Issue 2

These stories discuss the struggles of not being heard, the frustration at people making assumptions about what intersex is and the frustration in some of our relationships with family members, friends and people close to us who misunderstand or choose not to listen. More than this, though, these stories reflect our relationships with ourselves and our own bodies, the moments of loss but also of rebuilding, of not knowing where we belong in the world around us but finding moments of belonging in ourselves.
Steph Lum and Georgia Andrews, YOUth&I Issue 2 foreword

Auslan (Australian sign language) sign for diverse

Foreword

Steph Lum and Georgia Andrews

Welcome to Issue 2 of YOUth&I! YOUth&I is an intersex youth publication with stories reflecting experiences of living with an intersex body in a world still struggling to understand what intersex means. Intersex people are born with variations in sex characteristics.

Gold embroidered figure of a muscular person on an embroidery hoop. The background is purple with specks of gold. A light shines through the centre of the body.

Kintsugi of the Self

Gabriel Filpi

I found myself in intimacy, In the arms of others who held me tight and embraced a form I only saw before, as a sum of mismatched pieces.

Photograph of the torso of the author topless and with hands covering the chest. Long blond hair covers the shoulders and the nails have bright red nail polish. Written on the body below the chest are the words ‘Don’t tell anyone’ in black and underlined.

Don't tell anyone

Irene Kuzemko

I made this photo after a long day of arguing with a family member, and it is about the burning pain of being told “don’t tell anyone”.

The word no is written in capitalised yellow letters painted on a road

Qué somos / Who we are

Macarena Muru

Un tercer sexo freaks de circo, un fetiche monstruos mitológicos A third sex circus freaks, fetishes mythical creatures

Un cuerpo entre muchos / A body among many

Macarena Muru

Un cuerpo se contrae con una varilla de metal adentro A body shrinks with a metal tube inside

Drawing of a feminine appearing person wearing a yellow shawl. The figure is standing with eyes closed and hands clasped. A purple circle is behind the figure with the words ‘powerful strong not silent brave together unique’ spaced evenly around the circle.

Jesteś tak blisko, że mnie nie słyszysz

Zuza Piontke

Trzy lata temu dokonałam mojego pierwszego coming outu i podzieliłam się historią życia z MRKH (Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome). Był to jeden z najtrudniejszych i ważniejszych momentów w moim życiu, który czasem wciąż ma przykre konsekwencje, ma wpływ na moje relacje i sposób, w jaki jestem odbierana.

You're so close you can't hear me

Zuza Piontke

Three years ago, I came out for the first time and shared my story of living with MRKH (Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome). It was one of the most difficult and important moments in my life, which sometimes still has unpleasant consequences, affects my relationships and the way I am perceived.

Fifth of five cartoon images with Spanish text and English translation. Black and white sketch on one panel. The Spanish text reads: Mientras tanto seré nómade. English translation: In the meantime, I’ll be a nomad. The panel depicts a single person walking in bare feet and covered in a cape. The landscape is sparse with some rocks, a hill, a dead tree and a shooting star.

Mientras tanto seré nómade / In the meantime, I'll be a nomad

Otto Etraud

In this life, given the way others told us it was, I didn’t know where my place was or where I belonged

Toxic masculinity

Mel (MelyKurutta) and Stephan Mills

Come on, lift up my skirt Satisfy your morbid curiosity See what sex I am

My experience of being intersex and pregnant

Sam

As an intersex non-binary person, I want to share parts of my personal experiences with pregnancy and parenthood. Gender identity is independent from being intersex. Not all intersex people are non-binary, though I am.

For when I feel broken, but can't explain it well

Mikayla Renee

I am tired of being broken but that is often how I feel with pieces of me lain in the ground squandered and chipped in sections as they were found.

A black and white image of a person's back. The person is naked except for their underwear. They are crouching forward and have their hands wrapped around their neck.

Intersexfobia / Intersexphobia

Mel (MelyKurutta)

Li sento in lontananza Li sento in vicinanza I hear them from afar Their words hit closer

Cartoon drawing of a cute, grey cat with large eyes standing on its back legs. The cat is holding its front two legs in the air and is waving an intersex flag.

¡Rompamos el silencio! ¡Visibilicemos la intersexualidad!

Free

Cuando era pequeña siempre me pregunté si había algo malo en mí, constantemente pensaba en ello, pero nunca encontré respuesta alguna.

Break the silence, raise intersex awareness!

Free

When I was a child, I always wondered if there was something wrong with me. I kept thinking and thinking about it but I never had the answer. Let me tell you what happened.

