View Full Version : SF Human rights Commission announcement
Dear Friends,
I was recently appointed as a new member of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Advisory Committee as an intersex person. I've been working on our Intersex Task Force since last summer as a community participant. You are invited to participate in a Public Hearing on Intersex Treatment. The hearing has been scheduled by the Human Rights Commissioners for Thursday, May 27, 2004 at 4:30 pm in room 416 of San Francisco City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place. We expect the hearing to last 2-3 hours. It could go longer......
As a Board member of the Intersex Society of North America, I hope you would be willing to speak on behalf of our Patient-Centered model of care as opposed to the current medical practice of concealment-centered care. There are several important issues that need to be addressed so that the Commissioners can hear all sides of this timely topic, (i.e., informed consent, consequences of treatment, mental health needs of the individual and family, outcomes of treatment, body sovereignty, parent's rights, gender identity, and civil rights of the individual to name a few). If you are able to attend and speak at the hearing, please let me know at your earliest convenience and which issues you feel comfortable addressing. Each speaker will have 3 minutes at the podium.
If you are unable to participate in this "historic event," we are accepting written testimony that will be shared at the hearing (3 minute time limit applies here too) and will be used when we write our Guidelines for Recommended Care of Intersex.
http://www.bodieslikeours.org/upcomingevents/upcomingevents.htm (includes contact information)
Sincerely,
David Iris Cameron (XXY sex chromosomes)
Sometimes, amid the controversies that arise on this forum, I like to remind myself that each of us, as intersex people and allies of intersex people, can quietly go about our business of raising public awareness of intersex issues. The SF Human Rights Commission Intersex Task Force meeting of last Wednesday, 4/7/04 made progress in planning the upcoming HRC May 27th Public Hearing on Intersex. The meeting was well attended. The SF HRC is very forward looking and is positioning itself to take historic actions in support of intersex rights in the coming months.
A CALL FOR INTERSEX TESTIMONY:
Intersex testimony is very important to the May 27th Public Hearing. We are getting testimony from around the world. Intersex activists have drawn up an outline of possible intersex topics to be included in public testimony. You can add any intersex topics you want, as the following is only a suggestion. The outline:
Medical
Informed Consent
Patient (centered vs. :)) Concealment Model
Personal Experiences
Treatment Consequences
Resources
Medical Outcome
Mental Health
After care/medical treatment
Lack of information - lost to follow-up
Legal
Informed consent
Gender Identity
Body Sovereignty
Parents' rights
Children's rights
Civil rights
Social
Patient (centered vs. :)) Concealment model
Personal experiences
Treatment consequences
Family dynamics
Resources
Gender Identity
Homophobia
Body sovereignty
Parents' rights
Children's rights
Support networks
Civil rights
As noted in the previous post:
"The hearing has been scheduled by the Human Rights Commissioners for Thursday, May 27, 2004 at 4:30 pm in room 416 of San Francisco City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place. We expect the hearing to last 2-3 hours. It could go longer......"
Public testimony is very important, and we encourage all intersex people and parents of intersex people to come and testify. Each person will have three minutes of public speaking time to address the Commissioners. If you cannot make it in person, you can send a written statement to Marcus de Maria Arana, an HRC Commissioner and Discrimination Investigator who works with the Intersex Task Force. Written statements about intersex issues should be roughly 350 words long maximum, about the equivalent of three minutes of speaking time. I am not sure of the details at this point, but at least some written statements will be publicly read into the record by local intersex activists on behalf of their friends. We have several local intersex people scheduled to speak, and also have several parents of intersex people scheduled to appear in person, or have testimony read on their behalf.
Written statements should be sent to Marcus de Maria Arana by May 10, 2004. Marcus's email address is: Marcus.Arana@<hidden>
Peter
Peter,
Are they interested in comments from outside of San Francisco or only people in SF?
Betsy
Comments from outside San Francisco are welcome. For instance, I live outside SF in the East Bay, and I am scheduled to speak. I have heard that a parent of an intersex child, who lives on the east coast and is closely associated with this forum will probably be providing written testimony. Also, I understand that an Australian contingent including a parent and her intersex child are planning to attend the hearing. This is a historic opportunity for the intersex community to provide testimony to the HRC which is closely examining the practice of childhood intersex surgery. The HRC has real municipal powers to guide public policy.
