To bring knowledge and awareness about intersex people and their issues/concerns to grassroots communities, Intersex Philippines, Inc. (IXPI) has been teaching Intersex 101 to grassroots communities.
In Iloilo City, two barangays – Barangay Rizal Estanzuela and Barangay Monica-Blumentritt – hosted Intersex 101 sessions that aimed to “inform those at the grassroots about a topic that continues to be largely misunderstood,” according to Ms Rodela Pojas, coordinator at IXPI.
“A lot of us do not know, or have erroneous information about intersex,” Pojas said in the vernacular.
This is why, according to Mx Victoria Cuenca, the president of the LGBTQIA+ organization in Barangay Rizal Estanzuela, it is important for people to be taught about this. “When you mention ‘intersex’, many of the people I know link this to having multiple sexual partners,” she said. “The purpose… is to (better the) awareness of everyone.”
For Pojas, particular lessons that should be taught to people include the difference of sex characteristics with SOGIE (or sexual orientation, gender identity and expression), and how the assumption that they’re one and the same could negatively impact intersex people’s push for better understanding; as well as the “sharing of the lived experiences of intersex people so people better understand what intersex people go through.”
IXPI, supported by Mujer-LGBT Organization Inc., continues to roll out the teaching of Intersex 101 to communities.
