144 • Condemning all anti-transgender legislation, demanding the repeal of anti-transgender 145 laws, and working to block additional such bills; 146 • Partnering with local and state organizations led by transgender, nonbinary, and intersex 147 people to advocate for their needs and interests; 148 • Supporting organizations that help people relocate or access health care including 149 across state lines, such as the Pink Haven Coalition; • Directly supporting member congregations and communities of the UUA engaged in this ministry in oppressive states and communities; 150 • Participating in UPLIFT Ministries programs 151 • Amplifying campaigns for bodily autonomy, such as Side With Love’s UPLIFT Action 152 campaign; 153 • Participating in the Welcoming Congregation renewal program; 154 • Affirming this commitment locally through votes and investment of the congregation.
I have heard several different definitions about what describes an intersex person. It seems to be confusing to some. Could you please let me know if there is an “official” UU definition of what intersex includes? Thank you.
Hi Folks! I’m the proposer of this amendment. I’m the religious educator at First Unitarian Church in Oklahoma City, and I’ve been serving here since 2020. Before OKC I served in the DC area and in north Jersey.
I’ll admit it has been frustrating for us here in the center and southern parts of the country. It’s often felt like our friends and colleagues in more progressive areas on the coasts aren’t always aware of how terrifying it is for our trans families and queer community in deep red portions of the country. I didn’t realize how bad it was until I moved here, and now I am more committed than ever to staying and fighting.
The call to support funds helping people escape these areas is good and needed. But there are a lot of trans and genderqueer folk who are committed to staying in these areas and fighting against this wave of intolerance. Trans kids are being born every day in deep red states, and not everyone is able to leave. Over 75% of the youth group at our church in OKC identifies as being a member of the queer community.
One of the most meaningful shows of support we’ve received in the past two years has been from two individual congregations - Foothills Unitarian in Colorado and First Universalist Minneapolis. Last year as we were fighting against anti-trans kids legislation, our church received two packages with notes of support from these two wonderful churches. It wasn’t organized through the UUA or Side With Love - these individual churches just did it to show their support and are a model for us all. We handed out about half those notes to the wider genderqueer community in OKC. We gave some to our genderqueer and trans congregants. We took ones that were left over and made a display combining those notes of support into the colors of the trans flag, which now hangs in our Children’s Chapel. And our high school youth made individual posters of support to hang in their room featuring the notes, along with posters featuring art made from those notes hanging in our youth room.
This sort of direct support has meant the world to us, and it still gives us hope and motivation to stay in the fight. Imagine the possibilities if it was a nationwide commitment from all of us, rather than the generosity of a couple of individual congregations.
Thanks for the reply, but that really doesn’t explain what the word really means. What type of different things are included in intersex? If we’re using that terminology, we have to have a better way to explain what intersex means.
I believe that there is a scientific definition, no? According to https://interactadvocates.org/, it is an “umbrella term”:
Intersex is an umbrella term for variations in sex traits or reproductive anatomy. These traits might not fit inside traditional conceptions of what male or female bodies look like. Intersex people are born with variations in their internal or external anatomy, hormones or chromosomes.
You can Google and take it from there. Planned Parenthood and other orgs that do sexuality education have abundant information. We would be using the best and most inclusive practices around that, just like everything else we do with sexuality education.
Please check out the site that I listed; it is a successor to the Intersex Society of North America, which stopped updating its Web site in 2008, but has a detailed discussion on this FAQ page that really clarifies how amorphous the category really is.
It means people with differences in sex development.
People whose genitals are not clearly a penis or a clitoris, testes or labia.
People with a vulva or vagina but who have testes.
People with penises who have ovaries.
People whose bodies don’t react to testosterone and other masculinizing hormones by growing facial hair, developing greater upper body strength in puberty, developing a pronounced adam’s apple, or having their voice lower in pitch.
One might be diagnosed intersex at birth if the obstetrician can’t visually assign gender at birth.
One might be diagnosed intersex at puberty if the secondary sex characteristics you develop are not the ones you expected.
One might be diagnosed intersex when pursuing fertility treatment.
One might be diagnosed intersex during pregnancy.
One might die without ever being diagnosed intersex, because you never tried to reproduce, so had no reason to know that you don’t produce sperm or ova.
There are many more ways a person’s body could grow so they are intersex, this list is not exhaustive, just some examples.
I actually KNOW what intersex means. I taught undergrade classes on it when I was in graduate school and have personal history with it as well. What I want to know is do the members of UUA understand it and if not, should the term even be included in our documents.?
I doubt many people really understand how complex a topic it is or what the needs of individuals that have these conditions are.
I have problems with how flippantly the term seems to be bandied about, as well as concern that the UUA is using a term that few really understand.
Thanks for your replay. But that really doesn’t indicate that the UUA understand what intersex means. Actually, if we are depending on outside organization, it seems like we are admitting that WE (UUA) really have little understanding for what the term means.
I actually KNOW what intersex means. I taught undergrade classes on it when I was in graduate school and have personal history with it as well. What I want to know is do the members of UUA understand it and if not, should the term even be included in our documents.?
I doubt many people really understand how complex a topic it is or what the needs of individuals that have these conditions are.
I have problems with how flippantly the term seems to be bandied about, as well as concern that the UUA is using a term that few really understand.
Thanks for the reply. Although those may be symptoms of conditions, they is NOT what intersex conditions are.
I actually KNOW what intersex means. I taught undergrade classes on it when I was in graduate school and have personal history with it as well. What I want to know is do the members of UUA understand it and if not, should the term even be included in our documents.?
I doubt many people really understand how complex a topic it is or what the needs of individuals that have these conditions are.
I have problems with how flippantly the term seems to be bandied about, as well as concern that the UUA is using a term that few really understand.
I have serious concerns about gender changing medical treatment for youth under the age of 18. If I sign on to this amendment and it passed, would the UUA be condoning such treatments?
