Organisation Intersex International

Organisation Intersex International

Logo for OII UK. Similar logos are used for OII in the USA and other countries (but the international organisation uses a different logo)
Abbreviation OII
Formation 2003
Type NGO
Purpose Intersex human rights
Region served
worldwide
Chairperson
Hida Viloria
Website oiiinternational.com

The Organisation Intersex International (OII) is a global advocacy and support group for people with intersex traits.[1] According to Milton Diamond, it is the world's largest organization of intersex persons.[2][3][4] A decentralised network, OII was founded in 2003 by Curtis Hinkle,[5][6] The current chairperson is Hida Viloria[7]

Mission

OII was established to give voice to intersex people, including those speaking languages other than just English, for people born with bodies which have atypical sexual characteristics such as gonads, chromosomes, and/or genitals. OII acknowledges intersex as a normal human biological variation, and rejects the terminology of disorder, as in DSD/Disorders of Sex Development, utilized by some other intersex groups, as well as the sexualization of intersex (as in Intersexuality). They acknowledge intersex people's own distinct sexuality, as people who may identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, trans, straight, or other, in alliance with other members of the LGBTI population.[8][9]

Writing in Sociology of Diagnosis, Georgiann Davis describes OII and (the now defunct) Intersex Society of North America as "activist organisations".[10] The objective of OII is to achieve equality and human rights for intersex people, and end human rights violations against them, particularly the practice of non-consensual genital surgeries on infants and minors.[11] 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 and sexual identifications; the identity human being being seen as the fundamental identity.

Affiliates

Affiliates include organisations in Chinese, French and Spanish-speaking regions, Australia, Europe and the USA. They include:

Intersex South Africa

Founded by Sally Gross, Intersex South Africa is an autonomous affiliated organisation. Advocacy work by Sally Gross led to the first recognition of intersex in law in any country in the world.[12][13]

OII Australia

Organisation Intersex International Australia is a charitable company that has achieved notable contributions to national health and human rights policies, including intersex inclusion in anti-discrimination legislation, gender recognition, healthcare access, and contributions to a Senate of Australia report on the Involuntary or coerced sterilisation of intersex people in Australia.[14][15][16][17] Notable members include co-chairs Morgan Carpenter[18] and Tony Briffa, and retired president Gina Wilson.

Oii-Chinese

Main article: Oii-Chinese

Oii-Chinese (國際陰陽人組織 — 中文版) aims to end "normalising" surgeries on intersex children, promote awareness of intersex issues, and improve government recognition of gender. Chiu says that surgical "normalisation" practices began in Taiwan in 1953. As part of this mission, founder Hiker Chiu started a "free hugs with intersex" campaign at Taipei's LGBT Pride Parade in 2010. The organisation also gives lectures and lobbies government.[19][20][21][22][23]

OII Europe

Main article: OII Europe

Founded in 2012 at the Second International Intersex Forum, OII Europe is the first European intersex NGO.[24][25] Along with ILGA-Europe, the organisation contributed to Resolution 1952 (2013) of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, on Children's Right to Physical Integrity, adopted in October 2013.[26][27][28] Co-chairs are Dan Christian Ghattas and Miriam van der Have.[29][18]

OII-Francophonie

This was the original OII, based in Quebec and Paris, from where the French title Organisation Intersex International derived, and founded by Curtis Hinckle, Andre Lorek and Vincent Guillot (amongst others) between 2003 and 2004. OII-Canada was the first OII-affiliate to become legally incorporated in 2004. OII-Francophonie hosted a summer school in Paris in 2006, with representatives from Canada, France, Belgium and the UK including Vincent Guillot, Cynthia Krauss and Paula Machado.[30][31][32]

OII Germany

OII Germany, also known as Internationale Vereinigung Intergeschlechtlicher Menschen, participates in national and European action promoting human rights and bodily autonomy.[33] In September 2013, the Heinrich Böll Foundation published Human Rights between the Sexes, an analysis of the human rights of intersex people in 12 countries, written by Dr. Dan Christian Ghattas of OII-Germany.[34][35][36][37]

OII-UK

OII-UK was established between 2004 & 2005 by Tina Livingstone, Michelle O'Brien and Sophia Siedlberg. OII-UK was active in representing the interests of intersex people at UK and European conferences, meetings and forums between 2005 and 2010. After a brief hiatus from 2010 due to members stepping down for health or migration reasons,[38] OII-UK is again active, led by Leslie Jaye.

