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I am so very proud to have worked on a bill , introduced yesterday, Tuesday, February 25th, by Rep. Ro Khanna (CA-17), which instructs the U.S. Department of State to add an additional “(X), Unspecified” sex marker category for U.S. passports, passport cards, or Consular Reports of Birth Abroad, allowing applicants whose genders are neither…
Read MoreThank you to The Advocate for this fantastic article about the Smithsonian Channel documentary, “Was The General A Woman?”, which reveals that General Casimir Pulaski was intersex! Thank you also for the fantastic interview– it actually managed to get in all my main points about the implications of this fantastic news. (Quotes included here…
Read MoreI’m deeply honored to have been asked to participate in the Smithsonian Channel documentary, “The General Was Female?”, which examines years of research which conclude that American hero Casimir Pulaski was intersex! As often happens with interviews–and particularly in this case as the focus of the show was historically, not intersex–the more policy related issues…
Read MoreThanks to Scott Duff and Ellen Miller at OUT Chicago Radio for a fantastic radio interview about the groundbreaking news that General Casimir Pulaski, renowned as the father of the American Cavalry, was intersex. Despite the short time frame we had a chance to discuss the enormous implications this news has on the harm of…
Read MoreI’m very happy to announce that my memoir Born Both: An Intersex Life (Hachette Books) will be available in German with Zaglossus Books this summer, summer 2018! Zaglossus is a publishing house based in Vienna, Austria, whose mission is to, “publish literature that makes the variety of different ways of life visible. Focusing – but by…
Read MoreOMG, my memoir Born Both: An Intersex Life has been nominated for a Lammy–the Lambda Literary Award! Queer non-binary Latinx intersex appreciation??!!!??? Whaaaat? SO excited! 🙂 🙂 🙂 I’m beyond thrilled and happy to have my first book recognized as one of eight finalists in the LGBTQ nonfiction category! It’s perhaps even more…
Read More“Essentially, gender doesn’t boil down to our sex parts for anyone,” Viloria says. “We’re born with certain bodies, but they don’t even matter until we start having a perception of who we are.” I’m quoted today in the article, “What’s the Difference between Sex & Gender?” As I mention in it, people often forget to…
Read MoreReally love this one, my latest essay, “The Forgotten Vowel,” about how acknowledging and including intersex people and LGBTQIA+ coalition benefits us all.:) Enjoy, and big thanks to INTO magazine–the only LGBTQ website to receive the honor of being shortlisted (this past October) for the Shorty Award in news and media–for running it! It came…
Read MoreHi everyone! I’m thrilled to see the intersex movement growing, but many folks still don’t understand why the human rights abuse of Intersex Genital Mutilation, or IGM (a.k.a. medically unnecessary nonconsensual surgeries on intersex infants and minors) persists, or what they can do to help end it. I’ve been told (and finally made myself watch…
Read MoreI’m thrilled and grateful to have my memoir Born Both included in this list of ten adult books for teens by School Library Journal, and for their fantastic review! Please pick up a copy today for yourself or perhaps for that teen in your life if you haven’t already. 🙂 Physics, Fears, &…
Read MoreI am thrilled and honored to have my memoir Born Both: An Intersex Life selected by School Library Journal as one of 10 Adults Books for Teens, and for the fantastic accompanying review! Please order a copy if you haven’t already — maybe for that older teen in your life. 🙂
Read MoreBig thanks to NPR LA’s AirTalk w/ @LarryMantle–the award-winning public affairs show airing weekdays 10a-12p on 89.3 KPCC–for having me on to discuss intersex activists’ call for a ban on medically unnecessary surgeries on intersex minors, aka Intersex Genital Mutilation (IGM). I open the 19 minute segment, “Should Surgery on Intersex Children Be…
Read MoreHappy Friday everyone! Haven’t been feeling the blog, but here’s this interview on the awesome Girl Boner.(Okay, HOW perfect is this show’s title for me— whaaaaa???) This is one of my favorite interviews so far. 🙂 Thanks to creator and host, the fabulous August McLaughlin, for having me on and for being so intersex-positive!…
Read MoreI’m truly grateful to everyone at the Arts & Ideas Series and the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco for hosting last night’s event “Between Genders: Exploring Intersex with Hida Viloria”. The event was a conversation between myself and fantastic filmmaker Sam McConnell (The Out List, The Trans List), and I thank all the…
Read MoreMy latest essay, “Remember: Sex-Positive = Intersex-Positive,” in The Huffington Post, examines the intersectionality of feminism and intersex issues by exploring medical and social views towards clitoral reduction surgeries on intersex baby girls and future women– AND I got to use the word “hermaphrodyke” in it! Enjoy, and please share widely to educate…
