IntersexTranssex

1
Intersex/Transsex

• A 10 minute Introduction
• To the Mental Health Aspects
• Author Zoe Brain zoe.brain_at_cs.anu.edu.au

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What is Intersex?

• Intersex is a general term used for a variety
  of conditions in which a person is born with a
  reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesnt seem
  to fit the typical definitions of female or male.
• http//www.isna.org/faq/what_is_intersex
  

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In other words...

• Their bodies are neither wholly Female nor wholly
  Male

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Transsexuality vs. Intersexuality

• In my view the evidence demonstrates (at least
  on the balance of probabilities) that the
  characteristics of transsexuals are as much
  "biological" as those of people now thought of as
  intersex. The difference is essentially that we
  can readily observe or identify the genitals,
  chromosomes and gonads, but at present we are
  unable to detect or precisely identify the
  equally "biological" characteristics of the brain
  that are present in transsexuals.
• http//www.murdoch.edu.au/elaw/issues/v12n1_2/Mill
  s12_1.htmln18.

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Transsexuality

• DSM-IV-TR and ICD-10 Formal Definition
• Woman trapped in Male Body
• Man trapped in Female Body
• Gender Dysphoria vs Gender Identity Disorder

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In other words...

• The Gender of their Brains and Minds does not
  match the sex of their bodies

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Intersex vs Transsex

• Transsexuals - 100 of people have gender
  identity issues but only 10(??) have somatic
  problems other than the neuro-anatomy.
• Intersex - only a small portion of people
  (about 10) have gender identity issues but
  100 have somatic problems.
• http//home.vicnet.net.au/aissg/transgender_and_i
  ntersex.htm

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Intersex and Sexuality

• Each persons experience of AIS is different but
  there are probably very few of us who dont feel
  their sexuality isnt affected by it in some way.
  Its very difficult not to feel some degree of
  insecurity about your sexuality when your
  reproductive organs and/or genitals are different
  from the norm.
• http//home.vicnet.net.au/aissg/sexuality_relati
  onships.htm

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Pre-Op (MtoF) Sexual Experience
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Post-Op (MtoF) Sexual Experience
http//www.helen-hill.com/pdf/sexuality/sexualitym
tfsurgery.pdf
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Transsex and (A)Sexuality

• Before surgery, only 1 in 20 didn't have some
  form of Love Life. But afterwards, that becomes 1
  in 4. To Transition is very often to condemn
  oneself to a life of loneliness.
• Tragically, the proportion of voluntary asexuals
  decreases just at a time when they look for
  love rather than doing what society expects,
  that's the time their newly awakened desires are
  thwarted by a grim Reality.

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Its Not that were Irrational Were just
treated Irrationally
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The Law (Part 1)

• Taking this situation to its logical conclusion,
  Mrs. Littleton, while in San Antonio, Texas, is a
  male and has a void marriage as she travels to
  Houston, Texas, and enters federal property, she
  is female and a widow upon traveling to Kentucky
  she is female and a widow but, upon entering
  Ohio, she is once again male and prohibited from
  marriage entering Connecticut, she is again
  female and may marry if her travel takes her
  north to Vermont, she is male and may marry a
  female if instead she travels south to New
  Jersey, she may marry a male."

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The Law (Part 2)

• That means that should we divorce, I could only
  marry a man in Australia, but only marry another
  woman in the UK. God alone knows what the
  situation would be if I moved to the US.
• Currently I think Id be regarded as a married
  male, a married female, an unmarried female, or
  neither male nor female, depending on the state
  (and sometimes county).

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The Law (Part 3)

• To the Government, I am a married person of
  indeterminate status unless dead in which case I
  am not married and my estate may not be claimed
  by my wife.To Medicare I am a woman.To my
  wife's superannuation, I apparently am not a
  family member (particularly as it pertains to
  inheritance rights)I am not married to my wife
  as I am a female, but I am not allowed a birth
  certificate as a woman because I am married.

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The Law (Part 4)

• From the Australian Passports Determination
  Explanatory Statement Section 6.3 Para 89
• Persons who are to be denied passports because
  it is undesirable that they be allowed to have
  one include
• Australian citizens who are transgender, that is
  are living in the identity of a member of the
  opposite sex and
• Australian citizens being repatriated or
  deported to Australia or extradited

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Society

• He grabbed Zapata's crotch area, felt male
  genitalia and became angry, the affidavit states.
  He took a fire extinguisher off a shelf and
  struck Zapata twice in the head, telling
  investigators he thought he "killed
  it."...Andrade told investigators he covered
  Zapata with a blanket and started gathering
  evidence he thought might link him to the crime
  when he heard gurgling sounds and noticed Zapata
  was sitting up. That's when he picked up the fire
  extinguisher and hit her again, police said. He
  left the apartment and took her car, he said.

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Provocation

• "At best, this is a case about passion,"
  Kundelius said. "When (Zapata) smiled at him,
  this was a highly provoking act, and it would
  cause someone to have an aggressive
  reaction."She argued Thursday that the
  first-degree murder charge filed against Andrade
  for Zapata's murder be dropped to second-degree
  murder.

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Resources

• The Gender Centre in Sydney
• AIDS Action Council in the ACT
• There are 2 GPs in Canberra who deal with IS/TS
  patients, and their books are closed.
• There are currently no endocrinologists in
  Canberra willing to take on TS patients
• The only Gender Specialist Psychiatrist left
  Canberra 12 months ago

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We Walk Among You
Most Natural Sex Changes are Female to Male
Only 1 in 100 are the other way around.