Global Intersex News Quarter 1 – 2026

January 12, 2026
Towards inclusive health care in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A new publication was released, preparing to enhance knowledge and understanding of healthcare professionals on providing inclusive and accessible services for LGBTI persons, and to prevent stigma, misinformation and prejudice on the grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression and sex characteristics (SOGIESC).
Read more.

January 27, 2026
Russia designates ILGA World an ‘undesirable’ group. Russia has designated a global LGBTQ and intersex rights group as an “undesirable” organization. ILGA World in a press release notes the country’s Justice Ministry announced the designation on its website on Jan. 21. “ILGA World received no direct communication of the designation, whose official reasons are not known,” said ILGA World.
Read more.

January 31, 2026
Austria’s Constitutional Court has ruled that non-binary people must be recognised in the civil status register, either with an accurate gender designation or by removing the gender entry altogether. The decision expands recognition beyond intersex people and has been welcomed by civil rights groups as a milestone for dignity and human rights under European law and the European Convention on Human Rights.
Read more.

February 27, 2026
Belgium reports increase in violence and hate speech against LGBTI community. Belgium reports an increase in violence and hate speech against the LGBTI community in 2025, Belga reported, citing a report by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Association, BTA reported. LGBTI organizations report an increase in homophobic and transphobic attacks compared to previous years. Among the incidents are ambushes organized through dating apps, attacks in public places, vandalism against community centers, as well as increased harassment in the workplace and online.
Read more.

March 1, 2026
International Pride Awards 2026: UNDP and ILGA World honour global LGBTIQ+ equality heroes. Global initiative celebrates heroes driving LGBTIQ+ equality and positive change. Nominations open on 17 March 2026, and the award recipients will be announced at a special event on 5 August 2026 at WorldPride in Amsterdam.
Read more.

March 5, 2026
Luxembourg criticised for failing to act on anti-discrimination reforms. Luxembourg has failed to take measures to strengthen the country’s national anti-discrimination organisation and prohibit non-essential surgery on intersex children, a European human rights watchdog said Thursday. The follow-up report assessing recommendations issued in 2023 was published by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI).
Read more.

March 6, 2026
British female athletes forced to pay for sex tests to compete internationally. World Athletics, the international governing body for athletics, requires all athletes to undergo an SRY test before competing in the female category for all major championships and Diamond League events. The rule is in place to exclude trans women and intersex people from competition. The SRY gene tests are used to detect the presence of the Y chromosome via a cheek swab or blood sample and cost £185. Male athletes need not complete a test in order to compete.
Read more.

February 6, 2026
The Victorian Government’s Bill protecting intersex children from unnecessary and irreversible medical procedures without their consent has passed in the lower house. The Bill prohibits deferrable medical interventions until a child can decide for themselves that they want that, introducing independent oversight of proposed treatment plans. The passing of the bill reflects decades of tireless advocacy by intersex people and community organisations, building on similar protections introduced in the ACT in 2023.
Read more.

March 5, 2026
New births and deaths registration bill seeks recognition of intersex persons in Kenya. The proposed law also addresses emerging legal and social developments, including recognition of intersex persons, surrogacy arrangements, adoption procedures and the handling of presumed deaths. Officials say the legislation will also align the civil registration system with new government initiatives such as the establishment of a national population database and the allocation of a Unique Personal Identifier (UPI) at birth.
Read more.

March 8, 2026
FG, CSO to support inclusive healthcare policies in Nigeria. The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a Civil Society Organisation, Center for Health Care Development and Youth Empowerment (Intersex Nigeria), to integrate intersex perspectives into the country’s healthcare policies. This is aimed at improving protection and access to care for persons born with variations in sex characteristics.
Read more.

January 16, 2026
Illinois among 12 states to sue as Trump seeks forced compliance with gender order. Illinois and 11 other states sued the Trump administration over its move to withhold potentially hundreds of billions of dollars in grant funding from states that refuse to comply with the Trump administration’s definitions of sex and gender. President Donald Trump, on the first day of his second term, issued an executive order instructing federal agencies to recognize only a person’s sex assigned at birth. It disregarded the concept of gender identity as a “false claim,” dismissing the self-identification of any individual who does not conform to the administration’s definition of sex.
Read more.

March 2, 2026
Intersex drama ‘Mistake’ debuts at Gasparilla Film Festival.  It’s 1941, in the rural South, and in the local hospital a farming couple is told their newborn baby is intersex, meaning it has the reproductive organs – and will display specific traits – of both sexes. In Mistake, premiered at the Gasparilla Film Festival in Tampa, the Bensons are told they must “choose” whether their child is a boy or girl. At the father’s insistence, the baby is a “he,” to be raised as a boy named Lawrence.
Read more.

March 26, 2025
IOC Officially Bans Trans and Intersex Women From Competing in Olympic Female Events. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that transgender women and many intersex athletes will be banned from women’s competition, aligning the IOC with the Trump administration’s policy goals ahead of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Read more.