Intersex

Intersex is one of the 'transgender' areas of 'LGB T'. We are aware of some intersex issues in policing, but we have not begun to work on them seriously.

One is the issue of doctors who decide to alter the genitalia of small babies to suit their own cultural expectation of gender stereotype, or the expectations of the parents. Although the situation is improving, this is still sometimes treated as a matter for clinical judgement rather than a offence under the Female Genital Mutilation Act. Police are often very active about other crimes against children in our local hospitals, and we can try to press for a considered policy on this one.

Another issue is that the Police National Computer still does not recognise an intersex gender category. Most intersex people, identify as either male or female but not everyone does, and there is every reason to respect the gender identity of people who do not. This was particularly pressing while the gender categories of many police records had to be revised and redesigned in response to the Gender Recognition Act. (At the time we made the point that it would be foolish to try to amend the system afterwards.)

But it would be easier to make progress on these issues if one or two intersex people joined in. The Transgender Working Party also had its own e-group to make it easy to confer and to work on issues without coming to meetings. You can contact Aurora anonymously and in confidence - we even have a secure text link - see the Contact Us page.

And if you've read this far, you help improve our list of links on the Links > Intersex page?