Intersex Activists Want ....................

Claudia Astorino (FFA)

Intersex activists, in general, are fighting for the following:

1) Awareness of what intersex is, what it is not, and that intersex individuals exist.

2) Understanding that intersex bodies are healthy, natural, normal bodies that don't need "fixing." Intersex is thus not a medical issue, and shouldn't be treated like one.

3) Intersex individuals must have a right to consent to anything done to their own bodies, especially since such "treatment" is not for medical/health purposes. No one else - whether guardians and/or clinicans - can truly consent for each intersex individual. (So, for example, there's no argument that an infant that needs a heart transplant shouldn't get one because that infant doesn't understand what a heart is, or the complications involved in transplant surgery. On the other hand, an individual doesn't incur any health risks if their clitoris is enlarged, or if they happen to have a vulva and XY chromosomes. These aren't medical concerns, and therefore don't require medical treatment.)

4) Intersex individuals are normal people, even if we possess less typical suites of biological traits. The only reason these suites are considered atypical is because they aren't so easily shoehorned into one of two acceptable bodily forms - "male" or "female." They still fit into the normal ranges of human biological variation. Thus, intersex individuals' bodies shouldn't be shamed, fetishized, and exploited.

5) The shame, stigmatization, isolation, and trauma many intersex individuals feel result from medical "treatment," and not from knowledge of one's intersex. One must stop such treatment in order to end lasting emotional and psychological harm.

6) Intersex people shouldn't shut up and eat their shame. Intersex individuals are prevented from connecting with one another, and from decrying abuses against them by the medical community because we're told that one's intersex is a personal issue that shouldn't be discussed for fear of being shamed. Really, our shame comes from being told, whether directly or indirectly, that our conditions are shameful; conversely, reaching out and advocating for ourselves would allow us to empower ourselves and generate change. Our voices need to be heard and not silenced.

7) Intersex doesn't necessarily have anything to do with one's gender identity, gender role (including presentation and performance), sexual orientation, sexual behavior, or anything other sex-and-gender variables. Intersex is biological in nature, even though it's considered a social emergency, because some individuals expect that based on one's sex, all those other variables have to line in in a particular way according to "male" or "female" standards. Even if sopme of these other variables are at least partially informed by biology, you can't make predictions about how someone will identify with regards to any of them just by knowing that they're intersex. (Really, you can't do this for anyone, whether they're intersex or not.) After all, lots of people who are not intersex identify in ways that are considered not to "match up" to other aspects of themselves (e.g., a male-identified person that wears skirts).


It's important to note that not all activists are fighting for the same things, though. Many activists would add a 8th condition:

8) Repealing the use of "disorders of sexual development (DSD)" as a replacement for "intersex." While the term "intersex" itself is problematic, and some have no issues with changing it to something else (as I've previously posted), DSD is a poor choice for several reasons. DSD really came into being through ONE intersex person (Cheryl Chase) working with medical doctors and academics (notably, Alice Dreger). Can one intersex individual speak for how all intersex individuals wish to identify? Likewise, can an outside group (here, the medical community) determine how another group must identify, even if it's not how that group prefers to identify themselves? I would strongly argue no to both questions. DSD is also a term that falls in step with how other medical jargon sounds ("So science-y!"), further reinforcing the flawed view that intersex is a medical condition requiring treatment. (As well as allowing for eugenics. Some estimate that as methods of pre-natal screening become cheaper, less invasive, and more accurate, it may be more common to "diagnose intersex" and subsequently abort fetuses simply for being intersex.) Furthermore, DSD is not able to be used as an identity; one can identify as intersex, but one would be very hesitant to identify as a "disorder," which absolutely carries negative connotations in English. Hida Viloria states that in other languages, translations of "disorders of sexual development" misrepresent intersex as transgender or having a queer sexual orientation or something non-intuitive and confusing, which simply violates the first objective of intersex activists. You can read more about DSD here.

Not all intersex activists are on board with repealing DSD, however. Some individuals that have worked closely with Chase and ISNA in its earlier, progressive days feel ambivalence about the term, or feel that since some parents and doctors like DSD, that using it is okay. I would definitely question, though, whether this term has gained widespread support among intersex individuals themselves, and if not, whether using it is still acceptable. I would also question if those intersex individuals supporting it do so because they have inherently always felt that their bodies are disordered and need fixing without outside influence, or whether they feel this way because of the shame induced by clinicians, parents, and mainstream society at large.

