Sex refers to a person’s anatomy, physical attributes such as external sex organs, sex chromosomes and internal reproductive structures. 

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For most people, the anatomical indicators of sex line up in a way that is typically understood as male or female. These initial notions of being either a biological male or female are challenged by the term intersex. Intersex refers to a variety of conditions in which an individual is born with reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t fit the typical binary of female or male bodies. Intersex people are born with chromosomes, external genitalia, and/or internal reproductive systems that are not considered “typical” for either the male (penis, testes, XY chromosomes) or female (ovaries, vagina, uterus, XX chromosomes) sex. 

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With the advent of new scientific knowledge, it is increasingly evident that biological sex does not fit a binary model. Intersex conditions are increasingly being recognized as naturally occurring variations of human physiology.

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Following years of organizing by intersex activists all around the world, momentum is growing to end what was once a standard practice of “gender-normalizing surgery” performed on intersex infants with ambiguous genitalia.

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“In 2013, the United Nations condemned the use of this unnecessary surgery on infants, putting it in the same category as involuntary sterilization, unethical experimentation or reparative therapy when enforced or administered without the free and informed consent of the person receiving the surgery.”

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