Submitted by Victor on
When discussing issues of gender and sexuality it’s important to use standard and established terminology, as small changes in language can lead to confusion or even misrepresentation of members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community. One example of this is the case of intersex persons, as new terms like “intersexuality” and “intersexual” can unintentionally give a misleading impression of what it means to be intersex.
Intersex persons are born with varying degrees of physical differences in their genitalia. Usually seen as a medical “syndrome” or “condition” - rather than as a form of anatomical difference - surgery is often performed on intersex children at birth to “normalise” their genitals, assigning them with a male or female sexual identity, despite the possibility that the “assigned” identity may not correspond with children’s gender identity as they get older.
Yet by adding “-sexuality” and “-sexual” on the end, the words incorrectly suggest that being an intersex person is a form of sexuality, like heterosexuality or homosexuality. Not only is this inaccurate, but when it comes to intersex children who have yet to develop a clear sexual or gender identity, it is inappropriate.
For more details on what is intersex, read the explanatory page by the OII Intersex Network here.