#interphobia is ignorance

[lgbtqiatext]

[briarpiranian]

Sex Ed PSA

Intersex as a sex category is usually not talked about in sex ed, but it should be. Despite what your high school biology class likely led you to believe, not everyone is easily categorized as male or female. It is scientific fact that there are more than two sexes.

Some people (such as myself) exhibit sex characteristics that are not easily categorized as male or female and fall under the intersex umbrella.

Let me reiterate that Intersex people do not choose to be intersex. We are born with sex characteristics (including chromosomes, hormones, and, physical features such as ambiguous genitalia) that do not fit the male/female binary. It is not our choice. Being intersex is also different from being transgender or nonbinary, though some intersex people also identify as trans/nb.

The fact that intersex people are never brought up in sex ed creates a lot of problems, with just a few being:

Intersex kids don't get guidance on issues unique to them.

Kids get bullied viciously when they develop intersex characteristics during puberty.

People in general aren't aware of the existence and needs of intersex people, meaning that those needs continue to go unmet.

[briarpiranian]

I understand you're trying to be inclusive when you say to childless people, "happy father's day to you, future father," or "happy mother's day to you, future mother," but when you do that, you're ostracizing people, and I don't just mean those who can't have or don't want children. For all you know, that person could be silently struggling with infertility. They might have lost an unborn child that they didn't tell you about. They might be an intersex person who was sterilized at birth without their consent or simply have been born without the necessary equipment for making a child. They might have trauma around parenting because they were parentified that you are triggering every time you bring it up. They might want children but feel uncomfortable with certain parenting labels because of their gender identity. Hells, even if they just don't want children, that is not your choice and you should not use father's/mother's day to push your chosen lifestyle onto them. There are a whole host of good reasons I could name for why you shouldn't do this.