Collage of photos from the InterConnect conference. The top left image is a name tag on a lanyard from the conference. The top right image is the conference schedule with an intersex flag. The lower left image is Niagara Falls at night. The lower right image is a skyline of buildings near Niagara Falls with a rainbow across them.
One of our co-founders, Koomah, represented The Houston Intersex Society at the annual InterConnect summer conference which was held in Niagara Falls this year.
Koomah even presented a workshop on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.
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The Houston Intersex Society (THIS) is an all-volunteer BIPOC led Houston-based grassroots non-profit organization for, by, and about intersex people. THIS aims to empower and enrich the lives of intersex people while working to end shame and create visibility through education, community events, and the arts.
Image of a car painted yellow with purple bumpers. The yellow section has purple squiggles and there is a large 3D cartoon snail sculpture on the roof. There is a purple circle painted on the yellow hood of the car like an intersex pride flag. The hubcaps are yellow.
Introducing the WORLDS FIRST INTERSEX ARTCAR!
After several days of hard work in blazing Houston summer temperatures Koomah painted and decorated a 2007 4-door Toyota Yaris sedan, transforming it into an Intersex Awareness ARTcar! Thanks to some painting assistance from our Treasurer Jennifer and a little bit of sanding from Mo, we were able to get it finished in time for Houston Pride!
Look for us in the next Houston ArtCar Parade too.
More than just for cool looks and intersex awareness, the future goal of this creation is to provide transportation for intersex community members who are accessing healthcare in the Houston Medical Center, transporting us to speaking engagements at universities, conferences, and educational endeavors at the capitol in Austin.
Checkout our Instagram for photos of the process of making the ArtCar.
The Houston Intersex Society (THIS) is an all-volunteer BIPOC led Houston-based grassroots non-profit organization for, by, and about intersex people. THIS aims to empower and enrich the lives of intersex people while working to end shame and create visibility through education, community events, and the arts.
Collage of photos from our group during the Pride Houston parade. The collage has a yellow and purple border. There is a cartoon rainbow at the lower right corner.
The Houston Intersex Society participated in Houston Pride (pictured above). We were joined by some friends and allies who wore matching yellow shirts with a graphic that says “I support intersex rights” (pictured below) . We also carried signs that noted some of the unique firsts accomplished by the Houston intersex Society.
Image of a yellow circle with a purple ring in the center resembling an intersex flag. White letters outlined in purple say “I support intersex rights”.
The Houston Intersex Society had a booth at Beaumont Pride fest.
Collage of photos from our booth at Beaumont Pride Fest 2022.
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The Houston Intersex Society (THIS) is an all-volunteer BIPOC led Houston-based grassroots non-profit organization for, by, and about intersex people. THIS aims to empower and enrich the lives of intersex people while working to end shame and create visibility through education, community events, and the arts.
Image is an invitation laying on top of an envelope. The envelope and invitation are laying on fabric. The left half of the fabric is gold with spirals, the right half of the fabric is white. The top left corner of the envelope has return address text that says, “The White House, Washington, DC 20502”. The invitation is a white rectangle with a gold border. On the left and right sides are colors representing pride flags, from the top down the colors are black, brown, light blue, light pink, white, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. At the top center of the invitation is the presidential seal in gold. The seal is an eagle with a shield on its chest, an olive branch in its left talon, and arrows in its right talon. The eagle is surrounded by a circle of stars. Below the seal is text that says, “The President and Dr. Biden request the pleasure of your company at a pride month celebration.” The words Pride month are in rainbow colors and the word celebration is written in cursive script. Below the word “Celebration” is an image of the white house in blue. The columns of the white house are each a different color of the rainbow. The lawn in front of the white house image is rainbow stripes. Below the image of the white house is text that says, “to be held at The White house on Wednesday, June 15, 2022 at four o’clock”.
We were honored that Koomah was invited to the White House Pride Celebration. It was a great opportunity to network with other LGBTQI+ community leaders from across the country and continue to educate legislators about the most pressing intersex issues.
