The ACT government has introduced Australia’s first draft laws protecting the medical rights of intersex people, in a moment applauded by intersex advocates.
Intersex people – the “I” in LGBTQIA+ – are born with innate sex characteristics that don’t fit medical norms for female nor male bodies.
As infants, many undergo unnecessary and irreversible so-called “normalising” medical procedures when they’re too young to consent to them.
While some of the procedures and treatments are medically necessary, many are not. Intersex people have experienced lifelong complications and negative impacts on mental wellbeing as a result.
The ACT Government this week introduced a bill to parliament. The proposed laws would prohibit unnecessary medical procedures on intersex children until the person can make the decision themselves.
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr announced the legislation earlier this month. The leader has also challenged other states to follow the ACT.
“It’s long been recommended that governments take action on irreversible and non-urgent procedures to be deferred until the person is old enough to be able to decide for themselves what is done to their bodies,” Andrew Barr said this week.
Other states must follow, intersex advocates say
If passed, the ACT would join only a handful of jurisdictions overseas to pass such laws. They include Malta, Portugal, Germany and Iceland.
Intersex advocates in Australia have lobbied for the laws for decades, and say other states must follow.
“These reforms promise to ensure that medical interventions on many people with innate variations of sex characteristics meet human rights norms,” Intersex Human Rights Australia (IHRA) director Morgan Carpenter says.
“They will enable individuals, to the maximum extent possible, to make their own decisions about their own bodies in their own time, and in line with their own values and principles.
“We’ve been proud to work with the ACT government on this innovative law reform. Our thanks go to the Chief Minister and his government for their extraordinarily careful and thorough work.”
‘It can’t happen to anyone else’
IHRA’s Cody Smith was born and raised in Canberra. They said the ACT legislation gives “a sense of peace and justice” after his traumatic experience of “medical violence”.
“I’ve always lived with the consequences of decisions that should have never been made for me,” Cody said.
“And a profound grief that I’ve been unable to prevent these circumstances from happening to others.
“It’s the first time a government in Australia has recognised that all the surgeries, hormones, and decisions taken away from me was wrong and that it can’t be allowed to happen to anyone else.
“All people living with any variation in sex characteristics, anywhere in Australia, deserves this sense of peace and justice.”
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