group for people with intersex
traits. It is the largest intersex support group
in the world.
Founded in 2003 by Curtis Hinkle, OII is a decentralised network established to give voice to intersex people primarily outside the USA, those speaking languages other than just English, and people who do not fit the medicalised categories of disorder promoted by some other intersex groups: it is for people born with bodies which have atypical sexual characteristics. OII rejects the terminology of disorder (as in Disorders of sex development
), as well as the sexualization of intersex (as in intersexuality) within an LGBT
framework; rather OII seeks to acknowledge intersex people's own distinct sexuality, or non-sexuality, or as people who may identify as gay, lesbian, trans or straight, and in alliance with people of diverse sexual orientations.
Their objective is to bring about systemic change and resist the fear, shame, secrecy and stigma imposed upon adults as well as children through both the practice of non-consensual genital surgeries and the arbitrary assignment of a particular gender without informed consultation with the individual concerned. The ethos of the group is that people will hold different views as appropriate to the individual; this often entails treating as optional socially and medically constructed categories such as binary genders, sexual identifications as well as specific and non-specific pathologisms; the identity human being being seen as the fundamental identity.
Intersex
Intersex, in humans and other animals, is the presence of intermediate or atypical combinations of physical features that usually distinguish female from male...
traits. It is the largest intersex support group
Support group
In a support group, members provide each other with various types of help, usually nonprofessional and nonmaterial, for a particular shared, usually burdensome, characteristic...
in the world.
Founded in 2003 by Curtis Hinkle, OII is a decentralised network established to give voice to intersex people primarily outside the USA, those speaking languages other than just English, and people who do not fit the medicalised categories of disorder promoted by some other intersex groups: it is for people born with bodies which have atypical sexual characteristics. OII rejects the terminology of disorder (as in Disorders of sex development
Disorders of sex development
Disorders of sex development , sometimes referred to as disorders of sex differentiation, are medical terms referring to "congenital conditions in which development of chromosomal, gonadal, or anatomical sex is atypical." Lee et al...
), as well as the sexualization of intersex (as in intersexuality) within an LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
framework; rather OII seeks to acknowledge intersex people's own distinct sexuality, or non-sexuality, or as people who may identify as gay, lesbian, trans or straight, and in alliance with people of diverse sexual orientations.
Their objective is to bring about systemic change and resist the fear, shame, secrecy and stigma imposed upon adults as well as children through both the practice of non-consensual genital surgeries and the arbitrary assignment of a particular gender without informed consultation with the individual concerned. The ethos of the group is that people will hold different views as appropriate to the individual; this often entails treating as optional socially and medically constructed categories such as binary genders, sexual identifications as well as specific and non-specific pathologisms; the identity human being being seen as the fundamental identity.