| About Jim Costich |
|
Jim Costich gets an entire category to himself as he is such a prolific writer. Jim is an intersexed activist in upstate NY. He speaks and writes frequently about being intersexed. We hope you find strength from reading his wonderful essays on what it means to be intersexed. Jim Costich
lives in Rochester, NY with his partner Tim Schramm, and they have 2
teenaged kids. Jim is a legal assistant to a lesbian attorney, and Tim
is a professional musician. They are very involved and well known in
the GLBTI community. Jim's writings sometimes appear in the local GLBTI
newspaper, the "Empty Closet", a publication of The Gay Alliance of Genesee Valley (NY). Jim increasingly does public education about intersex and transgender people. Recently Jim wrote and let us know he is being published in national magazine because one of the editors came across his writing here at Bodies Like Ours. We are honored he allows us to reprint his articles. Jim's Story: I'm XX - progestin exposure with partially masculinized genitals, sterile - non-functioning uterus, normal usable vagina recently discovered and opened. I've only known all these details for 2 years and I'm 46! I was originally assigned as female, was raised as male after so identifying as a toddler. I've been on HRT since I was 13 but have had NO surgery. I left my life in the gay community to marry a woman believing that it would prove I was a "real" man. When I got past that bull crap I came back out as gay. I consider myself gay with some bi leanings. I have an adopted son, have been with my partner for 9 years and am a step parent to his daughter. I have a very open and public life as a gay intersexed man. We have an open relationship and I have a very active and varied sex life. Being intersexed is not a curse. I don't live a miserable life. There are lots of us out here and the internet is allowing us to finally locate each other. Lies, secrecy and shame are on their way out the door. It's not evil, freakish, disgusting or threatening. When we come out it really isn't like Frankenstein's monster and the villagers. There are plenty of us whose lives bear witness to this. We are thankful we were never mutilated. We don't want to be mutilated. We love ourselves as intersexed men or women and others love us too. We have healthy sex lives, healthy careers, make good parents. We are not worse off. We're better off. We can't be dismissed. We are a living rebuttal. |
| < Prev |
|---|