Peter
Here is a new SF Human Rights Commission Press Release Announcing:
the FIRST Public Hearing on Intersex Issues before a Government body in the USA!:
The San Francisco Human Rights Commission is
conducting a Public Hearing to explore human rights
concerns associated with intersex issues. This
groundbreaking event is the first time that a
governmental entity in the USA has addressed intersex
issues. The San Francisco Human Rights Commission is
the City department responsible for enforcing San
Francisco's nondiscrimination laws.
WHEN: On Thursday, May 27, 2004, 4:30 p.m.
WHERE: Rm. 416, City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett
Place, 4th floor, San Francisco.
Call for participation:
The Commission invites people to share their personal
experiences regarding medical, social, and legal
aspects of their experiences, regarding potential
human rights aspects of intersex issues. The Commission
encourages the participation and
attendance of intersex people, parents and family
members of intersex people, and providers. The public is
strongly encouraged to attend!
Written testimony from people who can't make the
hearing, or who may wish to offer an anonymous
contribution are also needed. Please send your
testimonies (preferably by May 17, 2004) to the
address below.
Please distribute this announcement widely through
your public and personal networks.
For more information contact, and to send written
testimonies:
Marcus Arana
25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 800
San Francisco, CA 94102-6033
(415) 252-2519
marcus.arana@<hidden>
uman Rights Commission press release related to the upcoming hearings on intersex:
I would really like to encourage people to share their personal experiences with the SF Human Rights Commission Intersex Hearing scheduled for May 27th. They are particularly interesting in the involuntary assignment of sex either through surgery or hormone treatments. You do not have to sign your name, but Marcus Arana must have it mailed to him by May 17th. I am posting what I plan to say in hopes that you might write your own testimony (it needs to be no more than three minutes in length, or about one page of written testimony):
Peter Trinkl
HRC Intersex Testimony
For May 27, 2004 SF HRC Intersex Hearing (Slightly modified from earlier email version)
"My name is Peter Trinkl and I am an intersex person. When I was growing up, my parents were very secretive about my being intersex. The topic was only mentioned in passing and with great embarrassment. I found out from my mother that I was born with a vaginal opening but lacked internal female organs. I had cosmetic genital surgery because of being intersex.
Once, when I was about six years old, I fell while playing and was knocked unconscious. When I regained consciousness, I found my little brother and his friend had lowered my pants to examine my genital scars. After I scolded my brother, he confessed that my parents had pressured him never to reveal my secret. After word apparently spread through my brother’s friend, I was repeatedly bullied at school, and remember getting my head slammed into a metal gate. I could not complain about the continual bullying because the shame and secrecy with which intersex people are regarded made it impossible to talk to either my parents or school officials about the abuse. I don’t blame my brother for my problems because he was honest about my situation. Once, when I was about eleven years old, another intersex child introduced himself to me, and explained that he was interested in talking about his being intersex because he had found out from my brother that I was intersex.
I do not believe that intersex conditions are birth defects. I wish that no surgery had been done on me. I feel that I have been un-necessarily scared by the medical profession. Without surgery, I would have been an intersex person without scars. With surgery, I was turned into an intersex person with scars. Every person is more than their genitals, and to believe that one can treat intersex people through genital surgery is extremely short-sighted. Recent research indicates that intersex people have intersex brains, which in turn govern a chain of developmental events that may lead to ambiguous genitals. Ambiguous genitals are a late developmental sign of intersex. There are also interesting issues of the bodies sometimes developing differently on their right and left sides. Intersex surgery, even on its own terms of promoting a “hiding” of my being intersex was a failure, and I have had to repeatedly explain my genital scars throughout my life.
Being born intersex is not a medical emergency. While I have met some intersex people, for whom surgery was necessary for urinary problems, they are the exception. Most surgery performed on intersex people is for purposes of sex assignment and the visual “normalization” of the appearance of their genitals. These surgeries rest on a very dubious ethical foundation that not performing them will lead to social problems later in life. I bitterly resent that genital surgery that was done on me. I am opposed to surgery, which is not medically necessary, being performed on intersex people without our informed consent. Thank you."
