Where did “assigned male/female at birth” come from?

Yes, it is true that “assigned male/female at birth” came from the intersex community first and the transgender community now uses it too. Some in the intersex community say the transgender community appropriated it. Let me explain why this hurt.

Typically an endosex person’s sex is observed at birth and simply written down. When born intersex a team is called in to assign the “best” sex. Taking away our self-determination. Wrong assignment has caused some of the worse human rights violations on the planet. In the form of intersex genital mutilation and psychic mutilation. Uisng the words “assigned male/female at birth” without sharing about our pain, can hurt.

However, with both endosex and intersex people, our gender identity and sex can be mistaken at birth. Plus, sometimes an intersex person calls themselves transgender too. No matter who we are, being assigned wrong at birth is tragic.

Let’s try to find peace as different community who are marginalized, and always remember the harm brought to non-consenting intersex kids. I believe we can all get along if we understand each other better. Please always share about us intersex people if you burrow our language. Intersex erasure hurts.

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This article below shows the frustrations some have in the intersex community regarding this topic. As an intersex survivor, activist and educator I prefer to be more of a bridge builder, but share this, so others can see the pain:

Letters | Sex Assignment: ‘Assigned at birth’ appropriated from the intersex community Feb. 6th, 2020

United Nations’ INTERSEX Fact Sheet

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