When I faced the streets alone I looked up into the Florida winter sky The stars seemed further away than usual God nowhere to be found in my heart I thought I was alone I now know God was there but not at the time just darkness you see, boys don't cry... or do they?… Continue reading Poem: When I faced the streets alone
All my life false and real, right and wrong tangled Playing with the moon, ridiculing wind, listening to birds Many years wasted seeing the mountain covered with snow This winter I suddenly realize snow makes a mountain. - Eihel Dogen For those who do not know, this is an example of a Koan. A Koan… Continue reading A Zen Koan: The winter of my life.
We both felt like we were from another world. You on one side of the country, and me on the other. And we would not know it until half our lives were over. You would be born a decade before me. Sharing with pride to all your friends your genitals from another world. All… Continue reading Poem: When two lonely aliens become brothers
I put out a poll on social media to prove a point about implicit bias and gender identity. It asked: "When you think about Ancient Greek Hermaphrodite Statues what pronouns would you reflexively use to describe that person depicted?" As you can see Most said she/her. Facebook did not offer me a third option,… Continue reading Implicit bias making Hermaphrodites “she/her” and being called an “it”.
A friend shared this quote with me when I was dying and saving myself from the horrors of forced gender assignment back in 2014. Back then, I felt like I was drowning in the middle of the cold Atlantic Ocean with no raft, no life jacket. Abandoned by those who should have cared, but did… Continue reading Why medical prejudice and malpractice didn’t kill me.
By James Costich April 8, 2019 It would seem that General Casimir Polaski, Revolutionary war hero serving directly under Washington himself was an intersex man instead of a male man. This is of great interest to intersex people who have been made to feel like lesser human beings. Otherwise, it is of very little… Continue reading Thoughts of an Intersex Man on the Discovery that General Pulaski Was Likely Intersex | By Jim Costich
When I recently learned about General Casimir Pulaski, like when I have discovered other intersex people in history, I become elated and I celebrated.....but it was short lived. Then my heart sank. Here we were once again, in our binary world misgendering the past; a past that gave people like me more human rights… Continue reading Please do not misgender Revolutionary War Hero, General Casimir Pulaski: Pronouns He/Him
By Jim Costich February, 7th 2019 There is no such thing as an "intersex poser". There are only people who are trying to figure out whether they are intersex. Some of them have noticed things about their bodies that don’t match what is considered standard for the sex they’ve been told they are the most… Continue reading Jim Costich’s Intersex Imposter Rant
Here is my blog in response to lots of people assuming that my gender identity would be "Gender Neutral" due to being born intersex. This assumption is profound and not accurate for so many of us born anatomically intersex. A "Gender Neutral" birth certificate is good only for people whose gender identity is gender… Continue reading My Anatomical Intersex Body Does Not Create My Gender Identity
A Memoir from Jim Costich, 2003 I was 44 before I found out what my body contains and what being intersex might mean as I age. I was born with ambiguous genitals in 1957 and I had no surgery. I've been on hormones since I was a teen because I have… Continue reading ……But Now I Have to Scream
