Intersex Awareness Day 2020: What is Intersex? Know Meaning and Definition of Intersexual Gender Identity

Intersex Awareness Day is observed every year on October 26. This day is marked by the international LGBTIQ community to draw attention to the voices and human rights of intersex people. Leading Intersex Authorities from around the world like InterACT, OII and The Intersex Day Project, to help raise awareness about the lives, stories, and human rights of Intersex people. They also make a community of intersex people from around the world and help to give them a voice and raise their issues. But not everyone is aware of what exactly the term intersex means. So on Intersex Awareness Day 2020, we tell you the basics of what is the meaning of intersex and what comes under intersexual identity? Pansexual, Demisexual, Autosexual or Gynosexual, Were you Aware About These New Sexual Orientations.

Intersex Definition and Meaning

Intersex is a broad term in the entire list of gender identities. It describes people that fall outside the strict dimensions of a male or a female. Within the intersex identity, there are a wide range of sexual orientations and gender identities.

Intersex people are born with sex characteristics that don’t meet medical and social norms for female or male bodies. So they could have physical variation in genitals, chromosomes or other features that are related to sex development of a person. As the Intersex Community of North America puts it, "Intersex is a socially constructed category that reflects real biological variation." Sex Query of the Week: Things to Keep in Mind Before Having Sex with an Intersex Person.

Is Someone Intersex at Birth?

There are many different ways someone can be intersex. Some intersex people have genitals or internal sex organs that fall outside the male/female categories. So a person can be born with both ovarian and testicular tissues. Some can have chromosomes combinations that are different than XY ( male) and XX (female), like XXY. Or some people are born with external genitals that fall into the typical male/female categories, but their internal organs or hormones don’t.

What Happens When Someone is Born Intersex?

When a person is born with physical variations, parents and doctors decide on a sex for the baby. A surgery is done to remove the reproductive parts or fit into other parts as they reach puberty. But today with more awareness for them, intersex people just want to be known as intersex rather than classifying into any other category.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 26, 2020 07:30 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).