Today, October 26th is International Intersex Awareness Day. We talked to Belgin Günay from Inter Solidarity about what this day means and what intersex rights defenders can expect.

Author: Gözde Demirbilek

Today, October 26th is International Intersex Awareness Day. We talked to Belgin Günay from Inter Solidarity about what this day means and what intersex rights defenders can expect.

Günay started her speech by noting that another awareness day has passed without a complete end to non-consensual surgeries on intersex people, but that the intersex movement continues to make progress and gains around the world. She then pointed out that the recent bans on intersex surgeries in Germany, Kenya and Greece, and especially the ban in the neighboring country Greece, is an important development for the Intersex Movement in Turkey:

“As Inter Solidarity, we will start to take the first steps in the coming days by conducting studies on this issue together with lawyers in our country and examining sample laws to see how we can adapt them to Turkey and how we can move forward. Unfortunately, even in countries like Iceland, which we consider to be very developed, legal processes take a long time. These processes require at least 10-15 years of struggle. We are already starting and we are hopeful, we think the sooner we start, the better.”

Serious obstacles continue to prevent intersex people from accessing the right to health care:

“Unfortunately, while non-consensual interventions are made, especially regarding our genital organs, our actual health needs are ignored. Being intersex is not a disease in itself, but intersex people can have health problems specific to intersex variations, which should not be overlooked. We have great difficulty in accessing adequate, intersex-inclusive and patient-centered health services for these problems. We have the same problems not only in general health, but also in sexual health and gender affirmative health services.

For example, when intersex people try to get testosterone or estrogen hormone replacement upon their own request, it is difficult to find an endocrinologist who is knowledgeable about the hormone replacement that intersex people need. Apart from that, it is difficult for them to find medical professionals who know about intersex health in general. Even if you can find a doctor who might be knowledgeable, they may not be knowledgeable or at least attentive to the rights violations and traumas experienced by intersex people.”

Günay shared examples from Inter Solidarity’s research on the visibility of intersex people in education and employment:

“We understand from the people we interviewed how serious problems in these areas are increasing day by day. Individuals who are excluded because they are intersex also face economic problems. Someone who has difficulty finding a job because of being intersex is therefore faced with economic problems, or they cannot continue their education due to economic reasons as well as many violations of rights in their education life. He/she gets into university but cannot go because he/she cannot find a place to live. If they get a job to save money, they cannot last long, they are ostracized and bullied when their identity is revealed. Therefore, Intersex Awareness Day is not only a day to celebrate but also a day to show solidarity. I think October 26th means solidarity for everyone who is not intersex to realize these problems and to solve them.”

“Bodily autonomy is a matter for everyone in society”
On October 26th Intersex Awareness Day, Günay underlined that the problems intersex people face directly overlap with the problems non-intersex people face regarding bodily autonomy and called on everyone to show solidarity:

“Intersex is not a very detailed, niche, rare issue. Bodily autonomy is the problem of every individual in society. Whatever you call society, state, power, authority, the hand of those forces that control us and determine norms is on all of our bodies. Many issues such as reproductive rights, abortion, male circumcision, female circumcision, menstrual economic justice, problems in accessing hygiene access, women’s many bodily rights, dietary indices, beauty norms actually intersect with the problems experienced by intersex people, especially through bodily autonomy. On this October 26th Intersex Awareness Day, as intersex people, we know that the liberation of intersex bodies will bring the liberation of endosex bodies. That’s why I call on everyone to stand in solidarity with intersex people.”