OII-USA

Main article: OII-USA

OII-USA promotes intersex awareness, bodily autonomy, and access to sport, within the US, and amongst international institutions, including the United Nations. Notable members include director Hida Viloria.[39][40][41]

References

  1. Welcome to the online home of Organisation Intersex International – OII – world’s largest organisation of intersex people, OII International site, 10 January 2012.
  2. Milton Diamond and Hazel G Beh (2008). Changes in the management of children with intersex conditions. Nature Clinical Practice Endocrinology & Metabolism Jan;4(1):4-5. PMID 17984980
  3. Brian Still (2008). Online intersex communities: virtual neighborhoods of support and activism. Cambria Press, ISBN 978-1-60497-592-5
  4. Gerald Callahan (2009). Between XX and XY: intersexuality and the myth of two sexes. Chicago Review Press, ISBN 978-1-55652-785-2
  5. Stephan Cohen (2007). The gay liberation youth movement in New York: "an army of lovers cannot fail" Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-95799-1, page 121
  6. Katrina Karkazis (2008). Fixing sex: intersex, medical authority, and lived experience. Duke University Press ISBN 978-0-8223-4318-9
  7. Is Being Intersex A Third Gender?, The Huffington Post Live, November 23, 2013
  8. Morgan Holmes (2009). Critical Intersex. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., ISBN 978-0-7546-7311-8
  9. Vernon Rosario (2009). Quantum Sex: Intersex and the Molecular Deconstruction of Sex. GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies, 15(2):267-284; doi:10.1215/10642684-2008-138.
  10. “DSD is a Perfectly Fine Term”: Reasserting Medical Authority through a Shift in Intersex Terminology, Georgiann Davis (2011), in PJ McGann, David J. Hutson (ed.) Sociology of Diagnosis (Advances in Medical Sociology, Volume 12), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp.155-182.
  11. C Chiland (2008). La problématique de l’identité sexuée. Neuropsychiatrie de l'Enfance et de l'Adolescence Volume 56, Issue 6, September 2008, Pages 328-334
  12. In memory of Sally Gross ISSA-Intersex Society of South Africa, Intersex Trust Aotearoa New Zealand, 17 February 2014
  13. Remembering Sally Gross, Organisation Intersex International, 21 February 2014
  14. Australia can lead the way for intersex people, Morgan Carpenter in The Guardian, 18 June 2013
  15. Statement on the Senate report ‘Involuntary or coerced sterilisation of intersex people in Australia’, OII Australia, 29 October 2013
  16. Call to end intersex genital operations, Andrew Bock, The Age, 20 June 2013
  17. It's time to defend intersex rights, Morgan Carpenter at Australian Broadcasting Corporation, The Drum, 15 November 2013
  18. 1 2 "OutSummit Speakers". OutSummit. OutRight Action International. December 2015. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  19. Neither here, nor there, Taipei Times, November 27, 2013.
  20. , Lihpao Daily, 23 December 2013.
  21. Taiwan to allow legal gender changes without transitioning, Gay Star News, 9 December 2013.
  22. Germany recognises gender 'X', Liberty Times, November 3, 2013.
  23. Intersex: Hiker Chiu’s story, Radio Taiwan International, January 20, 2011.
  24. First ever European Intersex NGO founded. OII Europe sets up work on Intersex Human Right Issues, OII Europe, 14 December 2012.
  25. Transgender Europe welcomes Creation of European Intersex Human Rights Organization, Transgender Europe, March 5, 2013.
  26. Europe adopts historic intersex resolution, Heather Cassell, Bay Area Reporter, 10 October 2013.
  27. ILGA-Europe and OII Europe Statement on the adoption of a historical intersex resolution by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, ILGA-Europe, 3 October 2013.
  28. Children’s right to physical integrity: Explanatory memorandum by Ms Rupprecht, rapporteur, Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, 6 September 2013.
  29. Caroline Ausserer, Dr. Dan Christian Ghattas (December 15, 2015). ""It Is Still a Big Taboo"". Heinrich Böll Foundation. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  30. A qui appartiennent nos corps? Féminisme et luttes intersexes Nouvelles Questiones Féministes, Vol. 27, No. 1/2008, Université de Lausanne.
  31. 1ères Universités d’été des Intersexes et Intergenres d’Europe Paris - du 16 au 19 août 2006, OII-France, 1 August 2006.
  32. Op-ed: Germany’s Third-Gender Law Fails on Equality, Hida Viloria in The Advocate, November 6, 2013.
  33. Human Rights Between the Sexes, Dan Christian Ghattas and Heinrich Böll Foundation, September 2013.
  34. Dr. Dan Christian Ghattas, OII Germany, 8 January 2008.
  35. A preliminary study on the life situations of inter* individuals, OII Europe, 4 November 2013.
  36. Menschenrechte zwischen den Geschlechtern, Heinrich Böll Foundation, October 2013.
  37. Reflection on a Decade of OII Activism in an English Speaking Context, 24 November 2014
  38. Open Letter: A Call for the Inclusion of Human Rights for Intersex People, ILGA-Europe, December 10, 2012
  39. At UN human rights event, Navratilova and Collins decry homophobic violence, United Nations UN News Centre, December 10, 2013
  40. Why We Must Protect Intersex Babies, The Advocate, September 27, 2013
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