LGBTI Diversity Consultancy in Australia drops the I (intersex)

[LangCleg]

News in from Australia (via Dyketagnan):

Main corporate LGBTI Diversity Consultancy in Australia drops the I, apparently following representations from actual intersex-led organisations.

I do not know if this will result in questions about the appropriateness of keeping the other letters together. It’s only just been announced.

www.prideinclusionprograms.com.au/content/uploads/2019/11/Important-Communications-on-Intersex-Inclusion-Pride-in-Diversity.pdf

Look what happens when actual good faith engagements with groups takes place.

That's excellent news. Intersex advocacy needs more visibility and this is better served by having organisations dedicated to their specific issues. They can have better access to funding rather than it all being muddled up in one giant acronym that serves nobody.

I don't really understand why the alphabet soup got that way in the first place. LGBTQIA+ is ridiculous, it becomes meaningless to lump everyone in together like that, what do a lesbian and an asexual have in common that needs advocacy?

I'd often wondered what the "I" was doing amongst the the alphabet soup, as it's neither a sexual orientation nor a "queer" identity. I suppose someone, somewhere, decided that since intersex disorders had had to do with genitalia they could be lumped in with the LGBTQ+, but really, thinking about it, it makes as much sense as including people born with any other kind kind of developmental disorder.

At least asexual is a sexuality though I agree it needs no particular advocacy as it isn't 'visible' in the way homosexuality is and was never subject to criminalisation the way homosexuality was.

The T is inherently opposed to the LGB. The Q entirely meaningless. The I a very different issue that not only requires its own advocacy but which is actively damaged by inclusion in the alphabet soup so good to see some sense on that one. The + I don't even know what that's about.

Excellent.

Issues relating to intersex conditions have nothing to do with those relating to sexuality or gender identity.

Perhaps, if intersex communities are allowed to self advocate and speak on issues specific to their situation then women will be allowed to do the same on issues specific to ours.

That would be nice.

I'm really pleased to hear this, groups should be free to work with and support the people they are designed and created. In my mind the I had nothing to do with sexuality and the T doesn't either. People should be free to organise and join together as they see fit.

The LGB Alliance has been attacked for not including the T but by that same token should the T orgs take on all aspects of the LGBQI+?

There are a number of independent groups supporting T individuals around the UK but they receive no attacks to be made more inclusive.

Micheal Bailey explained in The Man Who Would be Queen that some transwoman, mainly autogynaphilics, joined intersex groups in the hope they had some undiscovered DSD to understand themselves.
I'm wondering if it's the same as *some people who have, say, social anxiety hoping or asserting they are on the autism spectrum.
*I don't want to derail into this - I'm generalising on a complex subject but there are similarities I think.

I'm glad to see Intersex being dropped.

Great news!

I suppose it may be that there were cases at one time where it seemed that there were overlaps.

There was a kid who was a bit older than me in my dad's rural community who was intersex, male but raised as a girl which was more common then. He was for a time as a young person treated as a lesbian, and then after a few years began to live as a man, and had some medical interventions related to that.

Now that in most countries with good medical systems they aren't making those decisions about kids being raised as the other sex, that sort of situation might be less usual.

It sounds like intersex organisations in AU will be speaking for intersex people, rather than 'queer' organisations speaking on their behalf, so that's a positive thing.

The only good thing that I see coming out of the gender shitshow is an increased awareness of intersex people and their needs. And that's not because of the gender shitshow, it's because intersex people have been forced to be incredibly vocal about their experiences and their boundaries. Good on the intersex communities in AU for getting to this point.