Definition of Intersex in Australian Law
People with intersex conditions had a major victory in the ACT recently when the definition of Transgender was changed to remove people with intersex conditions, and, for what we believe is a world first, include a definition of intersex in legislation. The ACT (ALP) Government, with the support from the Democrats and Greens, passed the following definition of intersex in the Legislation Act 2001 (ACT):
"An intersex person is a
person who, because of a genetic condition, was born with reproductive organs or
sex chromosomes that are not exclusively male or female."
This is particularly significant for the intersex community because of the insistence by a small number within the transgender community that falsely claim transsexualism is an intersex condition. Regardless of any possible biological basis of transsexualism (i.e. Gender Identity Disorder), people with transsexualism are not born with any variation of their reproductive organs and/or sex chromosomes, and have many different issues. One male to female transsexual person even described themselves as having Vaginal Agenesis (i.e. congenital imperfect or non-development of a vagina) when in fact; they were born physically male, fathered children etc. These people have a gross lack of respect and understanding of our experiences and issues.
As the Democrats MLA (Ms Roslyn Dundas) explained in her media release on the 10th of March:
“Intersex and transgender
people are different, their needs are different, and the discrimination they
face is different. Both of these
communities often face discrimination and it is important our laws reflect their
different needs.
An intersex person is one who is born with reproductive organs that are neither exclusively male or female, where as transgender identifies as a member for a different sex to the one they were born as.”
The AISSGA looks forward to furthering the law reform process in the ACT by working closely with the ACT Government. We would also like to point out that the Liberal Party also supported the recommendations by the AISSGA, although they did not support the Bill for other reasons.
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