Read MoreBig thanks to Air Talk host Larry Mantle, and everyone at 89.3 KPCC Southern California Public Radio (SCPR)– a member-supported public media network that operates across the region, reaching from Santa Barbara down to Los Angeles and Orange Counties, and out to the Coachella Valley– for a great interview earlier today. Larry’s questions…
Read MoreBig thanks to The Daily Beast for publishing my latest essay, “Fear of Flying–or at least the TSA–while intersex.” On March 6, I read that the Supreme Court had remanded the case filed by Gavin Grimm—the 17-year-old transgender student who’s fighting to use the same restroom as the other boys at his school—sending it back…
Read MoreI’m very grateful to the editors at OUT, the U.S.’s largest LGBT+ online magazine, for running “Intersex Activist Navigates Gendered Bathrooms, Gay Clubs in Exclusive Born Both Excerpt.” I think it’s a perfect venue for me– a long term queer activist who has at different points embodied every letter in the LGBTI acronym!…
Read MoreSo nice to be writing essays again after a rather long hiatus working on my memoir. Big thanks to The Advocate for running my latest, “Why We Must Dismantle the Intersex Closet.” Please share if you like to help spread awareness and make it easier for your intersex friends and their families to come…
Read More“I wouldn’t be a ‘regular’ woman if you paid me: this is who I want to be.” — Hida on Oprah “I find this so fascinating: you literally walk between worlds.” — Oprah Winfrey on Hida Viloria Sharing my “authentic self”, as Oprah calls it –my intersex, non-binary self which we’re all taught to hide–…
Read More“You can be accepted however you happen to be! The ‘norm’ is not what you think it is.” — Hanne Gaby Odiele I am SO happy about this! Brava to supermodel Hanne Gaby Odiele for coming out as #intersex! As outlined in USA Today, she did so, like all intersex advocates, to shine a light on…
Read More“Intelligent and courageous, the author’s book chronicles one intersex person’s path to wholeness, but it also affirms the right of all intersex and nonbinary people to receive dignity and respect. A relentlessly honest and revealing memoir.” — Kirkus Reviews SO excited and happy about this review!!!! Thanks to Kirkus for reading! Read the full review here.…
Read MoreI couldn’t be happier about this victorious ruling, or prouder to call Dana Zzyym, the plaintiff in the case, my friend! In case you missed news of Dana’s historic lawsuit, here’s this beautiful 1 minute video by Lambda Legal, Dana’s brilliant representatives in the case. You can read all about the details and court ruling…
Read MoreIt’s hard to encapsulate complex intersex human rights issues and one’s life experience and gender identity in 2 minutes, but I’m very grateful to UN Radio for allowing me to do so in this educational segment about intersex people & gender fluid gender identity issues — even though they accidentally called me “HILDA”, lol.…
Read MoreThe sentiment of this #IntersexAwareness video is so beautiful it made me cry. It depicts a family deciding to love and acceptance their intersex newborn, in less than two minutes, and w/o dialogue so it can appeal to people of all language speaking communities. PLEASE share widely today, #IntersexAwarenessDay, to help spread love & acceptance…
Read MoreI talk about the groundbreaking lawsuit for legal recognition of sex as other than just male and female, and SO may other things on UBN Radio’s Ann Walker Show, in LA. Mostly, I think I tap into the spirit of compassion for all beings in this interview more than ever. Hope you enjoy it. 🙂 Hida…
Read MoreMy essay, “Promoting Health and Social Progress by Accepting and Depathologizing Benign Intersex Traits”, has been published in the Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics fall issue, which features a Narrative Symposium on Intersex. From the NIB website’s description of the symposium: What are the joys and heartaches faced by people diagnosed intersex? These symposium authors offer readers an honest look into their lives.…
Read MoreIt is truly an honor to appear in the short video, What Does It Mean To Be Intersex?, by the UN Free & Equal Campaign for LGBT equality, which they have released in conjunction with their fantastic new Intersex Fact Sheet. https://unfe.org/system/unfe-65-Intersex_Factsheet_ENGLISH.pdf. The video was filmed when I was invited to speak at the…
Read MoreI’m very excited to be interviewed live today on the fabulous Ann Walker Show, co-hosted by hysterical, talented trans comedian Ian Harvie, who has starred on the acclaimed television show Transparent, and was interviewed along with me and others in the fantastic new book The Human Agenda. The show runs from 6 – 7:30 p.m. Pacific Standard…
Read MoreI was interviewed for Gender Talents, a fantastic web-based project by artist Carlos Motta that engages movements and discourses for gender self-determination within trans and interest communities. Carlos did a FANTASTIC job capturing some of my best points about the numerous issues that impact intersex people — such as homophobia, gender-variant-phobia, sexism, fear of lesbian…