Koomah, an intersex person with tan skin, tufts of black hair at their temples, and black glasses is smiling posing with left hand on their hip in front of the doors of the White House. They are wearing a black suit jacket, black flare pants, and an animal print shirt. Image of a lapel pin on black fabric. The pin is blue with a drawing of the White House in the center. The columns of the white house are each a different color of the rainbow. On the left and right sides are the colors black, brown, light blue, light pink, and white. There is text at the top of the pin are the words “The White House” at the bottom of the pin are the words “Pride Month 2022”.
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The Houston Intersex Society (THIS) is an all-volunteer BIPOC led Houston-based grassroots non-profit organization for, by, and about intersex people. THIS aims to empower and enrich the lives of intersex people while working to end shame and create visibility through education, community events, and the arts.
Square image with a yellow and purple border. In the bottom right corner is a yellow cartoon snail with a purple shell. It has a smile on it’s face. the test in the middle of the image says, “March with us in the 2022 Houston Pride Parade! June 25. Details coming soon.” On both sides of “June 25” are large yellow stars.
Stay tuned for more info on how you can march with us in the 2022 Houston Pride Parade! This year we’ll have the world’s first INTERSEX ART CAR and we will be marching with banners highlighting some of the many historical firsts that The Houston Intersex Society has accomplished.
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The Houston Intersex Society (THIS) is an all-volunteer BIPOC led Houston-based grassroots non-profit organization for, by, and about intersex people. THIS aims to empower and enrich the lives of intersex people while working to end shame and create visibility through education, community events, and the arts.
Image of a ‘progress’ pride flag with horizontal rainbow stripes and on the left, a chevron design pointing to the right with white, light blue, light pink, brown, and black. Under the flag is text that says, “Saturday at 11 AM – 11 PM. PFLAG Beaumon PrideFest 2022. Jefferson Theatre.
We will have a booth at Beaumont PrideFest!
Saturday, June 11th NOON – 5 pm Jefferson Theatre 345 Fannin st Beaumont, TX
Be sure to stop by and say, “Hi!” to Mo, learn more about what we’re up to, grab some swag, and maybe even win a prize!
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The Houston Intersex Society (THIS) is an all-volunteer BIPOC led Houston-based grassroots non-profit organization for, by, and about intersex people. THIS aims to empower and enrich the lives of intersex people while working to end shame and create visibility through education, community events, and the arts.
Image is an intersex flag, yellow background with a purple ring in the center. Text on the image says, “Intersex 4 repro justice” with the number 4 inside the purple ring.
With all the concerns about the potential overturning of Roe v. Wade, we thought it was important to be visible about the intersections of reproductive justice and bodily autonomy. We know first hand what happens when medical communities and governments dictate what happens to your body. Now more than ever we are present in solidarity with all bodies who may become pregnant and demand bodily autonomy andreproductive justice for everyone! Our bodies, our choice – your body, your choice!
Koomah made this design for some t-shirts and Mo made some signs in English and Español. Look for us at various reproductive justice rallies in Houston and Austin.
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The Houston Intersex Society (THIS) is an all-volunteer BIPOC led Houston-based grassroots non-profit organization for, by, and about intersex people. THIS aims to empower and enrich the lives of intersex people while working to end shame and create visibility through education, community events, and the arts.
Image has 5 colorful tall trapezoids in orange, green, blue, indigo, and purple. Text on top of the trapezoids says, “hatch” in white. Below the trapezoids at the bottom right is the word “youth” in indigo.
On March 15th, we had the honor of being guest speakers for HATCH youth for one of their digital Zoom meetings. This was very special to us, as both co-founders of The Houston Intersex Society met each other as teenagers in the HATCH program.
We did an Intersex 101 presentation and discussed some of the work that we’re doing in the community. We really encouraged the youth to take initiative and not be intimidated by their age or lack of resources. You don’t have to wait for a big multi-million dollar org to be the ones to make impact and change things, you can make a big difference exactly who you are and where you are!
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The Houston Intersex Society (THIS) is an all-volunteer BIPOC led Houston-based grassroots non-profit organization for, by, and about intersex people. THIS aims to empower and enrich the lives of intersex people while working to end shame and create visibility through education, community events, and the arts.
