Who are intersex people?

There is still misinformation about intersex people in Mexico, so we present this information to provide an overview of the population in the framework of Intersex Awareness Day (October 26).

When we read the LGBTTTIQA+ acronymIf you are in doubt, there may be a question as to whether what does the letter 'I' refer towhich represents intersexuality; this is neither a sexual orientation nor a gender identity, it is a biological state.. 

On the occasion of Intersex Awareness Day, which is commemorated on October 26 and is also known as Intersex Awareness Day, here are some relevant data about this population. 

How to easily understand who intersex people are and how many intersex variations exist?

The intersex population is one that is born with sexual characteristics that do not conform to the binarism of what is considered a male or female body.

interACTa U.S.-based organization that empowers intersex youth, points out that there are more than 30 different intersexual variationswhich cause changes in chromosomes, gonads (testicles or ovaries), genitalia or internal organs. It also covers how your body produces or responds to hormones.  

Some of these variations:

• cause increased or decreased estrogen or testosterone production;
• make a person is born with genitalia that appear to be in an intermediate state between typically male and female;
• cause someone has a smaller penis of what is considered the average size;
• make a person possesses a so-called 'mosaic' genetic make-upi.e.: a cells have XX chromosomes and others have XY chromosomes, or their chromosomes are XXY or X0.

However, these variations are very particularTherefore, not all people will have the same ones. 

In fact, the Mexican organization Brújula Intersexual explains that there is no single intersex anatomy. Furthermore, he points out that intersex should not be seen as a pathology, as it is only "a variation in body shape and composition.".

To take more concrete examples, we have intersex persons who are born with both male and female genitalia. Or, someone who has a penis and testicles, but with an XX chromosomal load.. This will cause some of the their sexual characteristics that develop at puberty correspond to what traditionally happens with a womansuch as breast development and widening of the hips.

In addition, intersexuality is not always evident at birthSome variations are present up to adolescence. In fact, based on the Intersex Survey 2020 conducted by Brújula Intersexual together with the National Council for the Prevention of Discrimination (Conapred).we found that the 54.9% of respondents realized that they were born with a congenital variation in sex characteristics until puberty., between 9 and 15 years of age.

The survey The above-mentioned obtained responses from 89 people from 24 states in Mexico and served to have a representative sample that would allow us to know what the experiences of the intersex population are like in our country.

How many intersex people are there in the world and in Mexico?

According to data from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), by 2024, intersex people accounted for approximately 1.7% of the world population..

If we take into account the figures of the United Nations (UN), by the end of 2024, there were 8.2 billion people on Earth.. With this we can calculate that 1.7% of the world's population equals approximately 139,400,000 intersex people..

In the case of Mexico, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) published the National Survey on Sexual and Gender Diversity (Endiseg) in 2021, in order to know what the population is like. LGBTTTIQA+. However, there is no special category for intersex persons in the results report. For this reason, there is no official figure.

It is important that this differentiation is considered in the next Endiseg, since is segmented by sexual orientation and gender identity to obtain the results.. However, let us remember that intersex refers to a biological state that does not fall into the categories used by Inegi.. 

What abuses and human rights abuses do intersex people face?

Intersex people have been confronted with historically to some human rights abuses and violations by their biological status. OHCHR notes that some of the most common are:

• the infanticide;
• the mutilations and medical interventions coercive; 
• the discrimination in several areas, such as labor and education;
• the lack of legal recognition.

In fact, the survey results The state of the intersex movement of the Global Philanthropy Project revealed that, until 2024, intersex people continued to be exposed to various forms of violence.. 

151 intersex organizations from around the world participated in the survey, which concluded that even though face attacks, harassment, discrimination, stigma and marginalization..  

On the other hand, in the case of medical interventions and corrective surgeries, these are violations of human rights, since they are mutilations of people's bodies without their consent. Many of these procedures are performed after the intersex person is born, in order to assign them the gender they will grow up with.

For example, from the Intersex 2020 Survey, we can say that 22.4% of those who participated reported having had surgery at an early stage of life (0 to 3 years of age). If we do the sum of all the people who had a surgical intervention before the age of 18, the figure amounts to 77.5%. 

Like consequences of forced medical interventions on intersex persons, the OHCHR notes some of their side effects: permanent infertility, pain, incontinence, loss of sexual desire, as well as lifelong mental suffering.

For this reason, it is important to respect the decision that the intersex person will make once he/she is informed about the issue.either that of choose between male/female binarism and male/female binarismor, maintain their biological characteristics as they are.

Did you know this information about the intersex population in Mexico?

With information from OHCHR, Intersex Compass, Conapred, Government of Victoria (Australia), Health Direct, Homosensual, Inegi, interACT, Global Philanthropy Project, UN

Text prepared by José Manuel Ríos

Edited and verified by Mildred Pérez de la Torre