Read More“One of my most personal, spiritual interviews yet, on the fantastic Mikhail Tank and Layla Ashley’s “Feel, Think and Grow Show”. Enjoy. 🙂 ”
Read MoreWell, they changed my original title – “Bullying By Any Other Name: What’s Really Behind Regulations for Women with High Testosterone” – to, “Stop Freaking Out About Female Intersex Athletes”, but otherwise I’m thrilled to have this essay run in the Advocate! (Read here: http://www.advocate.com/commentary/2014/09/18/op-ed-stop-freaking-out-about-female-intersex-athletes). It elaborates on the issue in all the ways…
Read MoreI’m thrilled to be on Aljazeera radio’s The Stream today, speaking about how the sports regulations against intersex women athletes — specifically those with hyperandrogenism (high testosterone levels) — are discrimination, pure & simple. Also on will be fabulous allies Payoshni Mitra and Katrina Karkazis. Click here to watch. 🙂 https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bw1ZTKAAZLcNck5UOXlIaUlTZFk/preview
Read Morehttps://soundcloud.com/prideonscreen/imru-show-140616. Got to speak to fantastic intersex ally Vash Boddie of IMRU Radio for this one, mainly about the Third international Intersex Forum and the global intersex advocacy community’s goals, and I love how it came out. 🙂 The interview starts 34:20 minutes in FYI, and is short and sweet, in case you wanna give…
Read MoreMy latest blog post/essay — What’s in a Name: Intersex and Identity — discusses the history of society deeming people who are different as innately inferior, how this is currently happening to intersex people, and how this language does not support equality. Hope you like it, & thanks to the Advocate for running it! http://www.advocate.com/commentary/2014/05/14/op-ed-whats-name-intersex-and-identity
Read MoreYesterday was a magical moment, a dream come true. Feeling blessed & grateful to have this opportunity to educate the world about intersex people’s need for human rights, and with such amazing co-panelists. NOTE: UN High Commissioner of Human Rights Navi Pillay had to cancel due to Nelson Mandela’s memorial, but UN Assistant…
Read MoreThis was perhaps my most enjoyable media experience ever, b/c I got to do it with some of my favorite American intersex activists. I’m grateful & thrilled that HuffPostLive wanted to do a segment with intersex people about who we are, and that they asked me to direct them to the other guests.…
Read MoreYes, there’s more to say about Germany’s new third gender law, especially to readers that understand the LGBTI perspective and the issues that affect us. Also, I got to correct inaccurate press statements about Australia’s third gender law applying to intersex babies, which it doesn’t, just adults who want it. Read “Germany’s Third Gender…
Read MorePlease read my essay Germany’s Third Gender Law: Not What Intersex People Most Need to find out the truth about Germany’s new third gender law. I interviewed several German activists for this piece, and am very happy for the opportunity to get correct information about the law, and why intersex Germans are unhappy…
Read MoreGermany’s new third gender law isn’t the law that intersex people most want & need, & isn’t as good for intersex people as most think/have been saying. I got to explain why on the BBC World Service’s one hour program World Have Your Say.
Read MoreI’m going to be interviewed on BBC World Services tonight about being intersex in light of Germany’s new third gender law, which becomes effective tomorrow, November 1st. The show, Newsday, starts at 8:30pm PST (calif time), and I should be on approx 9:20pm. Spoiler alert: the law is NOT a good thing for…
Read MoreI spoke so much in the 90’s and the first decade of the 21st century about the serious harms caused by medically unnecessary cosmetic genital surgeries on intersex babies — which I and other intersex people call “intersex genital mutilation”, or IGM — that my essays in the past few years have focused…
Read More(FINALLY, a new blog post! 🙂 ) A few weeks ago, I testified as an expert witness on the television show Caso Cerrado (translation: Case Closed). It’s kind of like People’s Court but in Spanish, and is the first television show on a Spanish language station to have been nominated for an Emmy. I was…
Read MoreThe novel Golden Boy, by Abigail Tartellin, features what is, by far, my favorite fictional portrayal of an intersex character. Read my review in Autostraddle to find out why. http://www.autostraddle.com/three-reasons-this-intersex-lesbian-184477/
Read MoreHi all! So excited to be speaking today — on the historic demise of DOMA (the Defense of marriage Act)– with radio personality and award-winning TV, film and stage actress Ann Walker on The Ann Walker Show on United Broadcast Radio. Tune in from 6-7:30pm (I’ll be coming on around 6:20) at ubnradio.com, Channel…
Read MoreI’m thrilled to have one of my blog essays, “Intersex: The Final Coming Out Frontier“, published in The Advocate, the US’s oldest, largest LGBT (hopefully soon to be LGBTI) publication. Yay for inclusion! (Even if they did use the dorkiest picture of me ever, lol!)