It's also important to note that not all intersex individuals are supportive of what intersex activists are fighting for. Many individuals view their intersex as a medical "condition," as it was very very very likely described to them by the medical community. Those that have never been exposed to alternative perspectives may never have questioned whether intersex is truly medical in nature, and whether it is ethical to alter one's body without consent if such alterations are not medically necessary. Some intersex individuals feel an affinity with the queer community, even if they don't identify as queer themselves, because queer activism targets attempts to repress autonomy based on perceptions of what they are supposed to be and do with their bodies - something in line with intersex activism. Others don't want to have any involvement with queer communities, and greatly oppose inclusion, as I've posted previously.

Finally, it's important to note that activists not engaged in intersex activism may confuse the efforts of intersex activists with other movements'. For example, some assume that all intersex activists want to repeal sex-and-gender binaries for good. I am all for allowing for full sex-and-gender expression, whether individuals wish to use traditional "female" or "male" identifiers, or with other more complex, fluid, and non-static identities. However, I do not advocate for these goals specifically as an intersex activist because right now, the immediate concern must be ending harmful "treatment" practices that cause psychological, emotional, and even *actual* health problems (!) for intersex individuals. Other individuals are going to be less receptive to questioning the utility of the sex-and-gender binary, and how well it actually resonates with others' lived experiences than they will be to simply consider whether it's ethical to poke, prod, and lop off parts of healthy bodies without consent. If we tried to go from that angle, we'd probably be waiting much much longer to end the very immediate, very real trauma intersex individuals are undergoing now. Focusing on the human rights issues at hand are where our priorities must lie, regardless of whether intersex activists ALSO support others' expression of their sex and gender identities.

So, despite the fact that there isn't total consensus, there are a lot of things intersex activists are collectively fighting for. Let's work toward meeting intersex individuals' needs, thus gaining equal rights soon.

FULL FRONTAL ACTIVISM

Antinausea Drug Stops HIV Too? .... testing in humans now needed says researchers

The antinausea drug Emend (aprepitant) doesn’t just help settle the stomach—it also has fairly potent anti-HIV activity when combined with protease inhibitors (PIs). This finding was published in the November 27 issue of AIDS.

Although the current antiretroviral (ARV) drugs exhibit remarkable activity against HIV, typically reducing HIV replication to the minutest levels, they do not shut down HIV completely. When the drugs are stopped, the virus nearly always comes roaring back to life within days.

Researchers have determined that there are sanctuary sites, such as the brain, genitals and other compartments in the gut, which ARVs fail to reach fully. Not only do these sanctuary sites offer HIV a place to hide out from the drugs and the immune system, but they also serve as a source of ongoing immune inflammation that can lead to cardiovascular disease, cancer and cognitive disorders.

Not long ago, scientists discovered that a class of drugs used to fight nausea might also have HIV-fighting potential. These drugs, called neurokinin-1 receptor (NK1R) antagonists, reduce inflammation by blocking substance P, a neurotransmitter, from binding with neurokinin-1 receptors in the brain. Not only does blocking substance P reduce nausea, it also reduces the ability of HIV to infect immune cells. It accomplishes this by causing the cells to display fewer coreceptors on their surface. When fewer coreceptors, such as CCR5 or CXCR4, are present, HIV has a more difficult time infecting the cell.

Given that cognitive disorders and brain inflammation are sometimes quite high despite effective ARV therapy, it is hoped that the NK1R antagonist Emend might exert particular antiviral and anti-inflammatory pressure against HIV in the brain.

To take these findings one step further, Mark Manak, PhD, from SeraCare Life Sciences Inc., in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and his colleagues, tested the anti-HIV activity of a handful of NK1R antagonists against common strains of HIV in cell cultures. They found that Emend, which is approved in the United States for patients with chemotherapy-associated nausea, had the most antiviral activity.

Manak’s team next challenged the infected cells with Emend, combined with a number of ARV drugs. They found that when Emend was combined with Invirase (saquinavir) and Norvir (ritonavir) at the same time, it boosted their HIV-fighting ability by more than five times. This effect was not seen with any other class of drug, leading the team to conclude that Emend must be combined with PIs to achieve its HIV-fighting potential. They also concluded that Emend’s antiviral properties were likely achieved by several mechanisms, only one of which was blocking substance P.

