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.
My Wednesday Intersex Awareness to you today: If you can please take note of all the organizations that support CAH (Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia and The Cares Foundation), XXY/Klinefelter's Syndrome Organizations, and even Hypospadias Organizations. When you visit them, you will sadly see that all of them utterly deny that we can have intersectionality with LGBTQ+,… Continue reading Why trans hate, transphobia and homophobia are hurting millions of intersex kids.
By Jim Costich September 22, 2019 It is not appropriate to use the term “intersex” to describe a gender identity. Intersex refers to a person’s sexual anatomy, hormones or chromosomes. The most important thing to remember about the definition of the term is that it describes a person’s body, not their identity. The United Nations’ Intersex… Continue reading Intersex is Not a Gender Identity By Jim Costich
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”.
Little did we know, we married on Pete Burns Birthday, August 5th, 1995. If you do not know Pete was a beautiful man in the '80s and the lead singer for "Dead or Alive". His legacy lives on for breaking the gender stereotypes and living as a beautiful man! I would not discover… Continue reading Our 24th Wedding Anniversary and Serendipity with Pete Burns
Today I shared to the world on Facebook: My great aunt suffered electric shock treatment and being locked up in psychiatric hospitals for being a lesbian. She would ultimately commit suicide to escape institutionalized torture. I sometimes wonder if she was also intersex. I can't get any straight answers. If she was intersex, that would… Continue reading Poem: Institutionalized approved torture
I morn and grieve for that little boy who had no support. Who was not allowed to emerge, who was told by his family and experts that he was a girl, that he had to be a girl. I use to cry alot and feel despair that led to only suicide and self destruction. I… Continue reading Finally, I am the man I was supposed to be.
If we are to change our culture's view of intersex people, there is something very powerful we all can do. It is as simple as changing the language used to describe intersex children and adults. The United Nations' states: "Because our bodies are seen as different, intersex infants, children and adults are often stigmatized and… Continue reading Dear Medical Complex, Please stop saying Disorder of Sex Development.
By Jim Costich April 17th, 2019 Like Anunnaki, I am one of the lucky ones. One of the intersex people who was not mutilated by surgeons' knives. Also, one of the lucky ones because I did not have a forced gender assignment and although my hormonal health was postponed due to medical malpractitioners I… Continue reading Intersex people must be allowed self-determination about our bodies, our identities, and our lives. By Jim Costich
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.
