Those of you who are new to the term “intersex”, please remember: we are humans. We have feelings, thoughts, opinions, differences, interests and many many experiences.

We are not all the same, we don’t all even use the word “intersex” just because it applies to us; some do. 1/

Some people will prefer to use other terms that are variation specific. Saying we have a disorder or condition may be “accurate” to you, but not all of us like being reduced in that way. Our experiences are BROAD. 2/

Overall, our aim as a movement (albeit one which is evolving) is to stop unnecessary treatments on children and young people without THEIR consent. It’s not up to the adults in our lives to decide non-life-saving “treatments”. 3/

Some intersex people will also be LGBT+, but don’t make the assumption that all are. Again, we exist with many variations and do not need to be used in theoretical debates on sex or gender (particularly for those of you who aren’t intersex). 4/

Some languages will use words like “intersexual” but that’s not the same in English. We also generally don’t like being called “intersexed”. The “h” word is reclaimed by some, not all - it’s up to the individual. 5/

Don’t listen to ANYONE (including myself) as a single source. Again, we are not the same. So you will naturally find differences of opinions and beliefs 6/

Some will want an X marker... some will see themselves as non-binary. Again, don’t generalise. There are MANY kinds of intersex variations or “DSDs” which exist. Some will view themselves WITHIN a binary. 7/

Intersex is no longer the medical term used, this was changed in 2006 to be “DSD”, which means disorder or difference of sex development. If you don’t know what to call it, mirror the language of the person you’re talking to (don’t talk about us without us). 8/

Views change over time, some things have remained constant: children and their families have never received adequate support from psychologists or social workers. Intersex people have similar stories globally: shame/stigma. 9/

Not everyone will know they’re intersex because it’s about sex characteristics. It’s about internal/external genitalia, hormones, chromosomes... it’s not about how we “feel”, we don’t choose to be born like this. 10/