While Emend has few side effects when given at the dose used to treat nausea, the authors stated that higher doses will be needed in HIV. Also, the drug can interact with a number of other drugs. In fact, it can significantly boost the blood levels of Norvir.

The authors concluded by saying that Emend’s safety, in combination with HIV medication, must now be tested in humans, and they revealed that a Phase Ib clinical trial is currently under way to do exactly that.

Source

Sex therapist Dr Sidney McGill says "Lesbianism is on the rise in Jamaica & world-wide with even young girls in co-ed schools preferring other girls"

Bill's a 1 in bed; Luke's a 10 -

When women rate men and the changing rules about sex

By DONNA HUSSEY-WHYTE and SIMONE MORGAN All Woman Writers

ONCE upon a time, men were the ones who couldn't wait to brag to their friends just how many women they conquered and how good (or not) their conquests were in bed. The more women they had the more of an ego boost they got, and many men created literal or figurative notches in their bedposts to celebrate their achievements.
On the other hand, women were so reserved and shy that they wouldn't tell even their best friends who they 'mistakenly' slept with.

But gone are the days when women marry as virgins and blush when the word 'sex' comes up.
According to sex therapist, Dr Sidney McGill, women are becoming more assertive in bed, not waiting for the men to make their approach, but instead using all their feminine wiles to conquer him and then rate his performance afterwards.
Recently, 22-year-old Duke University graduate, Karen Owen, wrote a pretend thesis rating the men she slept with in college, complete with graphs. Her 42-page presentation entitled An Education Beyond the Classroom: Excelling In the Realm of Horizontal Academics, sparked a controversial gender debate when it was leaked on the Internet.
Was she too brash to have rated her men? Did she go overboard? Was society ready for a situation where women were now counting the notches in their bedposts? Worse yet, were men now willing to be rated, publicly?

Owen's thesis skilfully spoke of her sexual conquests of 13 of the university's athletes. It not only provided ratings on a scale of one to 10 for the performance of each athlete she slept with, but she also provided the names, dates, photos, and physical attributes they all possessed, including the length and girth of their members.

And though Owen got a lot of flak world over for her openness, still many other women -- and men -- celebrated her bravery in turning the wheels on female sexuality.
"I believe women -- especially women who are financially independent -- are becoming more assertive generally," Dr McGill says. "More of them are telling their sex partners what they want, initiating sex, being actively involved in foreplay and even experimenting with sex positions that require some degree of acrobatic skill. There are more sex toy shops around and women tend to be the ones who visit these stores more regularly."

He added: "I think we live in a sexualised era. [We] live and breathe sex during our waking hours. The moral boundaries are surely not as high as they were say 15 years ago. So women have greater freedom to choose who and what they want -- including other women -- and refuse the macho facade of many young and inexperienced studs out there."
He says as a result of this era, lesbianism is on the rise in Jamaica and world-wide, with even young girls in co-ed schools preferring other girls and young female teachers over their male peers.

He noted that for years the working world was a man's domain, but with far more educated women vying for management positions in the corporate world, women have learned to adjust to the macho workforce culture in order to move up the corporate ladder.
"So the view of the stereotyped woman has been crumbling," Dr McGill says. "Many young girls cannot cook and think nothing of the lack of home making skills. With the gradual collapse of male/female stereotypes a woman is not concerned about being termed a 'slut' because she enjoys multiple sexual partners."

Like the 22-year-old Owen, Cristine T, a Kingston resident, boldly speaks about her sexual escapades.
The 27-year-old cosmetologist and mother of a nine-year-old son says she has lost count of the number of persons she has slept with, several of whom were females.
"I am not afraid to go after any man or even woman that I see fitting to my eyes and after I spot my prey(s) they are mine for the night -- it's as simple as that," Christine stated in a recent interview with All Woman.

But does she consider her actions to be unladylike? Cheap?

Not at all, and she is quick to point out that she is just being genuine and pleasing herself.
"I am in control of my sexuality and I really don't care what others think. I am just being genuine and pleasing myself," she says. "In society a man is considered to be a gyalis or macho when he sleeps with one or more woman per day and brags about it. Yet when a female does the same she is considered to be promiscuous. Well I honestly don't care what the world thinks of me, I am just proudly satisfying my sexual curiosity."

While some members of the opposite sex may take favour in Owen's and Christine's sexual patterns, there remains others who believe their behaviour is a sign of emotional instability and loose morals.

