Cheryl Chase (activist)
| Cheryl Chase | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Born |
August 14, 1956 New Jersey |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1983); Sonoma State University (2008) |
| Occupation | Intersex activist |
| Known for | Founding the Intersex Society of North America |
| Spouse(s) | Robin Mathias |
| Website | http://www.BoLaurent.com |
Bo Laurent, better known by her pseudonym Cheryl Chase (born August 14, 1956), is an American intersex activist and the founder of the Intersex Society of North America. She began using the names Bo Laurent and Cheryl Chase simultaneously in the 1990s and changed her name legally from Bonnie Sullivan to Bo Laurent in 1995.
Chase was born in New Jersey with ambiguous genitalia that baffled doctors. According to the New York Times, her parents originally named her Brian Sullivan, noting that "Chase is XX, and the reason for her intersex condition has never been fully understood." Other sources state her original name was Charlie, since until recently Chase preferred to use pseudonyms when referring to her early life.
Chase told Salon she was born with "mixed male/female sex organs" and after the discovery of ovaries and a uterus, a clitoridectomy was performed to remove her oversized clitoris when she was aged 18 months. Her parents, as advised by doctors, moved to a new town and raised her as a girl, Bonnie Sullivan. Although she had begun speaking before the operation, she fell silent for six months afterwards.
She told Salon that she developed ovotestis at age 8 (later clarified as "the testicular part of her ovo-testes"). She found out about the clitoridectomy aged 10, and at age 21 succeeded in gaining access to her medical records (some sources say this occurred in her early thirties).
Chase graduated from MIT with a B.S. in mathematics in 1983. She then studied Japanese at Harvard Extension School and at Middlebury College’s Intensive Summer Language Institute. In 1985, Chase was working as a graphic designer. She then moved to Japan as a visiting scholar at Hiroshima University. She later started a computer software firm near Tokyo. While in Japan, she also did translation work. "I was good at all the hard stuff, the non-emotional stuff that’s considered more masculine." Upon return to the United States, Chase began working as an intersex activist. In 2008, Chase received a M.A. in organization development from Sonoma State University.
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