Read More“Hida Viloria, cheerleading for choice” — definitely the silliest way my activism has ever been described, lol, but essentially true & otherwise the interview was great. It was regarding the groundbreaking lawsuit by the Crawford family for their intersex son, who was castrated at the age of 16 months, before they adopted him. The lawsuit…
Read MoreGendernauts is the groundbreaking, multi award-winning 1999 documentary by German filmmaker Monika Truet, which shows us a group of artists in San Francisco who live between the poles of conventional gender identities. The New York Times review of the film, after it’s February 4, 2000, United States premiere at Manhattan’s Cinema Village, had this to say…
Read MoreHida on Montel Williams: December 1998. Wow I was young! Look out for part 3:56 minutes in where I call out a doctor on his prejudiced, negative portrayal of intersex bodies and get big applause from the audience. 🙂
Read MoreHida on Oprah! Finally, the video of my 2007 Oprah interview, on the episode “Growing Up Intersex.” 🙂 I love where Oprah says I “walk between worlds”, and also where I say that I don’t want to have to choose between male or female because “I’m both.” But most of all, I love…
Read MoreNote: This article is based on my blog post Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation — Unless They’re Intersex I’m happy to report that it was re-published in The Global Herald, but note that they changed the title, unfortunately, to: “US Ban on Female Genital Mutilation Mired in Racism and Fear.” /http://theglobalherald.com/u-s-ban-on-female-genital-mutilation-mired-in-racism-and-fear/29098/
Read MorePsyched to find this old post of video interviews of Jazz, a wise 7 yo trans girl, and I. I love that she says, “It doesn’t matter if you’re different from anybody else, it just matters if you’re having a good time & you like who you are.” So true! And notice they…
Read MoreAwesome 3 1/2 minute video compilation of some of my best television & film interviews regarding intersex and non-binary visibility, human rights, & pride. Please feel free to share 🙂 http://vimeo.com/73314775
Read MoreSOOO honored and thrilled to have contacted the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN OHCHR) about including intersex people in their human rights efforts. With ILGA, ILGA-Europe, and all participants of the 2nd International Intesex Forum (in Stockholm) signing in support, it’s the first global call by and for…
Read MoreCriminalized Because of One’s Sex? – Hida Viloria By Hida Viloria; published on December 10, 2012 at 9:34 pm On June 14th, Indian gold medal winner Pinki Pramanik was arrested following accusations of rape and “being male” by her live-in partner. She was suspended from her job, detained in a male ward, and an MMS of…
Read MoreBrief Guidelines for Intersex Allies, co-written with OII USA’s Assoc. Director Claudia Astorino, was published yesterday in honor of Intersex Awareness Day, and is available on the OII-USA website free of charge. If want to spread awareness about intersex but don’t feel like you have all the info, this is the document for you!…
Read MoreTrailer for the 2012 documentary Intersexion, featuring yours truly & tons of other rad intersex folks. It hasn’t shown in the US yet, but it’s already won the Best Documentary Award at New Zealand’s Edge Film Festival, where it’s from, and is researched and presented by pioneering New Zealand intersex activist Mani Mitchell, who I’m…
Read MoreI’m honored to have an article in Ms.–co-authored with ny intersex colleague and friend Georgiann Davis, PhD– about why the Olympics’ Testosterone regulations for Women are anti-intersex & unfair. Enjoy! Read the story online>>
Read MoreHida speaks on this fantastic radio show about the Olympics’ discrimination against intersex women, surgeries, and more…. listen here >>
Read MoreClick here to see the original posting at the NYT >> To the Sports Editor: Re “No Clear Option for Testing,” June 18: At the 2010 Winter Olympics, a sportscaster said, in reference to the figure skater Johnny Weir, “We should make him pass a gender test.” Another jokingly suggested that Weir compete in…
Read MoreAn article by Hida Viloria and Maria Jose Martínez-Patino, in the American Journal of Bioethics Click here to see the original article >>
Read MoreHida speaks about intersex in Reims, France, to a standing-room-only crowd. Tres magnifique! Foleffect.com website (in French)
Read MoreOriginally Posted in The Global Herald online. Click here to see the original article >>
Read MoreOn Australia’s intersex & trans* inclusive passport policy, & why it’ s a great development. Originally in The Bioethics Forum online Click here to see the original article >>
Read MoreOrganization Intersex International chairperson Hida Viloria and Jeff 4 Justice have an in depth discussion about being intersex.