"When all is said and done a woman will never be seen equal to man as it relates to sex, as a man's outlook on sex will always be different than that of a woman," bank teller Christopher Scott says. "Unless a woman is a prostitute she usually does not have sex with a man she does not feel emotionally attached to and should not have more than one sexual partners. That behaviour spell promiscuous."

Dr McGill says though, that although some of the rules have changed, the one regarding 'one woman to one man' hasn't totally. He says people still eventually want an exclusive, loving relationship that does not include competitors for a partner's love and attention.

Lady Switch Hitters & the Boyfriends who complain ...

This post was developed on the strength of two recent complaints of threats of two separate butch females who were threatened in some way by the boyfriends of the partners they were seeing at the time.

Switch hitters here is not used in the sporting sense that of baseball or cricket where ambidextrous participants can manipulate the ball used or bat with both hands but it refers to persons who are for the most part innately bisexual or those experiment at best sexually speaking with both sexes. The problem of men in Jamaica who react negatively when who knowingly or unknowingly have their female partners who also have lesbian relationships on the side seems to be a growing. It is hard to say whether these switch hitters are innately lesbian or bisexual and for now there are no known studies locally to help us analyse the practices involved but the trend exists.

There seems to be another trend within this new major trend in that the men do not seem to mind as long as the "lady partner" to their female love interest is not "butch" or masculine looking or acting, the proverbial butch dynamic. There have been cases where the men who are aware of their lady loves who have lady lovers or who are knowingly bisexual allow these unions to occur alongside their own and some even entertain sexual liaisons much sometimes to the upset and disgust of those of whom the requests are made, stories of requests made by men who want to be voyeurs watching the ladies have sex or participate with sex toys are not uncommon. The practice of men who attend exotic entertainment clubs who request this group sex lesbian activity is also common in some parts of Jamaica as I recall my days working in the HIV programs with exotic dancers and commercial sex workers who relate their experiences at times.

The aforementioned ladies who have complained have now decided not to date bisexual women and insist on asking their love interest about their preference. This mistrust of bisexual women and bisexuality in general adds to the biphobia that exists out there either by default through ignorance of the issues they face or persons stigmatizing them as unsatisfied and frustrated sex addicts or nymphomaniacs. One of the cases in question the partner who she was dating at the time did not disclose she had a boyfriend and it so happened that he burrowed his love interest's cell phone to make a call when he pounced upon stored messages as it turned out from a female name stored in the phonebook he proceeded to call the number and had a heated exchange which as described to me by the butch lesbian were not kind. He demeaned the perceived sexual activities between women and said he will move to another town to avoid her seeing his woman.

The other case was more harsh but threats were also made by the male partner of the woman involved, she however did inform her "butch partner" that she had a boyfriend and he was apparently aware that she was a practicing bisexual.

So why the insecurity from the brothers?

Maybe there is a feeling the woman would be more good at satisfying their women thus causing them to drift or leaning more to lesbian sex, given how highly sexualized we are as a nation with sex used to consummate many unions gay or straight more so than personality and other human traits any "other partners" are viewed with great skepticism. Bisexuality is not a matter that is discussed with any regularity either from the advocates or nationally as homophobia and by extension the country abhorrent attitude to male homosexuality takes centre stage more than anything else related to LGBTQI issues.

How can we begin to deal with these problems?

If you have any suggestions share them but more and more cases are coming forward and as many folks literally get into homosexual and lesbian activities while having heterosexual common law or married unions due to the long held perceptions that there is money and improved lifestyles to be had from being involved in gay sex will we see more of these intersections causing more social problems in the future?

Are identity issues a part of the problem as well as many do not really know who they are and just struggle with what society says versus their own urges and feelings?

There was a case some time ago where an alleged lesbian couple were murdered and it was surmised that the boyfriend of one of the girls was the culprit he also was said to be familiar with the lesbian partner of his girlfriend. One of the ladies was described in the article as "progressed from being a bisexual to an outright lesbian" as if they can detect orientation or maybe they were trying to suggest she was practicing lesbian sex only but texts like that can be very misleading.

Here is the article from the Star News: "They Were Lesbians" or HERE

Also see: Jamaica : Lesbian Shotta Killed Man in quarrel over women

Let us continue to watch this though and see if we can continue the discourse on this issue.