Peter
Dana Gold
05-13-04, 11:26 AM
Hey Peter!
In one of the posts, it says to have our experiences sent to Marcus by May 10.....another by May 17:confused: . Which is it?... If I send an email before May 17th....would it be acceptable or too late?
Dana
Hi Dana,
You have sharp eyes. Yes, originally the deadline for testimony was May 10th, but it was later changed to May 17th. Any email testimony to Marcus Arana, should be followed up with a hard copy sent to Marcus's address. They will need a hard copy of written testimony submitted to them as well as any email. It would be best if the hard copy shows up at the offices of the SF HRC by May 17th. I just sent my hard copy.
Of course, if you show up at the hearing, you can speak during the public comment portion of the hearing for your three minutes of alotted time without having submitted written testimony before hand. It is a public hearing.
Again, to make this easy for people reading this post, the address of Marcus Arana, Discrimination Investigator with the SF HRC, is:
Marcus Arana
25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 800
San Francisco, CA 94102-6033
Other Contact Information:
(415) 252-2519
marcus.arana@<hidden>
Peace,
Peter
Peter,
Fax number?
I'm glad you mentioned the hard copy requirement as that was not made known previously.
Betsy
Betsy,
The FAX number for Marcus Arana and the SF Human Rights Commission is (415) 431-5764.
Peter
Last night, I attended the SF Human Rights Commission intersex planning committee meeting for the upcoming May 27th intersex public hearing. I would like to say thank you to everyone who sent in written testimony to Marcus Arana. Marcus left me a voice mail, and repeated in person, that he really appreciated the effort that members of this forum put into providing intersex testimony for the SF Human Rights Commission. Because of your efforts, I believe that the voices and experiences of intersex people will have the center stage at the upcoming hearing. Marcus said that he had received more than twenty testimonies.
Most of the meeting was spent going over the agenda, and taking care of last minute items. Because of the positive intersex community response to the hearing, we were feeling good. I know that "Bodies" members plan to attend the hearing and speak during the public comments portion of the hearing. I know that I plan to speak. I did find the following pamphlet "A Speaker's Handbook for Intersex Activists" on the internet, and plan to study it:
www.confluere.com/store/pdf-zn/ipdx-speaker.pdf
p.s. The intersex members of the planning committee thought that it would be a good idea if intersex people who were interested, could go out to dinner together after the hearing. A couple of committee members are looking into restaurant possibilities.
There's even going to be a last minute guest there *grin*
It was out of my control and is a planned kidnapping :D
Betsy
hi everyone. i am planning to talk at the hrc thing & have been trying to whittle down what i want to say into a 3-5 minute blurb (it started at 15 pages). it's difficult to get the nuances and the story into that, but i'm trying! anyway, i want to let folks here at blo have a chance to read this *if* you're interested and give me constructive feedback/criticisms if you feel so moved.
i would especially appreciate hearing any concerns people have with it.
i hope it is okay to post this under this thread, too--if it isn't, i apologize. i'm new here & just getting the hang of this space.
please be honest but gentle about any concerns because this is very vulnerable for me.
********
My name is Blue. I want to speak about abuses I’ve survived concerning my deviance from an arbitrary norm. Though I’m not an IGM survivor, my abuse was made possible by the very impetus behind its practice and by the concealment model of treatment in general.
My family targeted me for sexual abuse on the basis of my bodily difference. My earliest memory is of being between two and four, when they stripped me, exposing my genitals, to delineate the difference between male and female, and to interrogate the meaning of my “ambiguity.” I was too young to understand the social significance of my anatomy, but I got the message that I was a freak.
That shame made me an easy target. When my brother molested me, he forced compliance by threatening to tell my secret at school. My peers at school had been culturally taught to see intersex as other than human. I felt tremendous pressure to be feminine and heterosexual, to ease other people’s anxiety about my body. When I was “discovered,” death threats flooded my locker and a group of boys who wanted to know “the truth” about me found it out by dragging me into their bathroom and assaulting me. I dropped out of high school at sixteen.
Meanwhile, I wasn’t maturing the way my family wanted. Nobody understood that I loved my body exactly as it was. I was getting too old to be called a late bloomer, so they fed me hormones which they claimed were vitamins.