Read MoreHida speaks out about her involvement with the IOC and her views on the proposed Olympic regulations for intersex female athletes. Intersex 101, by Alix Iron and Hida Viloria from OII Australia on Vimeo.
Read MoreOriginally published as “Gender Rules In Sport: Leveling the Paying Field or Reversed Doping?” on April 11, 2011 in The Global Herald online. https://web.archive.org/web/20130514122301/http://theglobalherald.com/opinion-gender-rules-in-sport-leveling-the-playing-field-or-reversed-doping/14837/
Read Moreevent link >> Hida Viloria State: Confirmed Time: Wed Feb-23-2011 07:30 PM to 09:00 PM Location: COAT 237 WAXAHACHIE Coates University Center 237 – Waxahachie Room (40 expected) Web Site*: https://hidaviloria.com/index.html By Invitation Only?: No Open To The Public?: Yes Admission Fee Required?: No Organization: STUDENT AFFAIRS Requestor: Richard Reams 210-999-7411 Description: Hida (“Heeda”) Viloria, an intersex activist…
Read MoreHida will be speaking at Texas State University, Austin TX Intersex activist, Hida Viloria, will be discussing her story with faculty, staff, and students, as well as addressing the current issues surrounding intersex and how we can all better support and positively impact these individuals. Facebook page for the event >>
Read MoreHida will speak at NYU’s Intersex Awareness Day events in New York City. Great to visit the old hometown and spread awareness there.
Read MoreHida will attend the International Olympic Committee’s next panel of experts meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland to deliberate policy for intersex female athletes. I am thrilled that they have decided to include our voice in this deliberation, and honored to represent intersex people.
Read MoreHiker won an award from her university to further her Ph.D. studies by travelling to the U.S. to meet leaders in the intersex activist movement. She is a brave, beautiful soul & I was honored to have her stay with me and further build our international human rights movement.
Read MoreIn in the wake of the gender-testing of South African track star Caster Semenya, I’ll be discussing international sporting bodies’ regulations for intersex women athletes, and I how I believe they are discriminatory against women who do not adhere to visible gender norms. Joining me will be the fantastic Curtis Hinkle, founder of the…
Read MoreHida will be presenting at the American Philosophical Association’s 84th Annual meeting in San Francisco, on a group panel of the Society for the Philosophy of Sex and Love. 7:00-10:00 p.m See the announcement at SPSL >>
Read MoreFor all the enlightened, lofty aspirations of the Olympic Games themselves, the leadership of the International Olympic Committee continues to approach delicate gender issue with a sledge hammer and chisel.
Read MoreHi everyone, I’m sure you’ve all heard about the sex verification debacle that South African track start Caster Semenya was forced to undergo. Shortly afterwards, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) began holding meetings with panels of medical experts to deliberate the fate of intersex female athletes. After one of these meetings in January, 2010, physician…
Read MoreMissing link
Read MoreHida Viloria is a writer who holds a degree in Gender and Sexuality from U.C. Berkeley. She is also an activist for intersex people — (formerly known as hermaphrodites) Her memoir “Mighty Hermaphrodite” will be published next spring.
Read MoreHida will be on Inside Edition speaking about her experience as an intersex woman in light of the controversy over champion South African runner Caster Semenya’s “sex-testing.” KRON Channel 4, 5pm in San Francisco; check local programming for time in your location. Watch video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HwLfvKPAZY Her breathtaking speed shattered the world record in the women’s…
Read MoreFrom the SF Weekly. Click here to go to the story on their site >> Hida Viloria Tells Us What She Really Thinks What’s in a Name Viloria responds: Unnecessary genital surgeries of intersex infants are still standard procedure even here in San Francisco, based simply on a belief that ambiguous genitalia are undesirable…
Read MoreHow Hermaph-tivists Pander To Homophobes Correction: The author misquoted Ms. Viloria‘s views on how parents should raise intersex children. To read Viloria’s clarification, read her letter to the editor.
Read MoreGrowing Up Intersex and a Discussion of the Book Middlesex Boy or girl, how do we know? Meet people who grew up intersex. Also, a discussion with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jeffrey Eugenides on the book club selection Middlesex. Hida will be sharing what it’s like to be intersex – without having been subjected to “corrective”…
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