People with differences of sex development (also called intersex people) have existed throughout recorded history. The new documentary Every Body looks at their fight for recognition, dignity, and the legal battle to end nonconsensual surgeries.
From my page on intersex resources:
In the community of sex and gender minorities, some (but not all) people have differences of sex development. These traits can include medically detectable physiological differences in chromosomes, gonads, sex hormones, or genitals.
These differences are not always visible, and some people with differences of sex development do not know they have these traits until they are tested.
Many people with differences of sex development were given genital surgery as infants or young children often before they can even talk. Their parents were then told never to tell anyone about what happened.
Director Julie Cohen previously made the Ruth Bader Ginsberg documentary RBG (2018) and the 2021 biography of gender diverse activist Pauli Murray:
The film tells the stories of three individuals who have moved from childhoods marked by shame, secrecy, and non-consensual surgeries to thriving adulthoods after each decided to set aside medical advice to keep their bodies a secret and instead came out as their authentic selves. Actor and screenwriter River Gallo (they/them), political consultant Alicia Roth Weigel (she/they), and Ph.D. student Sean Saifa Wall (he/him) are now leaders in a fast-growing global movement advocating for greater understanding of the intersex community and an end to unnecessary surgeries. Woven into the story is a stranger-than-fiction case of medical abuse, featuring exclusive footage from the NBC News archives, which helps explain the modern-day treatment of intersex people.
The intersex community and trans community have overlapping interests. Some people identify as part of both, where others only identify as one. Intersex people have the same range of sexual orientations as everyone, and people everywhere in the world have these traits.
The doc premieres at Tribeca then will screen in theaters starting June 30.
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