Meet the Activists: Intersex Human Rights

Meet the Activists: Intersex Human Rights

Mercoledì 16 Dicembre 2015 16.30

New York City, 116 East 16th Street, 7th Floor, NY, NY 10003

Join us at the Astraea office in New York City to connect with international advisors and grantee partners of the Astraea Intersex Fund! We’ll highlight the work that intersex activists are doing around the world, as an incredible year for intersex human rights comes to a close.

In 2015, the Astraea Foundation launched the world’s first Intersex Human Rights Fund with the generous support of seed donors Kobi Conaway and Andrew Owen and a leadership gift from the Arcus Foundation. In our inaugural 2015 grants cohort, we are proud to support 29 intersex-led grantee partners in 21 countries working to ensure the human rights, bodily autonomy, physical integrity and self-determination of intersex people worldwide.

Read more about each of the panelists below!

ARISLEYDA DILONE
Based in the United States
Grantee Partner
Arisleyda Dilone is an emergent screenwriter and filmmaker based in New York City. She holds an MA degree in International Relations and Government from St. John’s University and a BA degree in Italian: Language and Civilization from Southern Connecticut State University. Arisleyda just finished her short film Mami, Y Yo Y mi Gallito, which revolves on a feature length film conversation with her mom about her body. She is currently working on a feature length film that will include the voices of outside forces as she seeks to understand her identity as an intersex woman and a Dominican-American.

HIKER CHIU
Based in Taiwan
Advisor and Grantee Partner
Hiker Chiu is the founder of OII-Chinese since 2008. Oii-Chinese is a platform for Chinese-speaking intersex people to get information, awareness, connection and peer support, and an intersex human rights advocacy organization. Hiker Chiu was the first person to come out as intersex in Taiwan, initiating the “Global Free Hugs with Intersex Movement” in the 8th Taipei Pride Parade 2010. Hiker is devoted to work building intersex connections in Asia. Hiker is a PhD. candidate of the Graduate school of Human Sexuality Shu-Te University in Taiwan.

MAURO CABRAL

Based in Argentina
Advisor
Mauro Cabral is an intersex and trans activist from Argentina. At this moment he serves as the Co-Director of GATE (Global Action for Trans* Equality). Previously, he coordinated the project “Intersex and Human Rights” at Mulabi – Espacio Latinoamericano de Sexualidades y Derechos (2007-2009) and, before that, the Latin America and Caribbean Trans and Intersex Area at IGHLRC (2005-2007). In 2006 he participated in the production of the Yogyakarta Principles and in 2009 he edited the book Interdicciones. Escrituras de la Intersexualidad en castellano. He lives in Buenos Aires.

MICHELA BALOCCHI
Based in Italy
Grantee Partner
Michela is co-founder of the group intersexioni and webeditor of the namesake website. PhD in Sociology and Political Sociology, she is a Marie Curie Fellow at the American University – Washington DC, and at the University of Verona (Italy), with a sociological project on intersex issues in the frame of human rights. In 2009, with intersex activist Alessandro Comeni, she opened the first welcome point for all kinds of intersex variations in Italy.
Intersexioni was founded in March 2013. The group’s name reflects the goal to bring and join together the intersectionalities between different but interconnected topics (such as gender, ethnic and socio-economic inequalities; discriminations based on sex&gender, sex characteristics, gender identity and gender expression, sexual orientation; the oppression on animals and antispeciesism) with a special focus on intersex human rights. Intersexioni is the first group in Italy to do this and, up to this day, we are the only one.
We are also the first group in Italy to analyze the intersex issues in a scientific and academic way and at the same time to advocate for intersex rights, to give peer support, to in/form and to disseminate
as well.

MIRIAM J. VAN DER HAVE
Based in the Netherlands
Grantee Partner
Miriam van der Have is President and founder of the Stichting Nederlands Netwerk Intersekse/DSD (NNID) and Co-Chair of OII Europe. NNID, founded in 2013, works on advocacy, equality and empowerment of people with an intersex variations in the Netherlands.

MORGAN CARPENTER
Based in Australia
Advisor and Grantee Partner
Morgan Carpenter is a social policy and technology policy researcher, intersex activist, and president of OII Australia, a national organization that promotes human rights and bodily autonomy for intersex people. Morgan engages in advocacy work at local, national and international levels, and has helped to secure intersex-inclusive national anti-discrimination legislation and a world-first Parliamentary report into intersex health and human rights. Morgan has been widely published and speaks internationally on intersex issues.

NATASHA JIMENEZ
Based in Costa Rica
Advisor and Grantee Partner
Natasha Jiménez is from Costa Rica and has been a trans and intersex activist for over 20 years. She is currently the General Coordinator for Mulabi in Costa Rica, which hosts the Intersex Secretariat for ILGA (the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association). She has been active at the LGBTTTI Coalition of the OAS and has done advocacy work at the UN denouncing violations of the rights of trans and intersex people in Latin America. She started her activism doing HIV/AIDS and STI prevention and care, and has been active in feminist, women’s and LGBT movements in Latin America.