Peace and tolerance

H

On sexual orientation .. "homosexuality and bisexuality are natural phenomenon of the manifestation or expression of human sexuality"

By Julian Kenny

Human homosexuality and bisexuality, historically, have been well documented parts of, and accepted by, established civilisations, as were polygamy and polyandry. Indeed, pederasty in ancient Greece was openly accepted by the public as the norm, with older men consorting with openly willing post-pubescent boys. There are even pictorial records of homosexuality in ancient Egypt. Homosexuality, however, has also been proscribed, with the most severe of sanctions in religious scripts from the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Qur'an.

There is no ambiguity about the message of the words of Leviticus 18:22 or Leviticus 20:13.

"Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination". "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them."

Or Romans 1:26-27.

"For this reason God gave them up to passions of dishonour; for even their females exchanged the natural use for that which is contrary to nature, and likewise also the males, having left the natural use of the female, were inflamed by their lust for one another, males with males, committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the recompense which was fitting for their error."

Or Qur'an 7:80-84.

"Do you commit such indecency in a way that no one has preceded you in the worlds? You approach men lustfully instead of women. Truly, you are a nation who exceed. The only answer of his nation was: 'Expel them from your village. They are people who keep themselves purified.' We saved him and all his family, except his wife, who was made to remain, and we rained down upon them a rain. So look how was the end of the evildoers."

Perhaps what must certainly be the ultimate in homophobia was the systematic murder of homosexuals by Hitler (raised a Catholic) and his Nazi psychopaths, greatly overshadowed by his murder of millions of Jews from throughout Europe. Even in our times right wing fundamentalist Christians in North America openly spout their venom about HIV and AIDS being a curse on people for homosexual behaviour while violence is rained down both verbally and physically in Jamaican "culture".

There are, however, some facts that simply cannot be denied. Homosexual behaviour amongst unrelated animals, especially birds and mammals, has been observed in the wild under natural conditions. Second, homosexuality has been known throughout recorded human history. Third, many homosexual and bisexual persons in western liberal democracies have made significant contributions to society.

One inevitable conclusion that may be drawn is simply that homosexuality and bisexuality are natural phenomenon of the manifestation or expression of human sexuality and, while less frequently occurring, must be as natural as heterosexuality.

There is, of course, the counter argument that it is unnatural — it is against nature and therefore the natural law — the sort of medieval thinking of Aquinas. This argument is noisily presented by religious groups, even by the odd born-again American televangelist who was having a bit of something on the side. Some religions have even softened the condemnation with accepting the reality of homosexuality — the sort of loving-the-sinner approach — but hating the act of sodomy.

How do they justify celibacy when it would be equally unnatural not to behave naturally? To be celibate is to be biologically useless as potential genetic combinations are simply lost (at least officially).

While some scientists and thinkers may be somewhat reluctant to extrapolate from animal behaviour to human behaviour, many must agree that although a clear genetic basis has not yet been proven differences in microanatomy of human brains suggests a possible physical link between hormones/brain wiring and sexual orientation.

In Trinidad and Tobago it is hardly likely that the society will progress much beyond the hard and irrational prejudice and non-acceptance of the fact of variability of basic human behaviour as modulated by cultural influences. Religions of all flavours thrive in our society, all forgetting history and the roles of the various religions in the power structures of countries. Most forget that values shift in time and that religions, particularly monotheistic Christianity and Islam, condoned or actively participated in warfare, slavery, torture, oppression and genocide and their leadership continues to be male dominated.

There is always some variation of meanings of scriptural text but the theme of Romans permeates custom in the monotheistic religions — natural use of the female. Reflect on the term.

Might it not mean the manifestation of deep Y chromosome-generated-male insecurity? After all, parthenogenesis and male-to-female sex reversal is known in vertebrate animals, some species of which actually occur in T&T. The next time you eat a big grouper steak, note that it may once have been male!

And while the Equal Opportunities Act Chap. 22:03 loftily seeks to prohibit discrimination and promotes equality between persons of different status, it neatly enshrines another form of discrimination by explicitly stating in the interpretation clause that the word sex "does not include preference or orientation". Forget the rights of privacy enshrined in Section 4 of the Constitution!

• Julian Kenny is a biologist and natural history author. He is a former UWI Professor of Zoology and Independent senator

See the Other parts from the Trindad Express Newspaper and on Gay Jamaica Watch's Blog