Feeling peace about those changes requires vigilant, painful work. I mourn my body that felt right and comfortable, as it was before that betrayal. Years later, a relative sent me a book on the dangers of synthetic estrogens. I was given these substances without knowledge or consent. If there was a legitimate medical concern, I’ll be the last to know.
Health care providers have been thoroughly trained in protecting me from the truth they consider so monstrous. When I was a preteen, the doctor treating my scoliosis told me I’d never be able to have children because I was “too small.” Asking questions got me a cryptic smile and a pat on the head. At nineteen, a so-called expert in intersex asked me, “Did they keep you small because they wanted you to be a girl?” He thought I was a boy and put me on testosterone. I believed it could reverse the changes estrogen made; but of course, nothing will ever do that.
His examination left me wondering what century it was. He poked and prodded, murmuring about my “extraordinary” body, shrinking me into a specimen. He did give me copies of lab results, which was a first. I’ve repeatedly sent to Kaiser for childhood records and routinely received no response.
Often, doctors focus on my sex when I’m seeking help for something unrelated, like the flu. This happens in HMO offices as well as queer- and trans-friendly clinics. Even when I had a work-related arm injury, the nurse practitioner asked me to promise I’d have my gonads removed because they could be precancerous. She’d only ever examined my arms! If I were uninformed, I might have survived childhood intact only to be misled into surgery at this late date.
Now I’m having health problems which do require a pelvic exam, and I’m terrified. Where can I find a doctor to treat me with dignity, let alone know enough about a body like mine to help me?
Hospitals in San Francisco regularly perform IGM. Clearly, the most pressing concern is its direct effect on the people--often babies and young children--who are mutilated. Also, though, it affects the entire climate of health care. With IGM comes the standard procedure of lying to intersex patients and their families. We’re not accorded the rights of more privileged patients; informed consent isn’t required for “normalizing” procedures, even when they’re medically unnecessary.
One argument for IGM holds that intersex people suffer socially if they’re not altered surgically. But I wasn’t hurt because my body was different. I was hurt because people hated and feared that difference. IGM and the concealment model perpetuate that fear and hate, reinforcing the lie that there’s something shamefully wrong with bodies like ours.
I call on the HRC to recognize the patterns in our varied stories. You’ll see a vicious cycle spinning—fear and ignorance begetting abuse and concealment, begetting more fear and ignorance—all amounting to a severe breach of human rights.
Thanks Blue for sharing the testimony that you plan to give to the San Francisco Human Rights Commission Intersex hearing this Thursday. It is beautifully written. I appreciate that you posted it in this thread so that other "Bodies..." members can hear your moving story.
Peter
Speaking the truth, from your heart, is always perfect. Don't change a thing.
Glenn
Good luck everyone on the 27th. I wish I was as brave and open as you.
Blue: I was so touched by you, I am sitting here crying. I thank god everyday that my little sister kept her mouth shut. Your high school torment was a reality that I feared everyday. I would not change a thing.
David
i am so moved by everyone's support i don't know what to say. i hope i don't disappoint folks when i say that i don't think i can actually go through with this.
i guess i am incredibly naive and stupid about such things, but i *just* found out that there will be press and videotaping and news cameras and documentary filmmakers, etc. at this event. i had NO idea. the commissioner was like "well, yeah, that's what 'public forum' means" but i had NO idea that's what public forum meant.
and, actually, another commissioner told me otherwise--said that only government tv people would film but that they weren't going to ever air it and that they could turn the cameras away from me at my request. then i called to request it and basically got told "we can't do that--how could you have not known?" and said my option was to wear a mask (creepy! wrong message!)
so. i think i just can't do it. it would be hard enough without all that! i'm not *that* brave. i'm glad some people are.
i hope i'm still invited to dinner afterwards.
Hi Blue,
Thanks for being honest about your situation. You wrote a very beautiful statement which has moved people on this forum, including me, to tears. I can understand your not wanted to face media scrutiny. Have you sent your statement to the SF HRC? If you have not done so, I would like permission to print out your post and take it to the intersex committee meeting this evening where we will be planning tomorrow's events.
Even if you do not read your own statement aloud, it can still be entered into the hearing record. Forget the press - the most important thing is that your words and experiences are shared with the members of the Human Rights commission. Please let us know which direction you want to go in, and I will try to do everything I can to help get your written statement before the commission.
