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My latest essay, in OUT, about what the news that Revolutionary War hero Casimir Pulaski may have been intersex says about surgeries aimed to “fix” intersex kids and the military trans ban. I also discuss California’s groundbreaking legislation SB 201, which seeks to ban these surgeries, and how doctors have used false claims to support their arguments…
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 MoreBig thanks the my old hometown paper, the New York Daily News, for letting me address all the intersex, non-binary, and trans deniers out there who have criticized New York City’s recent birth certificate legislation. I’m so proud to be a part of the third gender revolution and to write about it in the paper…
Read MoreI couldn’t be happier or prouder about this news today, and to have played a role in it! Having a District Court Judge of the United States — where surgeries aimed at erasing intersex people from society originated, over half a century ago– acknowledge our right to be accurately identified as neither male nor female,…
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 MoreExcellent article on how to be an ally to intersex people— please share widely folks! Big thanks to NewNowNext for running it and to author Kristina Marusic for mentioning my non-profit the Intersex Campaign for Equality (Ic4e), and my memoir Born Both! It really is a great way to spread understanding and acceptance, from what…
Read MoreIt’s wonderful to see intersex people and our movement covered so respectfully in the article, “The Intersex Rights Movement Is Ready for its Moment,” in today’s Washington Post! I love that it features so many beautiful portraits of my fellow intersex community members and quotes by them, and, of course, that I’m quoted in the…
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 More“I think that the only way it would be fair to regulate athletes [like] Caster and Dutee would be if we also had testosterone testing for men, and men that were in atypically high ranges had to take estrogen to lower their ranges down as well,” said Hida Viloria “I think the elephant in…
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 More“These books by Gay, Riggs, and Viloria tell stories that should be heard, that lift up and give meaning to scientific facts of variable bodies, diseases, and genders — and how we respond to them.” Thanks to Barbara J King and NPR for including Born Both in this review, described below. 🙂 “The pairing of…
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 overjoyed and deeply grateful to see the labor and love of my life, Born Both: An Intersex Life, reviewed by the New York Times! It’s thrilling and touching that so many have been feeling my memoir’s message of love and acceptance for all humans–basically, a dream come true.
Read More“I define gender as… a unique, non-audible song that all humans sing. We can try to imitate the most accepted, popular songs but we can never exactly duplicate them so in the end each song, like our fingerprints, is an original: our ‘genderprint’.” — Hida Viloria, in Psychology Today LOVE my interview, “Born…
Read MoreEnormous thanks to Juliet Jacques for this in-depth, beautiful, rave review of my memoir Born Both: An Intersex Life, in the Washington Post:”Overcoming trauma and intolerance as an intersex activist.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/overcoming-trauma-and-intolerance-as-an-intersex-activist/2017/03/24/a586555e-f222-11e6-a9b0-ecee7ce475fc_story.html?utm_term=.291eff4232ed
Read More“Intersex people often have their dual gender surgically ‘corrected,’ but trailblazing activist Viloria didn’t. Her memoir is fierce, brave, and a clarion call to celebrate our differences.” — People Magazine on Born Both: An Intersex Life Thrilled to see that People magazine has selected my recently released memoir Born Both: An Intersex Life…
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 MoreAs a kid, I loved and devoured Rolling Stone interviews, and so I can’t say how thrilled I am to find myself interviewed in it! Huge thanks to Rolling tone for seeing the value in my memoir Born Both, and to Larissa Pham for this fantastic interview! Please enjoy and share widely to further…
Read MoreI’m a native New Yorker, and my memoir begins in Brooklyn, so I couldn’t be more pleased and honored to be listed as one of the “Culture Essentials for March“, by the Brooklyn-based arts and culture blog Brooklyn Based. Big thanks to the article’s author Annalise Griffin, and everyone at Brooklyn Based for such a…
Read MoreI am absolutely thrilled to announce that my memoir Born Both: An Intersex Life (Hachette Books, March 14), has been listed by Bustle as one of the 20 best nonfiction books coming in March. Big thanks to Bustle for this inclusion! Check out the full list here, and if you haven’t already pre-ordered Born Both,…
Read MoreI was SO happy to hear the news last week about NYC’s intersex birth certificate—from the fantastic Sara Kelly Keenan, the person who’s been issued the historic certificate– and to share it, and today I’m thrilled to be quoted about the development in People magazine! From the article, “Advocates Say Issuing Nation’s First Intersex Birth Certificate…
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 MoreLots of times people don’t remedy situations when unfortunate mistakes are made, but National Geographic magazine did, and I’m so happy about it! In this article, editor-in-chief Susan Goldberg explains why they originally defined being intersex as a “disorder” in their “Gender Revolution” issue, and why they changed the definition–quoting yours truly in the process.…
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 MoreI’m deeply grateful to the folks at the UN’s Free & Equal Campaign for continuing to work towards ending discrimination against intersex people–today with the launch of their beautiful Intersex Awareness campaign–and deeply honored to participate as one of the people featured in their Intersex Voices segment. They wanted short statements geared at educating the…
Read MoreI’m honored to be quoted in the fantastic essay, “Intersex ED at the UN”, published in light of the upcoming #intersexAwarenessDay — just 2 days away! It explains that I feel blessed not have been subjected to Intersex Genital Mutilation (IGM), and that: “I want to encourage all parents of intersex kids to do the same. Trying to…
Read MoreProud to be quoted in my alma mater’s mag, California, on discrimination against intersex women athletes — especially since it’s been pissing me off to no end with the Olympics going on and so many people complaining about Caster!
Read MoreMy essay, “What’s in a Name: Intersex and Identity”, was selected for and appears in the college textbook, Queer: A Reader for Writers, published this January, 2016, by Oxford University Press. The book includes an interdisciplinary mix of public, academic, and cultural reading selections, and was developed for courses in first-year writing. It provides students with…
Read More“I feel compelled to let the public know that you can grow up intersex and be perfectly fine and happy,” said Hida Viloria, the executive director of the U.S. affiliate of Organization Intersex International. “It’s not as hard being intersex as everyone assumes it will be — at least that’s my belief.” I’m…
Read MorePsyched that I asked the US gov’t to ban Intersex Genital Mutilation (IGM) here in the U.S. — as the Maltese government did there last week! 🙂 🙂 🙂 — and that I was able to discuss “interphobia”, in my interview in VICE: “I often say we’re on the front lines of homophobia and transphobia,…
Read MoreSo happy to see the groundbreaking panel Sports Comes Out Against Homophobia, that I’m honored to have participated in at the United Nations for Human Rights Day, getting some more coverage. This article, “Free & Equal Releases Video of Landmark Event Featuring United Nations Leaders, Sports Stars and LGBT and Intersex Activists” covers…
Read MoreAuthor Gayle Pittman’s blog “Girls, boys, and the rest of us” examines intersex, diversity, and acceptance. 🙂 Boys, girls, and the rest of us
Read MoreIs sex testing in the Olympics a fool’s errand? I’m quoted in the Los Angeles Times in an article by Jon Bardin about the Olympics’ unsound policies for intersex women. “According to Hida Viloria, director of the Organisation Intersex International, such therapies amount to ‘an athlete doing an experiment on themselves,’ and she likens…
Read MoreI’m quoted today from my recent letter in The NY Times in this KICK-ASS article by Katrina Karkazis (author of Fixing Sex) and Rebecca Jordan-Young, about the Olympics discriminatory policy toward intersex women. yay! 🙂 “In a letter to The New York Times, Viloria pointed out that meeting participants discussed other physical and medical…
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