On September 9, 2025, Intersex Asia, in partnership with Pride Bhutan, proudly hosted the online Intersex Awareness Meeting/Event. This gathering serves as a vital part of the Cross Movement Building efforts outlined in Intersex Asia’s Strategic Plan 2025-2029. The meeting served as a platform for fostering collaboration among organizations such as Pride Bhutan and RENEW (Member Association of IPPF), both of which are committed to advancing LGBTQ+ rights and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) issues in Bhutan. This critical event successfully brought together five key staff members from Pride Bhutan and RENEW, creating a collaborative atmosphere for discussion and learning about intersex issues and related topics.
Specific objectives of the meeting;
- Increase Awareness: Enhance understanding of intersex issues among participants.
- Cross movement Building: Foster collaboration between organizations working on intersectional issues such as gender equality and related human rights
- Promote Advocacy Strategies: Develop actionable strategies for raising awareness at both community and policy levels.
The event opened with welcoming remarks delivered by Tenzin from Pride Bhutan, setting a positive tone for the day ahead. After this Introduction, Hiker Chiu, Executive Director of Intersex Asia, delivered a comprehensive presentation that covered the definition of intersex identity, an overview of Intersex 101, the human rights violations faced by intersex individuals, and highlighted the progress of the intersex movement across Asia as well as Intersex Asia’s achievements.
A few key highlights from the meeting;
- Intersex Definition: Intersex refers to biological sex characteristics that do not conform to typical male or female definitions, emphasizing that it is a sex identity, not a gender identity.
- Medical Interventions: The practice of “genital normalizing surgery” on intersex infants without consent has raised significant concerns, as these procedures are often done for cosmetic reasons. Such surgeries can result in serious physical and psychological harm to those affected. It was emphasized that intersex variations should not be viewed as “disorders” necessitating medical treatment.
- Prevalence: Intersex individuals are not uncommon, with prevalence rates comparable to or even higher than the population of Japan (ranging from 0.05% to 1.7%).
- Human Rights Violations: Intersex people encounter widespread discrimination, violence, violations of bodily autonomy, and limited access to essential services like healthcare, education, and employment, primarily due to rigid societal gender norms.
- Legal Recognition Challenges: Currently, Kenya is the sole country that officially recognizes “intersex” as a sex marker. Most Asian nations face challenges in modifying name and gender markers on official documents.
- Intersex Asia’s significant achievements: Intersex Asia supported 23 emerging intersex advocates through a fellowship program and conducted 12 country-specific research reports in South and Southeast Asia to support policy negotiation efforts.
Tenzin Gyeltshen from Pride Bhutan says, “Pride Bhutan is keen on establishing an Intersex Movement in Bhutan and fostering a strong collaboration with Intersex Asia, and acknowledges that there is a current lack of awareness regarding Intersex issues within Bhutan and sees this as a collaboration as a positive starting point”.
This event enhanced the staff’s understanding of Intersex topics at both Pride Bhutan and RENEW. It also played a crucial role in fortifying the partnership between Pride Bhutan and Intersex Asia, contributing to the broader objective of cross-movement building. Through shared insights and discussions, the participants gained valuable knowledge that will inform their work in supporting intersex individuals within LGBTQ+ communities.
What’s Next?
Intersex Asia is committed to furthering its partnership with Pride Bhutan to strategize and implement a series of sessions focused on the mobilization and education of communities across Bhutan. This approach will not only enhance awareness but also foster a sense of collective responsibility towards community development and empowerment in the region.
