I have only recently became aware of the issues surrounding Intersex people, namely non-therapeutic medical practices that happen to children before they are old enough to consent. I have personally always struggled with the binary nature of the world and especially the law, especially the roots of heteronormativity and essentially religious ideas focusing on procreation making up a lot of how society thinks and thus how our law (and medical institution) respond. The issue with any binary is the hierarchy of power that comes with it and the restrictive nature of being told you are this/that instead of being able to be both/and.

After getting into some research spirals I have found out about different countries have implemented different measures, e.g. third gender markers, not requiring a sex to be assigned on a birth certificate until age of 18 and most importantly prohibiting the medical practices (FGM being criminalised in many countries but not IGM), also including Intersex as a protected characteristic within anti discrimination laws etc. However, some of these options (especially 3rd gender markers) have actually marginalised Intersex children more as it has made them responsible for social assimilation and essentially being the one to explain what being born Intersex is. There is also some positives to these different legal approaches but it is complex.

From what I understand many Intersex people identify differently, some find their identity within the male/female binary, some regard themselves as being trans or non-binary. However legal recognition of these problems in my country (Scotland) is minimal, consultations have been promised and then never heard about again.. In the limited policy discussion there is a lot of conflation between issues of trans & non-binary individuals and most common is the confusion of sex and gender.. the existence of Intersex people has been also used by gender theorists to essentially challenge the binary nature of gender (I would say it disrupts the sex binary, as gender is socially constructed, but please tell me if I'm wrong in thinking this).

I believe there is no one perfect solution, more education is needed in all fields. It will take medicine, law and society essentially working together to cause real change but I believe that the law could be a good place to start due to the implications it can have on the other two institutions. However I wanted to hear from the Intersex community themselves, how would you personally feel the law could better protect yourself now, and also Intersex children in the future?