It's great to hear that you will be attending the hearing, and I am looking forward to getting together with you and other intersex people and our allies after the hearing for dinner.
Cheers,
Peter
Last week's San Francisco Human Rights Commission hearing on intersex issues went very well. The testimony of Bodies Like Ours members Betsy, Blue, and Peter was a key part of the hearing. I am preparing a longer report on last week's events, but in the mean time, here is a link to a news article reporting the hearing:
http://www.gay.com/news/article.html?2004/05/28/3
On May 27, 2004, the San Francisco Human Rights Commission held a historic hearing on Intersex issues. It was the first public hearing held on Intersex issues in the United States. The hearing room at San Francisco City Hall was packed with intersex people and our allies.
At the beginning of the hearing, Marcus Arana, a discrimination investigator with the Human Rights Commission, briefly laid out the reasons for the hearing. He reported that the SF HRC had received complaints that intersex people were being subjected to infant genital surgery for the purposes of sex assignment without proper consent. While he acknowledged that some childhood genital surgery was necessary for medical reasons, such as providing a functional urinary canal, he expressed concerns about cosmetic surgeries meant to normalize the appearance of a child’s genitals. He also reported that between 1 in 2000 births and 1 in 150 births are intersex. (Note: as 1 in 400 male births is XXY, or Klienfelter’s syndrome, the politics of what constitutes an intersex condition is heavily involved in these figures.)
The first person from the public to speak was Dr. Larry Baskin, a urologist working at University of California at San Francisco. UCSF is the main center for infant genital surgery in San Francisco. Dr. Baskin said that the treatment of intersex conditions has improved in recent years. He said that urologists are concerned with the best treatment possible for intersex children. Dr. Baskin disputed the claim that about 40 infant genital surgeries are performed each year at UCSF. He said that he had performed only 1 infant genital surgery in the last year.
Thea Hillman, former Board President of the Intersex Society of North America shared her experiences growing up with CAH. As a champion of intersex rights, she condemned the concealment model of intersex treatment, which holds that all information about an intersex child’s medical treatment should be withheld from the child. She said that ISNA’s position is that the child should not be subject to shame and secrecy, but rather be fully informed about medical treatments.
Thea Hillman’s testimony was followed by the sharing of personal experiences by the following intersex people- Betsy Driver, Hida Viloria, Christa Derzi, Blue, David Cameron, Peter Trinkl, and Suegee Tamar-Mattis. The personal experiences shared were incredibly powerful, and deeply moved both the commissioners and the audience. Out of respect for those who shared their deeply personal and often painful experiences, I will not try to summarize the testimony here. The testimony was covered by the city television network, several independent filmmakers, and a court reporter. The testimony of the intersex community has been preserved for the future.
After a short break, the hearing continued with the testimony of parents of intersex children. Freema Hillman, mother of Thea Hillman, shared her experiences of raising an intersex child. The testimony of Debbie Hartman, mother of Kelli Hartman, was read on her behalf into the record.
Following the testimony of parents, a couple of medical providers shared their testimony. Dr. Kate O’ Hanlan, OB/GYN presented a powerful slide show on how the medical treatment of intersex children often violates the ethical standards of the medical profession. She presented passages from the Nuremburg Codes and the governing bodies of medical practice in the United States, which posed serious ethical questions about the practice of infant genital surgery. Dr. Hanlan also noted the lack of adequate long term followup studies on infant genital surgeries. Dr. Milton Diamond, through testimony that was read on his behalf, called for a moratorium of the practice of infant genital surgery on intersex children. He believes that such surgeries should not be performed without the consent of the child.
Members of the educational community addressed the commission. Dr. Joan Roughgarden, with the Department of Biological Sciences at Stanford, following the line of argument in her new book, “Evolution’s Rainbow”, said that the assumptions of what is "normal" presented in the biological training of pre-med students is contradicted by the actual sexual diversity of the natural world. Dr. Naomi O’ Keefe, a psychologist with the Argosy Institute, testified on the psychological harm done to intersex people when the psychological issues confronting us are not openly addressed, but rather hidden behind a veil of secrecy and shame. Joy O’ Donnell, Director of Training for the Human Sexuality program at SF State University, testified about progress being made in training around intersex issues. She said that when her program did workshops on intersex topics for medical professionals, that the participants from the medical community expressed deep appreciation to the Human Sexuality program for educating them on intersex issues, because their previous training had been very limited. She also mentioned that the Human Sexuality program is now working on a groundbreaking semester long course on intersex issues.
