Intersex Asia is a pan-Asian

intersex human rights Intersex people are born with sex characteristics, such as chromosomes, gonads, or genitals, that, according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies." Intersex peop ...

organization, established in 2018 and registered in Taiwan.

History

Intersex Asia was established at the First Asian Intersex Forum on February 10, 2018, in Bangkok, Thailand. The forum brought together 14 people from Hong Kong (China), India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Notable representatives and spokespeople include Jeff Cagandahan,

Hiker Chiu Hiker Chiu (; born 1966) is a Taiwanese intersex human rights activist who founded Oii-Chinese in 2008 and cofounded Intersex Asia in 2018. Early life Chiu did not fully develop the secondary sexual characteristics expected of women during his/h ...

Esan Regmi Esan Regmi (born 1988) is a prominent Nepali intersex man and intersex human rights activist. He has founded the Nepali organization Campaign for Change, and he is one of the co founders of International NGO Intersex Asia. Early life Regmi was ...

Small Luk Small Luk is the first intersex person to openly acknowledge her biological sex characteristics in Hong Kong. She was born with partial androgen insensitivity syndrome. Luk lived as a male for 36 years, and now lives as a woman. She founded the o ...

and

Gopi Shankar Madurai Gopi Shankar Madurai, born 13 April 1991, is an Indian equal rights and Indigenous rights activist. Shankar was one of the youngest, and the first openly intersex and genderqueer statutory authority and one of the candidates to contest in 201 ...

. Indian human rights lawyer Prashant Singh has been appointed as coordinator.

Activities

Intersex Asia aims to promote and protect the human rights of intersex people in Asia, including rights to bodily integrity, physical autonomy and self determination, and it also aims to provide a representative voice. In a founding statement the organization identifies key issues including "discrimination, violence and killings of intersex people by a number of cultural, religious, traditional and medical beliefs and practices". The organization is supported by Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, COC,

Mama Cash Mama Cash is the oldest international women's fund in the world, founded in the Netherlands in 1983. In 2013, Mama Cash supported 118 women's, girls and trans rights organisations with 4.3 million euros. History Mama Cash was founded in the Nether ...

Open Society Foundations Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is a Grant (money), grantmaking network founded and chaired by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the wo ...

and

RFSL The Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Rights ( sv, Riksförbundet för homosexuellas, bisexuellas, transpersoners och queeras rättigheter, RFSL, formerly ) is a Swedish organization working for LGBT rights. Lawy ...

Education and awareness

Amongst its activities, Intersex Asia has published translations of information on key issues and human rights by

United Nations Free & Equal United Nations Free & Equal is a global public information campaign led by the United Nations Human Rights Office. The campaign advances equal rights and fair treatment for lesbian, gay, bi, trans, and intersex (LGBTI) individuals around the world ...

into Asian languages including Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Filipino, Hindi, Indonesian, Korean, Malay, Nepali, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu and Vietnamese.

Affiliations

Intersex Asia is a member of the

International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) is an organization who is committed to advancing human rights to all people, disregarding gender identity, sex characteristics and expression. ILGA participates in a ...

References

External links