Article Title: What is Intersex?
Authors: Organisation Intersex International Australia Limited
Date of Publication: 2010
“INTERSEX is congenital difference in anatomical sex. That is, physical differences in reproductive parts like the testicles, penis, vulva, clitoris, ovaries and so on. Intersex is also physical differences in secondary sexual characteristics such as muscle mass, hair distribution, breast development and stature. Intersex can include things that are invisible to the eye such as chromosomal and hormonal differences. Those kinds of differences usually have a manifestation in primary or secondary sexual anatomy that is visible either externally or internally. Brain differences may account for both homosexuality and transsexualism, but intersex isn’t brain sex alone. We are intersex because it is thought the kinds of differences in our anatomy seem to be either male and female at the same time or not quite male or female or neither male or female. So we have physical differences that confuse medicine’s anatomical ideal of male and female. Intersex is not always immediately apparent because in our society we do not commonly look at each other’s genitals or internal organs.”