During the public comments portion of the hearing, several people presented their own moving stories of either being intersex or having been subjected to female circumcision.
After the hearing, several intersex people and our allies had dinner together at a local restaurant.
Peter
Klinefelter 1 in 400? I'm sorry but I'm afraid that this number is incorrect. Research published in 2003 (J Clin Endocrinol Metab 88(2):622-6) by Bojesen A, Juul S, Gravholt CH, based on prenatal and postnatal testing have found a prevalence of 1 in 469 but sadly after correction for the number of aborted fetuses they found a prevalence of 1 in 654 live-born males.
Intersex 1 in 150? I doubt if this can be true. If it would be true there would be a lot more members here... Even a prevalence of 1 in 2000 births is also disputable. Leonard Sax wrote a response to the publication written by Anne Fausto-Sterling: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12476264&dopt=Abstract
It is not necessary to exaggerate: a small group of people is not less important than a large group.
Groeten, Miriam
==================================
http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/full/88/2/622?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&author1=bojesen&searchid=1086027317077_2232&stored_search=&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&journalcode=jcem
The authors of this paper have used the Danish Cytogenic Central Registry, which has been recording karyotyping results since 1961, to describe the prenatal and postnatal prevalence of Klinefelter’s syndrome. Karyotypes 47XXY, 48XXXY, 49XXXXY and mosaics 47XXY/46XY were included. Previous surveys in male infants have described a prevalence ranging from 85-223/100,000 males (mean 152/100,000). Prenatal karotyping identified 163 cases resulting in a potential prevalence of 213/100,000 males. After adjusting for the number of aborted fetuses, the authors estimated a prevalence of 153/100,000 in live-born males. Postnatally, in each 5-year group of men born between 1931 and 2000, the rate of diagnosis was much lower than anticipated; only 25% of the expected number was diagnosed. There was no change in the prevalence of Klinefelter’s as a function of time. Advancing maternal age was associated with a greater likelihood of Klinefelter syndrome.
-------------------------------Miriam said-----------------------------------
Intersex 1 in 150? I doubt if this can be true. If it would be true there would be a lot more members here... Even a prevalence of 1 in 2000 births is also disputable.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you for posting this Miriam. I have wanted to say that for a
long time.
I feared that I might make enemies here. Most cases of
intersex conditions not only, don’t need surgery, but also can go
unnoticed until the person is much older and often they do have
a part in the choice of surgery.
Ambiguous genitals ( like I had) and other types of pseudo
hermaphrodites are subjected to early surgery,
but are much more rare then other types of intersex condtions
which don’t need surgery. I myself have wondered if intersex is
realy so common.. where is everbody??? :confused:
Part of the reason why surgery is still done is not just because of
the social reasons ( like we don't talk about sex) but because
there is still very little support for groups of people whos
numbers are very small. A example of this
would be: It is easy for gays to get togeather and fight for their
equal rights, there are lots of them around. People who have
had early surgery can not ban togeather as easily because
there are only a few of us in each state, or country.
If we were more honest about our numbers that we might get
more exposure.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Baskin disputed the claim that about 40 infant genital surgeries are performed each year at UCSF. He said that he had performed only 1 infant genital surgery in the last year.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Crawford of M.G.H. has told me the same thing. In fact many
doctors do not want to be put in the position of having to
operate on an intersex child ( they don't want to get sued!) so
they pass the child down to a specialist in that field. Most
intersex specialists are doing work in cloacal surgery and there is
no doubt that cloacals are a life and death situation.
There just are not enough intersex specialists
around today to be operating on children in the large numbers
that we advocate.:eek:
On the other hand, I think that a good step foward was made.
