Charis welcomes Sean Saifa Wall, I.W. Gregorio, and Sol Santana for A Literary Approach to Intersex Justice. In this conversation, the panel will use the power of story to demedicalize intersex bodies by introducing all readers to the reality of intersex lives. Using storytelling and education, Saifa, Ilene, and Sol will lead us in a discussion about the problematic medicalization of intersex bodies. and Ilene’s path to allyship as a medical professional and author. Both Sol and Ilene have written young adult novels with intersex people as main characters and will discuss intersex #ownvoices, while also providing a pathway to allyship for endosex audience members! As an intersex person and activist, Saifa will lead us in a grounding exercise and share his own personal experiences and give a brief education about intersex justice.

Intersex is an umbrella term for differences in sex traits or reproductive anatomy. People are born with these differences or develop them at a young age. Genitalia, hormones, internal anatomy, or chromosomes can develop in many ways. (definition from InterAct Advocates)

To learn more about the Intersex Justice Project click here.

Sean Saifa Wall (he/him/his) is a Black queer intersex activist, somatic practitioner, and rising scholar. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. at the University of Huddersfield as a Marie Skłowdoska-Curie fellow examining the erasure of intersex people from social policy in Ireland and England. Saifa is committed to racial equity and a radical vision of bodily autonomy for intersex folks. As a co-founder of the Intersex Justice Project, a grassroots initiative by intersex people of color, he is determined to end intersex genital surgery in the U.S. When he’s not trying to preserve brain cells for his program, you can find him chilling with his dog, Justice Tigers.

I.W. Gregorio (she/her) is a practicing urologist by day, masked avenging YA writer by night. She is the author of the Schneider Award-winning THIS IS MY BRAIN IN LOVE, which is an Amazon Editor’s Pick, a Cybils Award Finalist, and a NEIBA Windows and Mirrors Book Selection.

After getting her MD, she did her residency at Stanford, where she met the intersex patient who inspired her debut novel, NONE OF THE ABOVE, which is a Lambda Literary Finalist, a Publishers Weekly Flying Start, and an ALA Rainbow List selection. She is proud to be a board member of interACT: Advocates for Intersex Youth, and is a founding member of We Need Diverse Books. Her essays have been published in Newsweek, The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Scientific American, among others. Find her online at www.iwgregorio.com and on Twitter/Instagram at @iwgregorio.

Sol Santana is the author of JUST ASH (Carolrhoda, 10/21). She is pursuing a master's in early childhood education.

This event is free and open to all people, especially to those who have no income or low income right now, but we encourage and appreciate a solidarity donation in support of the work of Charis Circle, our programming non-profit. Charis Circle's mission is to foster sustainable feminist communities, work for social justice, and encourage the expression of diverse and marginalized voices. https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/CharisCircle?code=chariscirclepage

We will be archiving this event and adding closed captioning as soon as possible after airing so that it will be accessible to deaf and HOH people. If you have other accessibility needs or if you are someone who has skills in making digital events more accessible please don't hesitate to reach out to info@chariscircle.org. We are actively learning the best practices for this technology and we welcome your feedback as we begin this new way of connecting across distances.

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A Literary Approach to Intersex Justice: Sean Saifa Wall, I.W. Gregorio, and Sol Santana in conversation