These days, there’s plenty of transphobic attacks to defend against, but there are also pitfalls that need to be avoided when talking about the queer community at large. When there are threats to abortion rights, defenses often focus on women’s rights to do with their bodies, often forgetting trans mascs and leaving the demographic forgotten and ostracized. Similarly, when defending against transphobia, one Redditor on r/lgbt wants to remind us all to defend intersex people as well, and not forget the group.
One user highlighted how this has been a particular issue for Olympians like the runner Caster Semanya. They argue that we need to “say the word intersex, say that this is intersexism, say that women of color disproportionately suffer against this kind of attack.“
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Several users quickly echoed this point, highlighting the fact that the group is often overlooked and that being intersex is seen as something to “fix” even in a community that should know better. One Redditor pointed out that being intersex isn’t even all that rare (numbers suggest that between 1 and 2% of the population are, meaning there are millions of intersex people in the United States alone). The sentiment from the Redditors is clear: “Louder for those in the back! We will always defend our intersex siblings!”
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Another Redditor suggested that the treatment of intersex people in these conversations is part of a larger problem within discussions of transphobia. “Honestly we also shouldn’t forget to defend trans people when speaking against transphobia,” they say. They point to the issue that the most notable backlashes against transphobia aren’t when someone is targeting trans people, but when it’s a cis woman who has become the target, like the recent bullying of Olympic medalist and boxer Imane Khelif by TERFs.
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Attacks on Khelif are part of the latest attempt to discredit trans people, including anyone who is intersex or even slightly gender-nonconforming.
Unfortunately, the conversation on Reddit had to deal with an issue in the original post. The OP brought this topic up right now because of the attacks levied against Khelif, who won a gold medal in the 2024 Olympics and has been accused of being a trans woman. The OP declares that Khalif is intersex and has Swyer’s syndrome. Khelif doesn’t claim this identity, and there’s no real evidence to suggest either claim. While the International Boxing Association suspended her from championships last year, they refused to release the tests that led to the decision and Khelif has suggested that there is a personal vendetta, saying “they hate me, and I don’t know why.”
It is important to defend intersex people and to include them in conversations around transphobia. However, it is also important not to declare someone else’s identity for them.