I think that all of you are very brave for comming out and telling
your storys. Peter, you are doing world of good, I am so glad
you came to BLO. Good job to Betsy for keeping this site active
It all means a lot to me :)
There is still time to write to marcus.arana@<hidden> about your concerns with intersex genital surgery and other intersex issues and have your concerns be considered in the commission's report. Marcus Arana has set the date of June 25th as the deadline for submitting late or follow-up materials. (It can be new. It does not have to be late or follow-up in nature.) I checked with Marcus, and he said that it was fine for me to post this message asking for further community input.
After having heard public testimony, the SF Human Rights Commission will now take up the issue of findings and recommendations. The commissioners seemed to be very moved by our testimony. I believe that they are really concerned about getting input from the intersex community about what they can do to help our community. At one point, in response to a commissioner's question to me about changing psychological education, I recommended that they ask Bodies Like Ours or ISNA for an answer.
There are probably some real political limits on what they can do, as ultimately medical practice is regulated by the state medical board. Still, the commissioners seem really interested in taking actions that can help intersex people both in the area of SF public hospitals and SF public schools as well as other community issues.
This is a chance for us to have input to public policy surrounding intersex issues. It would be great if you could also share your creative ideas here.
The final SF Human Rights Commission report will not appear until this Fall, so this is a step forward in what I hope can be a positive working relationship between the SF Human Rights Commission and the intersex community and our allies.
Check with Marcus Arana to see if they still need hard copy of anything submitted. His full contact information is:
Marcus Arana
25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 800
San Francisco, CA 94102-6033
(415) 252-2519
marcus.arana@<hidden>
Peter
This just in from Marcus Arana of the SF Human Rights Commission:
Dear Folks:
SFGTV has taped the Intersex Hearing held on May 27, 2004. It will be
rebroadcast this Friday, June 4, 2004 at noon on Channel 26 in San
Francisco, on Cable.
I have attached information about how to research future broadcasts, and
how to order tapes/DVDs of the Hearing.
"Due to the timely nature of SFGTV's programming, the program schedule
is subject to change. However, SFGTV offers access to current schedule
information in the following ways:
Check SFGTV's website for a complete listing of the current
week's programming.
Tune into Cable Channel 26 and view On-Air Program schedules on
the half-hour, and on the hour.
Call the SFGTV hotline at (415) 557-4293, to hear a recording of
live cablecast and repeat playback times.
If you call during business hours, a SFGTV representative will
respond with schedule information.
Copies of taped meetings are available for purchase from SFGTV. (415)
554-4188."
Presumably that will be at noon pacific time, 3pm eastern. You can also watch a webcast of the hearing as it is replayed and order a dvd copy:
http://sfgov.org/site/sfgtv_index.asp?id=11463
Peter, thanks for letting us know!
Betsy
Emi busted the secret code *grin* (just joking) to find the location of the video on demand for the hearing. It's at http://majestic.ipolis.net/ops/tplgen.php?X=C1001&T=sfgtv&S=R8-313
betsy
This is just in from Marcus:
Greetings:
Just a reminder that the next meeting of the Intersex Task Force will be on
Thursday June 17, 2004 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the HRC office, located at 25
Van Ness Avenue, 8th floor.
Remember that the day and date has been changed to meet on Thursday due to
a schedule conflict on my part.
We will debrief the Hearing and discuss next steps of the process of
writing the Report.
If there is anything else you can think of, please call me before the
meeting.
The Hearing was awesome and you all were great! It was a group effort and
we have received so much praise for the tone and content of that Hearing.
Congratulations!!!
Marcus
Marcus de Maria Arana
Discrimination Investigator
San Francisco Human Rights Commission
(415) 252-2519
The SF Human Rights Commission Intersex Task Force is moving forward. We had an informal un-official potluck, which included many members of the task force last Sunday in San Francisco. "Bodies" had a couple of people there. In the interests of openness, I am posting a letter I wrote about on-going events:
"Hi David,
Thanks for hosting the pot luck last week. I found it really great to sit around on a Sunday afternoon, discussing intersex issues with other interesex people and our trans* allies. You asked me to write up some notes on the conversation.
