LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender/Transsexual, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, Asexual/Allies, Nonbinary/Genderqueer +) Resources and Research
Finding books (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, plays), movies, news, magazines, literary journals and more for LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, asexual/ally and more!) interests and research
Intersex: An individual whose combination of chromosomes, hormones, internal sex organs, gonads, and/or genitals differs from one of the two expected patterns.
" 'Person with a disorder of sex development' (or 'person with an intersex condition') is preferred to 'hermaphrodite,' which is considered pejorative."
The Shape of Sex is a pathbreaking history of nonbinary sex, focusing on ideas and individuals who allegedly combined or crossed sex or gender categories from 200-1400 C.E. Ranging widely across premodern European thought and culture, Leah DeVun reveals how and why efforts to define "the human" so often hinged on ideas about nonbinary sex. The Shape of Sex examines a host of thinkers--theologians, cartographers, natural philosophers, lawyers, poets, surgeons, and alchemists--who used ideas about nonbinary sex as conceptual tools to order their political, cultural, and natural worlds. DeVun reconstructs the cultural landscape navigated by individuals whose sex or gender did not fit the binary alongside debates about animality, sexuality, race, religion, and human nature. The Shape of Sex charts an embrace of nonbinary sex in early Christianity, its brutal erasure at the turn of the thirteenth century, and a new enthusiasm for nonbinary transformations at the dawn of the Renaissance. Along the way, DeVun explores beliefs that Adam and Jesus were nonbinary-sexed; images of "monstrous races" in encyclopedias, maps, and illuminated manuscripts; justifications for violence against purportedly nonbinary outsiders such as Jews and Muslims; and the surgical "correction" of bodies that seemed to flout binary divisions. In a moment when questions about sex, gender, and identity have become incredibly urgent, The Shape of Sex casts new light on a complex and often contradictory past. It shows how premodern thinkers created a system of sex and embodiment that both anticipates and challenges modern beliefs about what it means to be male, female--and human.
Founded in 1993 and disbanded in 2008. Although the ISNA is now closed, its archived website offers a lot of information on intersex issues.
The ISNA helped create Accord Alliance (see link above), which leads national efforts to improve DSD (disorders of sex development)-related health care and outcomes.
"Hermaphrodites with Attitude" was the occasional newsletter of ISNA, published from December 1994 thru Spring 2003. Here are all the back issues, in pdf form.
Survivor Project is a non-profit organization dedicated to addressing the needs of intersex and trans survivors of domestic and sexual violence through caring action, education and expanding access to resources and to opportunities for action.
Library of Congress Subject Terms
Click the links below to find books and DVDs. Also, use these terms in databases to find articles.