Oxford LibGuides: LGBTI law: Intersex

Intersexuality and Gender Identity

Countries are reviewing the old requirements that babies be registered as either male or female shortly after birth, that official registration documents such as passports have only binary options.

A need to intercede? The International Olympic Committee and intersexuality (2013) 13 ISLJ 55-59
Assigning sex and intersexuals (2001) 31 FamLaw 762-766
Defining, assigning and designing sex (2002) 16 IntJLPF 327-367

WHO/Europe brief – transgender health in the context of ICD-11
Consultation on reforming Gender Recognition Act 2004
This consultation ran from 4pm on 3 July 2018 to midday on 22 October 2018. The papers behind the consultation remain available
Australian Government Guidelines on the Recognition of Sex and Gender (2013)
Official government website In 2013, Australia had adopted the Sex Discrimination Amendment (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Intersex Status) Act – which made intersex status a stand prohibited ground of discrimination.
Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2016 (Ireland)
Official website Full text of Bill Number 119 of 2016 "Following the enactment of the Gender Recognition Act 2015, it is desirable to make explicit the prohibition of discrimination against transgender persons under equality legislation to reflect the significance of the establishment of a system of legal recognition of the acquired gender of transgender persons and of intersex persons."
[Malta] Gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics act
From official government website.
Establishing a Third Gender Category in Nepal: Process and Prognosis
Free resource. Article by Michael Bochenek,
Kyle Knight 26 Emory International Law Review
The fundamental rights situation of intersex people
2015 paper examines the legal situation of intersex people from a fundamental rights perspective. It draws on evidence from the Agency’s updated legal analysis on homophobia, transphobia, and discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, which now includes a section on intersex issues.
Report from European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), the EU’s centre of fundamental rights expertise.
Background Note on Human Rights Violations against Intersex People
"The UN Human Rights Office has issued a new Background Note on Human Rights Violations against Intersex People, which has been developed as a follow-up to various initiatives by the Office, UN agencies and regional human rights mechanisms including: the Intersex Expert meeting held in 2015, public education awareness campaigns by UN free and Equal on Intersex Awareness in 2015 and the Joint Statement by UN and regional human rights mechanisms in 2016.

The background note analyses the specific human rights violations faced by Intersex people and the corresponding human rights obligations of States, identifying gaps, challenges and positive developments and charting the way forward to ensure that the human rights of intersex people are respected, protected and fulfilled."
Intersex UK
"IntersexUK (ISUK) is a human rights organisation working to achieve equality for, and the protection of Intersex bodied people.
IntersexUK's vision is to ensure irreversible genital mutilations, sterilisations and other non consensual abuses against healthy intersex bodied children is stopped. A child's body is theirs for the whole of their life and the right of that persons autonomy must be respected above the right of others to ease social discomfort. Scalpels do not sculpt gender they sever futures."
Intersex Australia (formerly OII Australia)
"an independent support, education and policy development organisation, by and for people with intersex variations or traits. Our work focuses on human rights, bodily autonomy and self-determination, and on evidence-based, patient-directed healthcare."
ITANZ: Intersex awareness NZ
"ITANZ is a New Zealand registered charitable trust and provides information, education and training for organisations and professionals who provide services to intersex people and their families."

Medical Treatment

Differences in sex development (DSD)
Official NHS webpage with links to support groups
Independent Review of Gender Identity Services for Children and Young People (Cass Review )
Official website. The Independent Review of Gender Identity Services for Children and Young People (The Cass Review) was commissioned by NHS England and NHS Improvement in Autumn 2020 to make recommendations about the services provided by the NHS to children and young people who are questioning their gender identity or experiencing gender incongruence.

December 2020 Judgment on Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS)

Can trans children consent to puberty blocking drugs? The High Court of England and Wales doubts it.
Oxford Human Rights Blog Post Tatiana Kazim - 15th December 2020
R (on the application of) Quincy Bell and A -v- Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust and others [2020] EWHC 3274 (Admin)
Transcript of judgment and summary available as free pdf downloads from official Judiciary UK website

Intersex Athlete Decision

CAS Arbitration: Caster Semenya, Athletics South Africa (ASA) and International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF 01.05.2019)
Free download from CAS official website
BBC article on CAS decision on Semenya Appeal (2019)