interACT Youth is an international program that seeks to develop the advocacy and leadership skills of young intersex people to raise awareness and reduce stigma around being intersex. Our growing youth program is currently home to 60 members, and we host a community support space as well. interACT Youth’s advocacy centers the belief that intersex bodies are valid, and that intersex people possess the right to determine their own futures and thrive on their own terms.
The members of our youth program have always been precocious: we’ve worked on projects with MTV and OUT Magazine, we have attended meetings at the United Nations in New York. Many have spoken at universities and teaching hospitals. Still others share their vulnerability through writing.
This year, seven members of interACT’s youth program gave presentations in their local communities as a part of our #4intersex campaign. Our goal with this was to inspire more of our local community members to become advocates for intersex human rights. Oftentimes, issues around social injustice can easily be transformed into abstract problems, making it very easy ignore them. Materializing injustice as something that is immediately present, something that affects people we know, makes the issue more urgent.
Youth members gave presentations in Massachusetts, New York, California, Washington, Texas, Michigan, and even Croatia! This was an incredibly active fall for interACT Youth, and we’re feeling more empowered than ever to continue our efforts to end medically unnecessary cosmetic surgeries on intersex infants.
I am so proud of every single individual within in our youth program, especially members who are growing as young advocates for our community. For some, it was their very first time engaging with advocacy work. Others were speaking to crowds that might have needed a little more convincing. All have told me stories expressing their excitement at being able to change hearts and minds.
To learn more about specific ways you can support intersex youth, please visit the website 4intersex.org. We also have a tremendous amount of resources on our website: the materials range from brochures crafted by youth members, media guides, ethics guides, and so much more. Don’t forget to sign up for our 4intersex Campaign, and become an advocate for the intersex community. Allies can download and present with the deck our youth members are using!
By interACT Youth Program Manager Amanda Saenz
