Intersex Greece

Intersex Greece is a nationwide organisation based in Greece that brings together intersex adults, parents of intersex children, supportive individuals and related professionals. According to its own description, it is steered by a coordinating team of adult intersex people and parents of intersex children, supported by inclusive partners. Its stated aims are to provide specialised peer-to-peer support to intersex people and their families, to offer training and information on the natural diversity of sex characteristics (intersex physiology), and to work for visibility, community building, awareness raising and the safeguarding of intersex people's rights in Greece and abroad. The organisation frames intersex as an umbrella term for innate natural differences in sex traits or reproductive anatomy, together with the lived experience of the socio-cultural consequences of being born with a body that does not fit normative definitions of "male" and "female" bodies. It highlights that genitalia, hormones, internal anatomy or chromosomes can develop in many ways, and that intersex children's healthy bodies are often pathologised and secretly surgically altered because of social norms, ignorance, shame and stigma. It points to surgeries to create a vagina, reduce a clitoris, move a urethra or remove testes, noting that most such surgeries happen before the age of two. Intersex Greece argues that intersex activists, the UN and many of the world's top human rights organisations agree that cosmetic surgeries altering sex characteristics must be exclusively the individual's informed choice. It also criticises selective terminations of intersex fetuses, noting that such medical interventions are legally and largely performed in most countries of the world, including Greece. The organisation therefore campaigns for the legal banning of cosmetic, non-medically necessary genital surgeries on intersex babies and children until they reach an age capable of free and informed consent. In terms of activity, Intersex Greece provides a range of services to individuals, organisations, institutions and community groups around Greece. These include training packages delivered alone or in collaboration with the NGO Rainbow School, aimed at organisations, school communities, educators, spiritual leaders and policy makers, delivered online or face-to-face by experienced people with lived experience. It also offers peer support through a forum, social media and a closed Facebook group, and engages in advocacy, human rights and law reform work, which it dates to at least 2017. Intersex Greece presents itself as a community rather than a commercial enterprise: a membership-based advocacy organisation inviting intersex people, families and advocates to join. Its public identity is built around human rights, peer support, education and law reform for intersex people in Greece.

Intersex Greece describes itself as the nationwide organisation of intersex adults, parents of intersex children, supportive individuals and related professionals located in Greece. It states that it is led by a coordinating team of adult intersex individuals and parents of intersex children, framed by inclusive and valuable partners. Its stated aims are to provide specialised, peer-to-peer support to intersex people and their families; to provide support, training and information on all issues related to the natural diversity of sex characteristics (intersex physiology); and to work for visibility and intersex community building, raising awareness, and promoting and safeguarding the rights of intersex people in Greece and, consequently, abroad. The organisation's advocacy work is dated in its own materials to at least 2017, when it says its advocacy, human rights and law reform efforts began. It campaigns for the legal recognition of intersex physiology by the Greek State and laws as a natural state of human beings that should have equal rights with men and women. It argues that in Greece, and elsewhere, natural intersex physiology is still treated by a significant portion of the medical world and the public as a "pathology that needs to be medically normalized," and it cites the personal testimonies and life experiences of intersex people in Greece and worldwide as evidence that unnecessary medical interventions have had traumatic and unpleasant consequences on their bodies and psyche. A central demand is the legal banning of cosmetic, non-medically necessary genital surgeries on intersex babies and children until they reach an age capable of free and informed consent. Intersex Greece also criticises selective terminations of intersex fetuses. It notes that such medical interventions are legally and largely performed in most countries of the world, including Greece, and it aligns its position with intersex activists, the UN and many of the world's top human rights organisations, which it says agree that cosmetic surgeries altering sex characteristics must be exclusively the individual's informed choice. In service delivery, Intersex Greece provides training packages to organisations, school communities, educators, spiritual leaders, policy makers and others, either alone or in collaboration with the NGO Rainbow School. These trainings can be delivered online or face-to-face, subject to availability and public health regulations, by experienced people with lived experience. Offerings include a brief introduction to intersex people and issues (around 120 minutes including question time), intersex content workshops (around 4 hours including group work), an "Intersex for Allies" presentation (around 2 hours including questions), and guest lectures and speaking engagements. The organisation states that all trainers are people with intersex variations or parents of intersex children and trained expert advocates who have participated in training delivered by OII Europe under the EU-funded program RISE. Intersex Greece also provides peer support, emphasising that peer-to-peer support is most valuable. People with intersex variations, their family members and allies may join its forum, its social media, or its closed Facebook group, which is kept closed to maintain members' privacy. It particularly welcomes new parents or parents-to-be in need of peer-to-peer or family support through small closed groups with only a few parents and complete privacy. The organisation invites intersex people, supportive families and advocates living in Greece to join as members.

• Intersex Greece dates its advocacy, human rights and law reform work to at least 2017.

A nationwide, community-based intersex advocacy and support organisation in Greece, focused on human rights, peer support, education and law reform rather than commercial products.

1. 1Home - Intersex Greeceintersexgreece.org.gr
2. 2About Us - Intersex Greeceintersexgreece.org.gr
3. 3Services - Intersex Greeceintersexgreece.org.gr
4. 4Intersex Greecewikidata.org