Description:

For centuries, mythology, not actual intersex people’s stories, has shaped the public’s perception of intersexuality, leading to dire consequences. Some of the key events and players in intersex history, whose groundbreaking activism in the early 90s helped lay the groundwork for today’s dynamic movement for intersex bodily autonomy and justice, are introduced to help participants understand why intersex activists across the globe—who were forced to conform—are uniting to demand that society conforms instead. Audiences will get a chance to think critically about the ways in which seemingly binary concepts such as sex and gender are actually diverse and mysterious and how they can create inclusive communities and practices for intersex people. The keynote will be followed by a Q&A session in which the audience can directly ask questions of and engage with Pidgeon.  

Pidgeon Pagonis (they/them) has worked for over a decade as an intersex advocate, speaker, consultant, photographer, and filmmaker to shed light on the human rights violations endured by intersex people. Their goal is to help end the non-consensual irreversible medical procedures meant to discipline unruly intersex bodies. Pidgeon’s accessible advocacy helps people complicate their preconceived binary notions about “biological differences.” Their work has been essential for those who want to show up for intersex people in their lives but aren’t sure where to start. Whether advancing the intersex cause as the co-founder of the Intersex Justice Project (IJP), co-producing viral informational videos, creating art that centers intersex voices, appearing on the cover of National Geographic “Gender Revolution” special issue or being honored as a LGBT Champion of Change in by the Obama White House, Pidgeon has staked out a place at the fore of debates on intersexuality. In 2020, IJP’s #EndIntersexSurgery campaign succeeded in getting Chicago’s Lurie Children’s to become the first hospital in the nation to apologize and halt surgeries. Their memoir Nobody Needs to Know was published in 2023 by Little A Press.