Following Intersex Awareness Day (October 26), a new study from the Center for American Progress (CAP) has found intersex people face disproportionate rates of discrimination, with over two-thirds (69%) of respondents saying they have experienced discrimination in the past 12 months. In comparison, 35% of other LGBTQ+ people said that they had faced discrimination in the past year.
Out of 1,528 LGBTQ+ adults, 61% of intersex respondents said that they actively avoided visits to their doctor, while an additional 57% said they often refrained from visiting public places such as restaurants out of fear of discrimination. Approximately 9 in 10 reported experiencing healthcare discrimination, with some saying they were refused care or subjected to abuse, compared to 19% of non-intersex respondents.
A total of 80% of intersex participants said that discrimination had impacted their financial stability, with 84% saying that they were not offered job opportunities due to prejudice. InterACT executive director, Kimberly Zieselman, described the results as “staggering and unsurprising”, adding: “For years, intersex people as young as infants have been subjected to harmful discriminatory practices that cause profound lifelong physical and emotional harms…These important new data help quantify what the intersex community has known for years.”
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