Featured image. The text reads: Some of them always knew it, whereas some noticed it late. In any case, others started searching, and searching, and searching, and searching. This image has dark colours of blues and purples. It depicts the back of a woman with long black hair and a red shirt in a tumultuous sea. Around her are four blank faces with no facial features except for empty yellow eyes. It is raining.

Intertwined are the moon and sun

Aude

Some of them always knew it, whereas some noticed it late. In any case, others started searching and searching and searching and searching

Watercolour image of a plesiosaur, a dinosaur that lived in the water. The plesiosaur is facing the left of the page. It is mostly yellow with streaks of orange, purple, red and pink. Small water droplets are coming off its body with streaks of colour behind and below the plesiosaur to give a stylistic impression of movement.

Dale sentido a tu vida, a pesar de todo

Paloma

Soy Paloma, tengo 30 años y soy del estado de Sinaloa, México. Soy hija única de una madre soltera, la cual es una mujer extraordinaria que, a pesar de sus escasos estudios, me sacó adelante.

Give meaning to your life, despite everything

Paloma

My name is Paloma. I’m 30 years old and I’m from the state of Sinaloa, Mexico. I’m the only child of a single mother, an extraordinary woman who, despite her poor education, took good care of me.

Drawing of a woman with arms bent up in a cross just below her face. Her eyes are closed. She has brown skin and long hair.

Who we are

Nick

Intersex Intersex Intersex We are created in the likeness of God We were born with features making us unique We are found everywhere on earth just like water We are found in all races whether black, white or coloured We can be tall, short and we are proud

Black and white drawing of five people at a protest

En Chile decimos / In Chile we say

Otto Etraud

'End of Circular number 7' 'End genital mutilation of intersex children and adolescents'

Closed purple fist on a yellow background

I'm intersex

Cecilia Lopez Bemsch

I’m an intersex person and my body was tortured and mutilated in the Tucumán province by a perverse system.

Featured image. Depicts a sheet hanging up like a wall. A person crouches at the bottom of the photograph. You can only see from their shoulders up. They are turning towards the camera. The photograph has a dark blue filter over it making it difficult to see the expression of the person.

Temperatures of the intersexed body

Mikayla Renee

Tiempo en la vida inter / Time in inter life

Nowakii

¡No te rindas, es hora de alzar la voz! Do not give up, it’s time to raise your voice!

La voz en el tiempo / The voice through time

Nowakii

No esperes más, es tiempo para hacerte escuchar y alzar la voz. Wait no more, it's time to make yourself heard and raise your voice.

A feminine looking face with short brown hair and blue eyes.

Detalles al tiempo / Details in time

Nowakii

No estás solo(a), escucha todo a tu alrededor y encontrarás la respuesta. You are not alone—listen to everything around you and you will find the answer.

Drawing of six happy people. They have different genders, different nationalities, different hair colours and one person is in a wheelchair holding a cat, a rainbow flag and an intersex flag. One person is holding a sign than reads ‘Stop the surgeries’.

Hidupku yang berbeda

Narrinda Niarassati

Hai, perkenalkan namaku Narrinda dan aku seorang interseks dari Indonesia. Usiaku kini sudah 26 tahun. Aku akan bercerita mengenai kehidupan sehari-hariku.

My different life

Narrinda Niarassati

Hi, my name is Narrinda. I am an intersex person from Indonesia and I am 26 years old. I am going to tell you about my different life.

Featured image. Drawing in green outline on white background of a naked person lying down from the chest down. The person’s legs are drawn pointing upwards and images are drawn on their thighs. On the left thigh is an image of Saturn with stars around it and legs coming out of the planet. On the right thigh is an image of a person lying down and pushing up in the air, with a shooting star above them, and what appears to be a spider above that. They are scribbles on their legs and are not clear depictions of particular things.

Soy hermoso / I'm beautiful

Otto Etraud

maybe this is for you

ITSH

I am holding a portion of the world It is a firm grasp yet a gentle one I am master of what I can manipulate I stand and face the light I earnestly walk towards it I am nurturing the innate.

you are your roots

ITSH

Stockholm Skin Blood of Lima An agitation and a quieting The shiny next link on a chain billions of years taught My body is a word people are getting familiar with but not using right

A fountain pen is lying on a sheet of white paper with handwritten text.

Dear intersex body

Stephan Mills

Dear intersex body, I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for never giving up on me. I know it has been hard all these years, with all the pain and stuff. You were hard to understand. You were weird. I still don’t understand you entirely.

A neon handprint. Inside the handprint is a small plant growing.

Numéro invalide / Disabled one

Lostmemory