In the center of the image is The Houston Intersex Society logo. It is an intersex flag, yellow background with a purple ring in the center. The text on the flag says, “The Houston Intersex Society” in black letters. In the center of the purple ring is a outline of the state of Texas in white. A large multi-color border around the logo features rectangles in green, blue, purple, orange, and pink. Each rectangle has white letter in the center with text that says, “We are BIPOC Arts Network & Fund grantees”.
We are honored to have been selected as one of the recipients of a BIPOC Arts Network and Fund grant for our work with the iPOCA Collective (intersex People of Color Artist Collective) and our educational and awareness efforts through the arts!
Image resembles an intersex flag with a yellow background and purple ring in the center. Text on the image says, “intersex POC artist collective”. At the top in black is the word “intersex”. In the center of the image in purple are the letters P, O, & C in purple. The letter O forms the purple ring in the center of the intersex flag. At the bottom of the image are the words “artist collective” in black letters. In the center of the purple ring is a 3D drawing of a fist with dark brown skin.
We’re proud of our work and all of our fellow grantees for their unwavering dedication to serving Houston’s communities of color through the arts.
The Houston Intersex Society (THIS) is an all-volunteer BIPOC led Houston-based grassroots non-profit organization for, by, and about intersex people. THIS aims to empower and enrich the lives of intersex people while working to end shame and create visibility through education, community events, and the arts.
Image is black with yellow text that says, “Intersex Day of Remembrance. November 8.” In the center is a round version of the intersex flag with a yellow background and purple ring in the center. Inside the purple ring is an image of a small lit memorial candle.
For our annual Intersex Day of Remembrance we re-shared the video that we made last year. A digital video seemed safer than trying to do a meet-up during COVID. It’s also more accessible to everyone all over so that’s a plus too.
Intersex Day of Remembrance, also known as Intersex Day of Solidarity, takes place on November 8. The day marks the birthday of Herculine Barbin, a French intersex person whose memoirs were later published by the philosopher Michel Foucault.
Our special candle lighting and presentation video for Intersex Day of Remembrance (Intersex Day of Solidarity) is accessible on our IGTV, YouTube, and Facebook.
In addition to the candle lighting, we also discuss the importance of Intersex Day of Remembrance presented along with some clips from our previous Intersex Awareness Day variety show.
The Houston Intersex Society (THIS) is an all-volunteer BIPOC led Houston-based grassroots non-profit organization for, by, and about intersex people. THIS aims to empower and enrich the lives of intersex people while working to end shame and create visibility through education, community events, and the arts.
Image is of 3 people each smiling while taking a bite of pizza. On the left is Mo Cortez, a Latino intersex man. He is wearing a white button up collared shirt with a grid pattern on it. He has light tan skin, short brown hair, and is wearing black rectangular glasses. In the middle is former senator/current congresswoman Sylvia Garcia. She is wearing a red jacked, white shirt, and a white necklace. She has light skin and light brown hair. on the right is Koomah, an intersex person. they are wearing a dark shirt, dark nail polish, and black angular glasses. they have tan skin and their head is shaved with black hair only at their temples. All 3 are standing in front of the state seal of Texas. At the time this photo was taken, Sylvia Garcia was a Senator.
We’ve spent many hours educating all different kinds of people about intersex issues; medical students, expectant parents, LGBTQ+ groups, and also legislators. Constantly presenting Intersex 101’s, telling our personal stories, and answering questions can be exhausting, so it’s always great seeing our hard work pay off when legislators are actively advocating for us and the protection of our community!
Image is a screenshot of text on Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia’s website. The text says, “Congresswoman Sylvia R. Garcia (TX-29) Introduces Bill to Protect Intersex Children’s Dignity and Autonomy Over Their Bodies. November 2, 2021 Press Release. Media Contact: Daniela Campos daniela.campos@mail.house.gov 202-227-0330 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following the 2021 anniversary of National Intersex Awareness Day, Congresswoman Sylvia R. Garcia (TX-29) introduced H.R. 5730 the Protect Intersex Children Act (PICA) to protect the dignity and bodily autonomy of children born with variations in sex characteristics. The bill would prohibit medically unnecessary surgeries on intersex children in the foster care system. “Too many children are subjected to invasive surgeries and lifelong consequences against their will,” said Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia (TX-29). “These surgeries are not just unnecessary, they are a clear violation of bodily autonomy and cause lasting harm to children who wouldn’t be able to understand what is being done to them, let alone consent. Intersex children should be able to grow up and make their own decisions about their bodies when they are old enough to do so.”
