Representing the “I” in LGBTIQA+, long-time Intersex advocate and elder CJ is sure there must have been. Otherwise how do you explain the historical fact that she and all other Intersex creatures and people have existed for centuries?

Come along to this year’s Ian Purcell Oration and hear CJs historical (and maybe hysterical) take on Intersex history.

Born in 1952, CJ grew up in an era of secrecy, shame and ignorance about her Intersex variation. She may as well have been an ancient dinosaur for the oddity she perceived herself to be.

CJ finally met a pack of other Intersex “dinosaurs” in the mid-1990s when she was aged in her mid-40s… imagine roaming the universe for more than 2 decades of your adult life never knowing a fellow Triceratops or Velociraptor.

It was the start of a virtual “coming out of the closet”, and CJ has since gone on to become one of SA’s leading Rainbow community voices. In 2017 she was a select participant in the development of the historic Darlington Statement.

The “I” in LGBTIQA+ is not well known or understood. Intersex people are born with genetic variations of physical or biological sex characteristics that are more diverse than stereotypical definitions for male or female bodies. There are more than 30 known Intersex variations, involving sexual anatomy, chromosome patterns, hormonal patterns and/or reproductive organs. Intersex people are estimated to make up nearly 2% of the population – they are as common as redheads but as rare as dinosaurs!