Open letter to the organizers of the Forum on Genital Cutting in a Globalized Age
June 2008
Dear Organizers of the Forum on Genital Cutting in a Globalized Age,
We are writing to you to express our concern that you have invited Cheryl Chase of the now defunct Intersex Society of North America to be the keynote speaker at this forum.
Here are our concerns:
- Why were UK board members of OII, or UK academics/researchers associated with OII, not invited to participate and contribute to this meeting?
- The new organization which Bo Laurent (real name of Cheryl Chase) has helped found appears to be very pro-surgery. If you read the website of the Accord Alliance, you will notice that the mission of the Accord Alliance is to support the Consensus Statement. The following is from the LWPES Consensus Statement on CAH:
The LWPES Consensus on CAH is found here: Quote from that Consensus Statement: "Based on recent clinical experience, the recommended time for surgery is at age 2–6 months; although, at present, this is not universal practice. It is important to note that surgery at this stage is technically easier than at later stages."- Bo Laurent (Cheryl Chase) pushed the Disorder terminology (as in "Disorders of Sex Development") with almost no input or consensus from intersex people. It is difficult to find any intersex people who approve of the new terminology or the extremely regressive protocols put forward in the Consensus Statement. It is of great concern to OII's membership that Bo Laurent is being presented as representative of intersex people when that is far from the truth.
- For more information on Bo Laurent, please see:
It is important that some serious effort be made to hear intersex people's concerns and Bo Laurent is not someone who has the trust of most intersex people around the world.
Kind regards,
Curtis E. Hinkle
Founder, Organisation Intersex International
Mr Y. Gavriel Ansara
Organisation Intersex International (OII)
Board Member, Spokesman on Multicultural Issues
http://intersexualite.org/Gavi.html
Kristen Worley
Organisation Intersex International
Canadian Board Member, Spokeswoman against sexism and discrimination
Canadian Elite Athlete
Wal Torres, MSc., Ph.D.
OII - spokeswoman for Portuguese speaking community
Sophia Siedlberg
Spokeswoman for OII in the United Kingdom
Michelle O'Brien
OII Board Member, United Kingdom
M. Italiano, MBBS(AM) c.
OII advisor on Variations of Sex Development
Adj. Prof., Gendercare, Inc.
Ins A Kromminga
Board member of TransInterQueer e.V. (TrIQ) Berlin, Germany
Marie-Noëlle Baechler
WAPCEPC member (World association for person-centered and experiential psychotherapy and counseling)
SPCP member (Société Suisse pour la psychothérapie et l'approche centrée sur la personne)
Tanguy Pinxteren
Co-fondateur de Genres Pluriels
Emilie Moulhérac
rabatjoie@free.fr
Stéphane Jacob
site perso : http://20six.fr/trans-ftm-gay
stef TRANS @ GRESSION
No tenemos disfória, tenemos euforia de género !
françoise/kamel blanchon
peintre en bâtiment, lyon, france
Arianna Davis
OII Spokeswoman for Gender Identity Rights
James Costich, intersexed man and educator on intersex issues.
Rochester, NY 14607
middlesex1957@yahoo.com
Lee Sheldon, retired speech pathologist and spouse of Jim Costich
Rochester, NY 14607
skaterbearlee@yahoo.com
Reade Sitton
OII-USA
Gina Wilson
OII-Australia
Outreach and Support
Edith Frances Pilkington
Taylor Holder
When a person is claiming to represent Intersex Persons, and yet most if not all support for this “individual” has been pulled due to the damage which they have inflicted on a population (intersex persons in this case), how can any reputable organization or event utilize such a person while maintaining interest in advancing the human rights and dignity for a minority group? We believe that by allowing this individual to speak as a “qualified spokes person” it is extremely damaging in respect to both Intersex persons, and it is critical to pass this information on to event planners such as yourself.
While we understand that we are making a urgent appeal to you at nearly the last hour, we ask that you make the choice for supporting Intersex persons, versus allowing one individual to continue to use a voice through deceptive and unethical practices that will lead to more clean up work afterwards. While we have no question regarding your desire to provide education and awareness for our community, we also ask that you please take pro active actions and canceling/ or changing your keynote speaker for the sake of Intersex persons world wide. If we can be any assistance in the future please contact us directly and we will assist you with your needs and requests as we can work jointly to provide keynote speakers in a manner that will truly reflect Intersex Persons world wide.