The Houston Intersex Society (THIS) is an all-volunteer BIPOC led Houston-based grassroots non-profit organization for, by, and about intersex people. THIS aims to empower and enrich the lives of intersex people while working to end shame and create visibility through education, community events, and the arts.
Image is a screenshot of a Facebook post by The Houston Intersex Society page. Text at top says “We were honored to be part of this historic roundtable discussion.” Below that is an image of a weblink. In the middle is a blue rectangle with a silhouette of the white house. under the image of the white house are the words, “The White House Washington” in white letters. At the bottom in a grey box is black text that says, “Readout of White House Roundtable on Intersex Awareness Day. The White House.”
The Houston Intersex Society (THIS) is an all-volunteer BIPOC led Houston-based grassroots non-profit organization for, by, and about intersex people. THIS aims to empower and enrich the lives of intersex people while working to end shame and create visibility through education, community events, and the arts.
Image resembles an intersex flag with a yellow background and purple ring below the center. Text in purple letters above the purple ring says, “Intersex Awareness Day October 26th. There is a purple arch on the far left and far right of the image.
We had some great events for Intersex Awareness Day!
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Illumination of Houston City Hall
Image is of Houston City Hall at night. It is a building with a tall building in the center and 2 short buildings, one on each side. the taller building in the center has an illuminated clock face at the top. The building is illuminated a purplish blue color. There are trees on both sides of the building and a reflecting pool in front of the building.
We had our annual illumination of Houston City Hall and the 6 bridges over US-59. Due to some technical difficulty with the lighting, the illumination of Houston City Hall in purple and yellow appeared more of a purple blue color this year.
The 6 bridges over US-59 didn’t have any lighting issues and were illuminated with each bridge in alternating purple and yellow colors.
A bit of history about Intersex Awareness Day in Houston:
In 2015, Houston City Hall was the first government building ever to be illuminated for Intersex Awareness Day.
In 2017, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner issued a proclamation declaring Oct 25th Intersex Awareness Day in Houston, to commemorate the date of the first Houston City Hall illumination.
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Annual Intersex Awareness Day TV Special
A 3D cartoon snail with a yellow body and purple shell with yellow highlights smiles. Across the snail’s body are the words “SPECIAL EVENT!” in red letters. Text below the picture says, “Tuesday, October 26, 2021 at 4pm. intersex Awareness Day TV Special. online Event.”
We are always excited to share Houston’s annual screening of the Intersex Awareness Day TV special. It’s a variety show program with live performances by intersex people and a few of our endosex (non-intersex) pals with music, spoken word, dancing, and a few short films.
Hosted by Mo Cortez and Koomah.
Tune in to HMS TV in Houston: Comcast channel 17 ATT U-Verse channel 99 Suddenlink channel 99 Phonoscope channel 96
Title at the top of the image says “History of a happy hermaphrodite”. Below the title is an image of a performer’s head and shoulders moving. Their movement makes their head and shoulders blurred across the picture. The image is a variation of black, pinks, and reds. The text at the bottom of the image says, “Tuesday, October 26, 2021 at 6pm. History of a Happy Hermaphrodite. Online Event.”
We are proud to present the annual TV airing of the stage production ‘History of a Happy Hermaphrodite’ for Intersex Awareness Day.
About the show: Framed around a humorous therapy session with a pet cat; an unapologetic story of trauma, survival, and defiance is formed through a series of short performance vignettes utilizing movement, music, and video. *Suggested for mature audiences.
Featuring: Melelani Petersen as Jack the cat & Stephanie Saint Sanchez as Manba the cat.
Assisted by Mo Cortez, Berengaria Navarre, and Kealoha Petersen.
The first half of the show titled ‘history of a happy hermaphrodite:
part 1’ was presented at the 2015 Houston Fringe Festival. This is the
full stage performance with part 1 and part 2. This is not the film
festival edit or an in-studio produced film version.