In looking over my notes, I notice that a common theme of all of them is a desire to respect the freedom and autonomy of intersex people. Early in the conversation, there was a concern that our options in moving forward, might either be to create a "stink" or be engaged in more constructive educational activities. However, upon further discussion, I think that it was generally agreed that while individuals present may or may not believe that confronting the doctors would be creating a "stink" the issues that doctors must be confronted about remain critically important. I think that one valuable aspect of the conversation was that there seems to be some emerging agreement that both strong advocacy for intersex rights and public education are not mutually exclusive. We need to pursue both the path of freedom from medically unnecessary genital surgery and other involuntary treatments as well as educate doctors and others about intersex issues.
I know that Dr. Diamond among others called for either an end to, or a moritorium on,infant genital surgeries. Although I would personally like an end to unnecessary genital surgeries, I think that much research needs to be done on the issue. A problem with directly asking for an end to surgeries on medical grounds that the surgeries are medically unnecessary, is that the practice of medicine is ultimately governed at the state level. I think that to ask for a moritorium, we whould have to made a strong appeal to some higher moral authority. For instance, if I might go out on a limb, abortion survives not for narrow medical reasons, but because that ultimate right of privacy between a doctor and patient still gets some respect and has wide support. Sometimes it is necessary to bring in moral arguements, like Dr. Hanlon's assertion that IGM in the United States is just as much a product of cultural conditions here as in Africa when millions of women undergo cliterodectomies.
Thea brought up the issue of having intersex children who are born in San Francisco be assigned a professional rights advocate independent of the parents, doctors, and hospital. This is a great idea and we should move forward on it. It was also brought up at the hearing by another speaker, but needs to be repeated and emphased. I know that every person involuntarily committed to a mental hospital, in California, has the right to consult a professional "patient's rights advocate". My friend held one of these positions for several years, so if you want to know more about a similar program, please let me know.
There were repeated complaints about intersex children and their parents being left in the dark about their options. Several speakers at the hearing, testified that other children were born in the same hospital with the same condition, but were never told about this possibly valuable resource. There is a need for informed consent by intersex children for the irreversible medical procedures that we undergo. Children should be left with as many options as possible and there should be no "hyper-binary" and homophobic assignment of sex. There were also comments made that schools and textbooks now excluded intersex issues, and that this is a dangerous omission.
I thought that the meeting was a great success. There seemed to be strong agreement that no medicaly unnecessary surgery should be performed without the informed consent of an intersex child. One great factor in our favor, is that in watching the taped version of the hearing a couple of times, I noticed that so much great and powerful testimony was given, that there is a good foundation for moving forward. In the future, if anyone says that they do not understand the issues, all we would have to do is send them a tape or DVD of the hearing. After watching it, I believe that it would be difficult to maintain that one does not understand the issues.
Peter
Here is a copy of a letter that I just sent to Marcus Arana. I am posting it in the interests of getting community feedback:
Hi Marcus,
After staying up all night thinking about yesterday's Intersex task force meeting, I believe that we have been too timid in considering advocating ending infant genital surgery on intersex children. I recommend that the task force consider advocating a partial end to infant genital surgery. We have been afraid of the "M" word - moratorium.
As a person who was subjected to infant genital surgery, I realize that questions of informed consent and medical practice are often complex. However, despite the complexity of issues, I believe that we should take a pro-active stance towards ending some of the worst abuses surrounding infant genital surgery.
Following Dr. O'Hanlon's suggestions, I suggest that we move towards an end to the following practices:
1) Clitorectomies, clitoral reductions, and clitoral recession surgeries.
2) The surgical removal of micro-penises.
These irreversible procedures cause tremendous harm later in life to children who have undergone them. I believe that these procedures are deeply rooted in homophobic and anti-gender variation ideas. Dr. O'Hanlon and other people at the hearing described at length the legal and ethical problems of such surgeries. I am deeply disturbed that Dr. Baskin indicated in his testimony that he is willing to continue performing clitoral surgeries. I believe that clitorectomies, clitoral reductions, clitoral recessions, and the surgical removal or micro-penises should never be done before getting the patient's informed consent at an appropriate age.
The issues are complex, and I don't believe that we can end all infant genital surgeries now. For instance, I had vaginal and testicular surgery that is not mentioned above. I bitterly resent the procedures done on me, but I am not sure that we can directly end them at this time. By focusing on the surgeries mentioned above, I believe that we have the best legal and moral chance of making real progress for the rights of intersex people.
Sincerely,
Peter Trinkl
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