Human rights challenges for intersex people (Tony Briffa Q&A)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ธ.ค. 2014
- Filmed at Arthur, Martha and everyone else: equality now for intersex, trans and gender diverse people
Tony Briffa is a former mayor and current vice president of Australia's two intersex advocacy groups - Organisation Intersex International and the AIS Support Group Australia. Tony is open about being born biologically both female and male, and will talk about the unique human rights challenges for intersex people.
Date: Tuesday 7 October 2014
Time: 6.00pm to 7.30pm
Venue: Monash University Law Chambers, 555 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
I too am Intersex and also had surgeries when I was a child. I've never been given access to my medical records. It was after I came down with cancer from my ovotestis that I found out about part of my Intersex story. My hope is children will never have to be subjected to what happened to myself or other Intersex children.
I read Tony's story and it broke my heart what he had to go through, I admire his tenacity and especially his integrity (he is a man who looks for a straight woman as a partner).
I would also like to state that as a ten year old child I did see first had unacceptable medical practices. This was done to a much younger child and to a lesser degree myself. I've tried to obtain my records from the hospital and even wrote the hospital about myself. In addition I contacted a news paper hoping a reporter would take interest.
. I've come to terms years ago about who I am. But I very much remember the little boy next to me was operated on several times while I was recovering from surgery. Judging from the scars I saw on his abdomen I think he too had undescended testis, accept the surgery was on both side. I suspected he did not have testis or something along those lines.
A very disturbing women wearing a lab coat over her dress came to speak to me on the third or forth day in hospital. I remember her conversation as if it where spoken today. She said that they, as in doctors, had saved me from being or becoming a girl. Then she turn the conversation toward the child next to me and said I should be very nice to him because they where sure he couldn't be save from becoming a girl. As a ten year old I could see the craziness of what she told me. This one conversation had a very profound effect on me. Not a positive one either.
Even at ten I felt like part of me was a girl but after my visit the the hospital I felt very guilty. I never spoke about this again till that very same testis became malignant with a form of ovarian cancer. In addition to some of the biggest teratoma the Mayo Clinic every saw. I was told I may have a form of AIS that caused the ovotestis on one side and the reduced size of the other testis.
Before I die I want to know what happened to that poor child? Was her youth vary hard like mine? Mostly I just want to tell him/her I remembered what happened and think often about this and maybe offer a small measure of comfort for that child.