*History of a Happy Hermaphrodite contains references to drug use, human trafficking, PTSD, abuse, sex work, and other potentially upsetting subject matter.
The Houston Intersex Society (THIS) is an all-volunteer BIPOC led Houston-based grassroots non-profit organization for, by, and about intersex people. THIS aims to empower and enrich the lives of intersex people while working to end shame and create visibility through education, community events, and the arts.
Image is a rainbow background with white text that says, “Reminder! October general meeting. Oct. 10, 2 pm. The Houston Intersex Society will present Intersex 101”
What an awesome group! Our presentation went well and there were lot’s of great questions. Participants were empowered to support the intersex community. We made some new friends and allies.
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The Houston Intersex Society (THIS) is an all-volunteer BIPOC led Houston-based grassroots non-profit organization for, by, and about intersex people. THIS aims to empower and enrich the lives of intersex people while working to end shame and create visibility through education, community events, and the arts.
Image is of a program pamphlet. It is blue at the top and black at the bottom with an image of lit up buildings from downtown Houston. In the top right hand corner is a red round sticker with a face with white hair, yellow glasses, and a white MENSA mask. the text at the top of the sticker says, “Event update: Masking required. The top center of the program is an image of the top half of a globe with only white latitude and longitude lines. the bottom half of the globe is solid black and inside contains white images of a chess piece, an atom model, and a musical note. In the middle of the globe in black letters are the words, “multifaceted minds MENSA world gathering 2021. below the globe in white are the words, “August 24-29, 2021. Houston, TX. Different kinds of smart. At the very bottom of the image are the words, “for the most up-to-date program listings, download the MENSA WG app!”
What an exciting opportunity! We were asked to speak at the MENSA world gathering that was in Houston. We were one of several presenters, including former Mayor Annise Parker, and the keynote speaker LaVar Burton!
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The Houston Intersex Society (THIS) is an all-volunteer BIPOC led Houston-based grassroots non-profit organization for, by, and about intersex people. THIS aims to empower and enrich the lives of intersex people while working to end shame and create visibility through education, community events, and the arts.
Logo for Gender Infinity. Logo is a purple circles in different hues overlapped on each other, darker in the center and lighter on the outside. At the top are the words “Gender Infinity” with the letter G transforming into a looping infinity symbol. In the center, is a large text that says “10 years”. Around the text is various outer space drawings of stars, constellations, planets, moons, and comets.
We are excited to present at Gender Infinity for their 10th anniversary!
The image is a purple square. At the top in a lighter purple rectangle in white text are the words “Session 1 9:05 AM – 10:05 AM”. Below are two circular images of the presenters. On the left is Koomah, a curvy mixed race femme person with tan skin standing with their hands on their hips. They are wearing a black t-shirt with black mesh at the shoulders, a gold necklace with black leather fringe, a black floppy hat and black rimmed glasses. Under Koomah’s image is the text “Koomah, any pronouns”. To the right is Mo, a Latinx man with light tan skin and very short brown hair. He is wearing a pink long sleeve button up shirt and black rimmed glasses. He is laughing. Under Mo’s image is the text “Mo, he/him”. Below the presenter images is the white text, “Intersex 101. Intersex 101 covers the basics of understanding what is Intersex. This session includes defining intersex terms, examples of intersex traits, and review of historical and current methods of medicalized treatments. A personal story from an intersex person will also be shared. Additionally, this session briefly covers intersectionality issues concerning intersex BIPOC as well as information about legislative efforts”
If you’re registered for the Gender Infinity digital conference, don’t miss our Intersex 101 session on Sunday11/14 at 9:05 AM in Moon Room!
Intersex 101 covers the basics of understanding what is Intersex. This session includes defining intersex terms, examples of intersex traits, and review of historical and current methods of medicalized treatments. A personal story from an intersex person will also be shared. Additionally, this session briefly covers intersectionality issues concerning intersex BIPOC as well as information about legislative efforts.
The Houston Intersex Society (THIS) is an educational, social, and
support organization for, by, and about intersex people in Houston,
Texas and beyond. THIS aims to empower and enrich the lives of intersex
people while working to end shame and create visibility through
education, community events, and the arts.
