The impetus behind this action was Bodies Like Ours being leaked an internal announcement from the hospital regarding the presentation, "Feminizing Genitoplasty and Total Urogenital Mobilization" at University of Connecticut Medical School Grand Rounds for CME credits on Thursday, September 25th. The presenter, Dr. Richard Rink of Indiana University School of Medicine, would then be conducting a "Total Urogenital Sinus Surgical Procedure" Friday morning which could be viewed "from a designated area within CCMC". The announcement was brought to our attention the Saturday before this mutilation was scheduled

Over the course of just a few days, we were able to mobilize our allies into joining us in protest against Rink's appearance. Our successes were many: the hospital went from ignoring us early in the week to inviting us in for a future date to share the adult survivor perspective. Dr. Rink cancelled his appearance due to the publicity surrounding our plans. Finally, we made the front page of the Hartford Courant that morning with a well-written article about intersexuality.

We also learned much. We learned how to quickly and effectively mobilize our local allies for their support, and we learned even grassroots protests take more money than our shoe string budget can afford. We've been approached by more than a few constituents who would like to see similar actions at their local hospitals, but unless we can raise the funds to help, we simply won't be able to. There's important work to be done but not all of it can be done cheaply or for free.

We understand how many worthy causes are in need of funding right now. As individual donors, we are also aware of how difficult it is to choose among the organizations that approach us. Intersex genital mutilation may not be at the top of your priority list, but we ask that it appear somewhere and that you donate whatever you can to help us end the shame, secrecy and isolation one out of every 2,000 people suffer from. We're asking because Bodies Like Ours has evolved as a leader in educating about intersex patient rights and intersex peer support but try as we might, we can't do it for free.

Our Connecticut allies invested their time and energy into making this event a success, and now we would like to ask you to make a financial investment in the important work of intersex advocacy and peer support. A donation now, whether large or small, can help support similar actions in the future when the need arises. Many of our supporters came through for us on an emergency basis last week (if you are one of them, thank-you and watch your mailbox soon for a small gratitude of our appreciation) but we still need more help. You can make an immediate donation securely online. Information about mailing or phoning in a tax-deductible donation may also be found on that page.

Our constituents want it to happen again, and with your financial support, Bodies Like Ours can make it happen for them. While our primary mission is peer support, we feel that opportunities like the one given us in Hartford is another part of our important work.

There were many other valuable lessons we learned on the fly in a few hectic and exhausting days. We learned that it takes only one brave, concerned person to start a freight train rolling. We also learned is that these Educational Demonstrations are a great way to reach healthcare providers and, equally importantly, the general public. We learned that only about half the people intending to show up with a sign actually do, but that the half that were there made an impression, educated strangers, and made a difference. We re-learned the importance of what one good reporter can accomplish by writing an article that gets it right without sensationalizing the obvious, and smart editors can make their morning readers choke on their coffee when our issue is put on their front page. Most importantly, we learned that open discussions with hospital administrators, even in an adversarial atmosphere, can lead to an invitation to present our case inside their building and we are expecting an invitation to speak at CCMC/UConn in the very near future.

To read the Hartford Courant news article, please click here.

Thanks again to all of our supporters, both old and new, for getting behind us and this important action last Friday in Hartford. We are looking forward to the next educational demonstration, wherever and whenever it is needed.

We also have our hands full with upcoming speaking events around the country, but mostly on the east coast. There are simply too many list here but a couple of the highlights include Betsy Driver delivering the closing plenary at the Transcending Boundaries Conference next month at Umass Amherst and Bodies Like Ours Co-founder, Janet Green, will be a guest lecturer for Master's level counseling students in a Gender Issues in Counseling course at Rider University in NJ. Please visit our events page for a full listing that changes often.

Bodies Like Ours Board of Directors,

Janet Green

Dr. Nina Williams, PsyD

Deb Hartman

DaleLynn Sims

Betsy Driver