SF Human Rights Commission Meeting 3/10/05

[Peter]

The San Francisco Human Rights Commission will be meeting again on 3/10/05 to further consider the Intersex Task Force Report. Although the report was tentatively approved by a 6 to 0 roll call vote at the last 1/27/05 SF HRC meeting, final wording of the report is still not settled. A doctor with UCSF has asked to be able to address the SF HRC, and may appear at the 3/10/05 meeting, or at a later meeting. At this time, it is very important for intersex people and our allies to make our presence felt at the SF HRC. It would be foolish to think that powerful forces in the medical community might not attempt to lessen or nullify the human rights advances recommended in the Intersex Task Force Report. We can not rest until the report is finalized in an acceptable form. Everyone is invited to attend the next SF HRC meeting, which will be held at San Francisco City Hall, March 10th, at 4:30 p.m. in room 416.

Peter

[nimo6211]

Hey Peter. Thanks for the info. I would love to attend and will make every attempt to do so. Maybe I will see you there. Cheers!

[nimo6211]

Hey Peter: Trust everything went well at the meeting yesterday and look forward to hearing you share some good news with us (if it is not confidential that is). Particularly, I would like to hear the role of the medical practitioner that was supposed to be present there. Have a nice day and keep smiling.

[Fee]

Hi Peter,
To echo Nina, I, too, am waiting in anticipation for news of the SF Human Rights Commission meeting. Thanks for taking the trouble to attend this.
Take care,
Fee

[Peter]

Hi All,

It was a very dramatic meeting on March 10th, but unfortunately the report was not released. Dr. Larry Baskin, a surgeon with UCSF, has said that the report misrepresents his work, and he wants to correct the report. However, Dr. Baskin was a no show, and it looks as though he will be requested to present his corrections by the next April 14th meeting as the commissioners generally want to move forward. I recommended that the Human Rights Commission be generous and give Dr. Baskin one last chance to appear. I am aware that there is a deep moral double standard in this, as I recommended that the commission be considerate towards Dr. Baskin, but historically, some pediatric urologists have shown a profound lack of consideration for the human rights of intersex children.

Peter

[prince....ss?]

I am very interested in the work your doing. I feel like I walked in the room after half of the story was told. Could you fill me in a little please?

What is Intersex Task Force? Purpose, goals, agenda? I’ve never heard of anything like it. Are you all the first?

Intersex Task Force Report. What’s the focus of the report?

What’s the link between this Dr. Larry Baskin and the report?

Is this Dr. Larry Baskin a good guy, bad guy, or just a guy?

Just from your post sounds like this Doc. is doing a hard back peddle.

If any of this is secret stuff that’s ok I respect that. I don’t want to put you out so an abbreviated run down would be fine.

PS…I found that book on Amazon but I must wait for my funds to equal my want’s.


Thanks

[Peter]

Hi Prince....ss,

Thanks for your thoughtful questions. The San Francisco Human Rights Commission was founded in the early 1950's as part of the struggle for racial equality in the United States. Since then, it has done pioneering work on a wide range of human rights issues. The LGBTAC Intersex Task Force grew out of citizen complaints that "normalizing" surgeries done on intersex infants should be investigated as a possible human rights violation. I believe that this happened about three years ago, and that the Intersex Task Force met for about two years. With the approval of the Intersex Task Force Report by the HRC LGBTAC, the work of the Intersex Task Force was completed. The LGBTAC is under the full Human Rights Commission, and the full commission is now reviewing the Intersex Task Force Report.

I do not want to say too much at this critical time, because I want the report to be a reflection of emerging human rights thought, and not a personal argument. Bodies Like Ours will continue to closely monitor events unfolding in San Francisco.

I will share the written statement that I read before the SF HRC on March 10th:

" Hi, I am Peter Trinkl, and I am here again today to speak to you about the importance of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission investigation of "normalizing" surgeries and related treatments performed on intersex children. Through materials presented to this commission, both orally and in writing, you have been presented with a massive amount of both personal testimony and related research articles. The draft report that you have before you represents a carefully considered summary of the investigation. I am Board Chair of Bodies Like Ours, an intersex support organization with hundreds of intersex members in the United States and around the world. Although the draft language of the report has only been shared among a few people, the work of the LGBTAC Intersex Task Force has attracted considerable attention both nationally and internationally. I estimate from personal observation that many people every day have viewed materials on the Bodies Like Ours website relating to the activities of the Intersex Task Force. Over a nine-month period, that probably represents thousands of people. I suspect that the page views would at least double if one took into consideration web site traffic on the ISNA website, the Intersex Initiative website, and other websites. We may be a partially invisible community, but we are not a small community. There are at least three million intersex people world wide using conservative estimates that place intersex births at 1 in 2,000. Bodies Like Ours is looking forward to the release of the Intersex Task Force Report and is very thankful to everyone who has worked on the report for the time and effort that they have spent on it."

Peter

[prince....ss?]

Thank you for bringing me up to speed. That was a very good and informative speech. It must be nice to work on a project of such importance. Keep up the great work. I will look forward to the updates.