International Intersex Forum

The International Intersex Forum is an annual event organised, then later supported, by the ILGA and ILGA-Europe that began in 2011. The forum brings together intersex activists and organisations from multiple regions of the world, and it is believed to be the first and only such intersex event.

The International Intersex Forum is preceded by several other smaller gatherings, including an ISNA retreat in 1996 that brought together activists from North America and New Zealand, and also a summer school organised by OII-France in 2006. The retreat is documented in a short movie entitled Hermaphrodites Speak and the film Intersexion, and the summer school in a book, A qui appartiennent nos corps? Féminisme et luttes intersexes.

This event, described as "historic" brought together 24 people from 17 intersex organisations to create a new informal network and agree a closing statement. The statement reads:

Around the world intersex individuals are being subjected to inhumane and degrading altering surgical and hormonal procedures, without consent of the intersex person, at the discretion of doctors and outside legal regulation. This is done to ‘normalise’ genitals and bodies in order to fit intersex people within the sex binary of men and women. Pathologisation of intersex individuals results in gross human rights violations and abuse bodily integrity and personal dignity.

The Forum agreed on the demands aiming to end discrimination against intersex people and to ensure the right of bodily integrity and self determination:

Spokespeople for the first forum were Sally Gross of Intersex South Africa, Hiker Chiu of Oii-Chinese, Gina Wilson of Organisation Intersex International Australia, Del LaGrace Volcano, Mauro Cabral and Jim Ambrose, alongside ILGA and ILGA-Europe representatives Ruth Baldacchino and Silvan Agius.

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