The image has a black background with yellow text that says “Intersex Day of Remembrance 11/08/2020” in the middle is a yellow circle with a purple ring in the center resembling the intersex flag. in the very center is another small black circle with a lit candle in it.
Intersex Day of Remembrance, also known as Intersex Day of Solidarity, takes place on November 8. The day marks the birthday of Herculine Barbin, a French intersex person whose memoirs were later published by the philosopher Michel Foucault.
We have uploaded a special candle lighting and presentation video for Intersex Day of Remembrance (Intersex Day of Solidarity) to our IGTV, YouTube, and Facebook.
In addition to the candle lighting, we discuss the importance of Intersex Day of Remembrance along with some clips from our previous Intersex Awareness Day variety show.
The Houston Intersex Society (THIS) is an educational, social, and
support organization for, by, and about intersex people in Houston,
Texas and beyond. THIS aims to empower and enrich the lives of intersex
people while working to end shame and create visibility through
education, community events, and the arts.
We have some awesome things happening this year for Intersex Awareness Day!
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ILLUMINATION OF HOUSTON CITY HALL
The illumination of Houston City Hall for Intersex Awareness Day. A multi-story City Hall building with a lit clock face at top is illuminated in purple and yellow lights. There are trees on both sides of the building. It is dusk and the sky is getting dark. The building is in front of a reflection pool and the reflection of the building can be seen at the bottom of the picture.
As usual, we will have our annual illumination of Houston City Hall.
What’s
different about this year is that both Houston City Hall and the 6
bridges over US-59 will be illuminated in Purple and Yellow on October
25th and October 26th.
A bit of history about Intersex Awareness Day in Houston:
In 2015, Houston City Hall was the first government building ever to be illuminated for Intersex Awareness Day.
In 2017, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner issued a proclamation declaring Oct 25th Intersex Awareness Day in Houston, to commemorate the date of the first Houston City Hall illumination.
*NOTE* – We will not be having an onsite meetup this year due to COVID. Instead, we encourage you to drive past Houston City Hall and the US-59 Bridges on your own time. We’d love for you to share photos with us on social media!
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GENDER UNBOUND
Text on the image says, “Intersex Awareness Day. Artist Spotlight. October 19th – November 2nd” The image is of artwork in a gallery. A small sculpture of a human form is in the bottom left corner. Behind that, a collage of medical records and bloody gauze.To the right of the collage, 4 pieces of paper with a poem on illegible tiny print. In the upper right corner an intersex flag hangs on the wall. The logo for Gender Unbound trans & intersex art festival is in the bottom right corner.
Gender Unbound in Austin held their annual arts festival digitally this year. The virtual showcase consisted of works by trans and intersex artists around the theme of “home”. The showcase consisted of an interactive 3D exhibition. We were honored to participate with a commissioned artpiece and accompanying poem titled “Home is a Children’s Hospital”.
If you missed it, you can check out all the works by the intersex artists in the virtual gallery for a special Intersex Awareness Day exhibition.
Title at the top of the image says “History of a happy hermaphrodite” Below the title is an image of a performer’s head and shoulders moving. Their movement makes their head and shoulders blurred across the picture. The image is a variation of black, pinks, and reds. The text at the bottom of the image says, “Monday at 9 pm CDT – 10 pm CDT. History of a Happy Hermaphrodite. Online Event.”
We are proud to present the TV premiere of the stage production ‘History of a Happy Hermaphrodite’.
About the show: Framed around a humorous therapy session with a pet cat; an unapologetic story of trauma, survival, and defiance is formed through a series of short performance vignettes utilizing movement, music, and video. Suggested for mature audiences*.
Featuring: Melelani Petersen as Jack the cat & Stephanie Saint Sanchez as Manba the cat.
Assisted by Mo Cortez, Berengaria Navarre, and Kealoha Petersen.
The first half of the show titled ‘history of a happy hermaphrodite: part 1’ was presented at the 2015 Houston Fringe Festival. This is the full stage performance with part 1 and part 2. This is not the film festival edit or an in-studio produced film version.
*History of a Happy Hermaphrodite contains references to drug use, human trafficking, PTSD, abuse, sex work, and other potentially upsetting subject matter.
