Today, October 26, is Intersex Awareness Day. The group at Inter/Act Youth have been active, sharing their stories. Check out some of the links below to educate yourself.
Lauren on MTV's Faking It has revealed that she is intersex, and while her classmates are learning what that means, Bailey De Young, who plays Lauren sat down with Emily Quinn, an Inter/Act member who has consulted on the show, to share nine things people should know about intersex people. There are over 30 intersex conditions, and Lauren has the same condition as Emily.
Get More: Faking It, Full Episodes
MTV celebrated Intersex Awareness Day by posting an animated video that tells Emily's story. Emily wrote and narriated the video in her own voice. The story is touching and personal, and helps to understand the shame that many intersex people are led to feel, and how many reclaim their dignity. Organizations like Inter/Act Youth, Advocates for Informed Choice, and The Interface Project, have allowed many people to do just that.
Get More: Faking It, Full Episodes
Emily was busy for Intersex Awareness Day! She also appeared on a podcast for The Bicast, podcasting for the Bisexual Community. She chatted with the hosts and with fellow guest Patti Spangler about Intersex Awareness Day and her experience with Faking It.
Another Inter/Act member, Ali made a video with the Interface Project. Ali has a different condition, Swyer Syndrome, and lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. In 2011, after six years of closeting her atypical sexual reproductive anatomy and chromosomal make-up Ali became a founding member of Inter/Act to bring teenagers and young adults possessing congenital variations of sex development together. She dreams of increased tolerance and awareness of sexual difference so that no child will ever feel ashamed of their unique intersexed anatomy.
All of these links, articles, podcasts, and videos help to bring attention, awareness, and understanding for the community of people with intersex traits. Educate yourself and check them all out.