Intersex Day of Remembrance/Solidarity Day: Solidarity with Kenyan intersex persons with disabilities

Capacity Building session with deaf intersex persons

Intersex Day of remembrance, also known as Solidarity Day is an internationally observed civil awareness day meant to highlight issues that intersex individuals face.

Today we purpose on highlighting the challenges that intersex persons with disabilities face in Kenya, specifically the deaf. As much as different intersex variations come with specific health needs, it is fair enough to note that intersex traits do not constitute physical impairment per se.

However, apart from the social impairment that they face due to their physical attributes, we do have intersex people with disabilities such as blindness, deaf intersex people etc.

Despite intersex being a minority group itself, it is actually diverse with the deaf intersex persons being among the people left out within the community.  While having conversations with the deaf community as a way of expressing our sense of empathy and trying to understand how best they can be  supported, a lot actually came up.

Their bodies aren’t the problem but the environment is, because it is not meant for them. They are left out because of their inability to express themselves to everyone and even if they do, they cannot effectively articulate their issues because of the language barrier.

Most deaf intersex persons do not even know who they are until late in their lives because they lack information. They have to attend schools meant for the deaf which are already expensive and this is among the reasons as to why most of them do not get to higher levels of education.

Most intersex persons with hearing impairment find it difficult to access medical services because in Kenya most hospitals are yet to have sign interpreters.

Sensitization session with Homabay county officials

Also, due to lack of information, most deaf intersex people are subjected to corrective surgeries to make them conform to normative ideology of binary sexes which actually violates their rights because their inaccessibility to information hinders them from giving free and fully informed consent.

Intersex individuals suffer severe impairment from the society because of the stigmatization on the grounds of non-conforming sex characteristics. But this becomes even worse when it comes to deaf intersex persons because they cannot even freely share their lived dark secrets because of the dynamics of their communication which involves a sign interpreter most of the time.

As much as significant advances aimed at pushing for recognition and inclusion of the deaf intersex individuals are being made, the fight is still on and activists are still calling upon the society because accommodative policies are yet to be implemented.

"We honor and stand with INTERSEX PERSONS, who are always victims of harmful medical practices, Stigma and Discrimination. As we remember Intersex children and adults, we ask for a proper support system to our Intersex individuals with disabilities. INTERSEX RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS"

Frank Robert Kibagendi-

Intersex programs -Jinsiangu.