A 3D cartoon snail with a yellow body and purple shell with yellow highlights smiles. Across the snail’s body are the words “SPECIAL EVENT!” in red letters. Text below the picture says, “Monday at 10pm CDT – 11pm CDT. Intersex Awareness Day TV special. Online Event.”
We are proud to present the first ever Intersex Awareness Day TV special!
It’s a variety show program with live performances by intersex people and a few of our endosex (non-intersex) pals with music, spoken word, dancing, and short films.
Hosted by Mo Cortez and Koomah.
Tune in to HMS TV in Houston: Comcast channel 17 ATT U-Verse channel 99 Suddenlink channel 99 Phonoscope channel 96
The Houston Intersex Society (THIS) is an educational, social, and support organization for, by, and about intersex people in Houston, Texas and beyond. THIS aims to empower and enrich the lives of intersex people while working to end shame and create visibility through education, community events, and the arts.
Wow, COVID has really challenged our original plans for 2020!
Apologies for the late update to this website, if you follow us on social media (links in the footer of this post) you may have seen promotions for these really great events that we participated in. If you missed them, some of them have recordings you can view and others have an encore chance to check them out.
During our last update we mentioned that we were cancelling our original Pride Parade plans and planned to do a different event. Since that post, we decided to merge Intersex Awareness Day and our Pride plans. Stay tuned for an update on that as well!
GENDER UNBOUND! September 1st – 30th Gender Unbound in Austin held their annual arts festival digitally. The virtual showcase consisted of works by trans and intersex artists around the theme of “home”. The showcase consisted of an interactive 3D exhibition. We were honored to participate with a commissioned artpiece and accompanying poem titled “Home is a Children’s Hospital”.
If you missed it, you can check out all the works by the intersex artists still up in the virtual gallery for a special Intersex Awareness Day showing. https://www.genderunbound.org/
BOSTON HEALTHCARE FOR THE HOMELESS September 15th Koomah and Sean Saifa Wall (Atlanta, GA) presented a training for the Boston Healthcare for the Homeless. Saifa presented an Intersex 101 training and Koomah spoke to their experiences as a homeless intersex youth and trainings on health and access considerations and solutions for intersex people currently experiencing homelessness.
This was a private training and not made available to the public.
LIBERATING ALL BODIES October 14th Koomah participated as part of a digital panel conversation between Intersex Justice and Disability Justice experts about collective liberation efforts. HRW’s Carlos Rios-Espinoza, Syrus Marcus Ware, and Sean Saifa Wall were the other panel speakers.
Closed Captioning was provided in English and Spanish. ASL Interpretation with Deaf interpreters. This event was recorded and will be made available to the public as soon as closed captions are transcribed and added.
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The Houston Intersex Society (THIS) is an educational, social, and support organization for, by, and about intersex people in Houston, Texas and beyond. THIS aims to empower and enrich the lives of intersex people while working to end shame and create visibility through education, community events, and the arts.
As Pride approaches we’ve had several conversations about how or if we should participate in the Pride Parade during the viral COVID-19 pandemic. Several intersex people are severely immuno-comprimised, including one of the co-founders of THIS.
We feel participation in Pride is important because one of the things
that unites the intersex community with the LGBT community is the desire
to live a life where others are not trying to forcibly ‘cure’ us. Sex
traits, gender orientation/ expression, and sexuality often intersect
and people who vary from societal norms are met with oppression and
violence. Intersex people frequently live with feelings of shame,
isolation, and stigma regarding their intersex traits. We believe it is
powerful to be visible and unashamed, Pride is a way to be publicly
celebrated for who we are.
However, we cannot risk our own
health nor can we be responsible for encouraging others in our community
to put their health at risk.
We have decided to utilize our resources and create interactive digital Pride programming.
More info to come, but some things to expect:
– Intersex 101 – Q&A – Intersex themed film screenings – Interviews – Intersex legislative policy updates – Live performances
…and more!
💛💜💛🎉🌈🐌🌈🎉💛💜💛
The Houston Intersex Society (THIS) is an
educational, social, and support organization for, by, and about
intersex people in Houston, Texas and beyond. THIS aims to empower and
enrich the lives of intersex people while working to end shame and
create visibility through education, community events, and the arts.
