Ukraine > Intersex and IGM Instrumentalised and Abused for LGBT and Gender Politics at the UN

By seelenlos on Friday 9 February 2018, 21:07 - Permalink

The onslaught never stops (2): Virtually every time StopIGM.org takes part in an UN Treaty body session, we're confronted with one or more trans or LGBT NGOs instrumentalising the pain and suffering of intersex children submitted to IGM as a means to their own ends, and – hand in glove with State p arties constantly pinkwashing IGM practices when questioned by UN Committees – seriously damaging intersex human rights at the UN in the process.

Typical examples of big-money agencies and NGOs exploiting IGM for LGBT politics include UNFE New York, Amnesty London, EU-FRA, and ILGA. "LGBT Denmark” is another typical example of a national LGBT organisation and ILGA member abusing intersex children as cannon fodder for LGBT politics at the UN.

“Insight” Ukraine: Stealing intersex people's words to better abuse them

Today's salient example is taken from the review of Ukraine at the 66th session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

It concerns an NGO report “LBTI People in Ukraine” (relevant full quotes here) and a subsequent Committee briefing by the Ukranian LGBT NGO “Insight”, a self-styled “LGBTQI organisation” obviously without actual intersex representation or advocacy, and a member of ILGA Europe:

• First, in the report (p. 8) “Insight” shamelessly stole and plagiarised the words of Ukrainian intersex advocate Julia Pustovit – conveniently omitting the part where Pustovit explictly states, “I am against adding the ‘I’ to LGBT.” (full quote) – Check.

• In addition, the “Insight” report also “(trans-)sexualised” Pustovit's one-paragraph statement on the current practice in the Ukraine by adding two phrases including the word “sex” not contained in the original statement, first claiming the surgeries would be offered “to make it easier to determine the sex”, and second narrowing Pustovit's demand for intersex people to decide for themselves to the one aspect most relevant for LGBT and Trans persons, i.e. “decid[ing] what sex to be”. – Check.

• Then, in the subsequent NGO briefing to CEDAW, the “Insight” representative unsurprisingly omitted intersex and IGM altogether – only asking for recommendations on “LGBTI” instead – i.e. exactly, what Pustovit had warned of! – Check.

• Already the “Insight” report (p. 8) totally failed to adequately address IGM as a “harmful practice” (CEDAW art. 5 in conjunction with CEDAW-CRC General recommendation/comment No. 31/18 “on harmful practices”) – the crucial CEDAW human rights framework under which the Committe issued all previous recommendations condemning IGM as a serious violation – but rather focused on promoting frameworks more useful for LGBT and gender politics instead, namely “discrimination [...], legal gender recognition and health issues”. – Check.

• As a consequence, there were no questions by the Committee on intersex and IGM to the Ukrainian Delegation during the session, and therefore also no recommendations in the Concluding observations. – Check.

• Even worse, such harmful misrepresentation and instrumentalising of intersex and IGM by national LGBT and Trans NGOs at the UN seems to be encouraged and supported by international big-money LGBT NGOs, for example ILGA: When we alerted a representative attending the session to the plagiarism in the “Insight” report, all we got was a shrug. – Check.

Conclusion: BINGO!!! Yet another LGBT NGO shamelessly abusing the pain and suffering of intersex children as a means to an end for LGBT politics and their own gain! – Shame on you!!!!!

How much longer?!!

Instrumentalising Intersex Is NOT A Victimless Crime!

>>> Intersex human rights at the UN are under attack!!!

• “Harmful Medical Practice”: UN, COE, ACHPR, IACHR condem IGM
• 29 UN Reprimands for Intersex Genital Mutilations – and counting ...

Comments

1. On Friday 9 February 2018, 20:56 by seelenlos

Full quotes and sources:

The following is the full answer on "(not) adding the ‘i’” from the interview with Ukrainian intersex advocate Julia Pustovit:

«I am against adding “I” to LGBT. On the one hand, in order to have a voice and to make oneself known, it is really easier to walk hand-in-hand with someone who is already known. We can be allies with LGBT, but as a separate part of something bigger. The level of tolerance towards LGBT people in Ukrainian, Russian, and many other societies could be better, to put it softly. So I think it we would be somehow getting ahead of ourselves to add “I” to LGBT. Especially in Russia where all LGBT people are outside the law or in Ukraine. Not everybody in Ukraine and Russia understands the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity, so to add to this abbreviation also biologically variated people means to confuse society even more – the brains of some people would just explode. Thus I am rather against this juncture. Moreover, in Ukraine even LGBT organizations don’t always understand who intersex people are.»

The following is the full answer on "IGM in the Ukraine’” from the interview with Ukrainian intersex advocate Julia Pustovit:

«Ukrainian doctors who see an intersex child usually offer to perform a genital surgery. They often treat intersex children as something exotic and peculiar. From talking to people, I have some scant information on the issue. In the majority of cases, toddlers in Ukraine that are born with “underdeveloped genitalia” undergo normalizing surgeries (unfortunately, the same also happens in many other countries and it is not new information). Of course, parents are informed about the surgeries, but you understand the way it is explained to them. The doctors say that this way, in the future it will be easier for both you and your child. Parents do not usually know that their child can live the way it was born and decide who to be later, at a more conscious age, and after being better informed about the biological variations of the body. In Ukraine, doctors push parents into “assigning” sex to a child.»

The following is the plagiarised, unreferenced and “(trans-)sexualised” quote on the current parctice in the Ukraine by Julia Pustovit, as published in the “Insight” NGO report to CEDAW (available from the CEDAW66 homepage), “SHADOW REPORT on situation of lesbian, bisexual women, trans people and intersex people in Ukraine” (p. 8):

«Ukrainian doctors who see an intersex child usually offer to perform a genital surgery to make it easier to determine sex of a child. In the majority of cases, babies in Ukraine that are born with “underdeveloped genitalia” undergo such normalizing surgeries. Of course, parents are informed about the surgeries, but doctors usually explain it in the way that it will make future life easier for both parents and child. Parents are not usually aware that it is possible for their child to live the way they were born and to decide what sex to be later on, at a more conscious age, and after being better informed about the biological variations of the body. So doctors push parents into “assigning” sex of a child when they are born.»

Intersex appropriation sucks!

2. On Sunday 11 February 2018, 22:27 by Jay Hayes-Light

Well said! The only link between LGBT and intersex is that all these groups are minorities and the fact that some intersex people transition later in life. Other than this, childhood experience. medical needs, fertility issues, social status and continuous suffering is totally limited to intersex people. In many ways we are more different than we are alike. However, the general public and the media find it easier to use the collective term LGBTI. No one who is LGBT has any idea as to what intersex people face, often from infancy ( I work professionally with children and do not know any LGB infants nor any older children who spend what should be school-time in hospital being stripped naked, re-examined and put on display by medics because they are LGBT.
I identify as male, but no other non-intersex male has had my experiences. Grouping these disparate groups together is lazy, inaccurate and harmful.

STOP Intersex Genital Mutilations in Children's Clinics!