Yesterday was the fifth annual Celebrate Intersex Awareness Day.

Some context from the Queers United blog:

“On October 26, 1996, intersex activists from Intersex Society of North America (carrying the sign “Hermaphrodites With Attitude”) and our allies from Transexual Menace held the first public intersex demonstration in Boston, where American Academy of Pediatrics was holding its annual conference. The action generated a lot of press coverage, and made it difficult for the medical community to continue to neglect our growing movement.”

Since then, activists have used October 26 as a day of grass-roots action to end the shame and secrecy surrounding intersex individuals, as well as the unwanted genital cosmetic surgeries that are performed on intersex children (with or without the parents’ knowledge and consent).

For more information on intersex conditions and issues, check out the Intersex Initiative or one of the other Rainbow KnightLight links.