Does being an Intersex make one part of the GLBT group?

[regardless of answer being 'no' or 'yes' - please share your opinion(s) - thank you all]

I would love to share a opinion, I am just not sure what intersex means. I don't know if I have ever heard it before. Please explain and I will let you know!

Intersex is an individual displaying sexual characteristics of both male and female. An older term is a Hermaphrodite.

Ok thank you! I did not know this term. WOW! What a great question. To me personally, I have a few gay male friends. I understand where they are coming from, but I didnt always. They had to school me LOL! This question is a dificult one. I think it is a personal decision, that only that person can ,ake. If a parent changes that child's gender, I feel they are not letting the child be who they are ment to be. A child needs to feel and be who they are. I think a parent should not make any desisions until the child is old enough to decide what is right for them. As an adult they need to be able to identify with the gender that is right for them. It is a very personal desision! So I guess the answer to the question would be what that person feels is right for them. I don't think it is a yes or no question!

I would agree with Kim. As a heterosexual person, I don't feel I'm in a position to determine if the GBLT label fits any given person. My initial instinct was "yes", though, since transvestites consider themselves part of the GBLT community (to my knowledge). Isn't GBLT simply a category for anyone who doesn't fit neatly into the "typical" heterosexual role, identifying oneself with the gender typically assigned to the corresponding physical genitalia? I mean, there are some feminine males and some masculine females, but unless they identify more with their femininty/masculinity than with their femaleness/maleness, then they're not in the GBLT community, right? I've been told I'm pretty androgynous, but even though I don't accept a lot of the female/feminine steretypes for myself, I identify with my female sex, and I am heterosexual, so I am not part of the GBLT community.

Then again, can't you be a member "by association"? (lol, my dh is Polish by association, ie by the virtue of having married me)

Thank youKim and Karolina for your replies. It was not a simple question and both contributions definitely deserves a -

I know that's why I joined this group to have real descusions and debate and learn new things or help others find answer. We just don't have that much people come in and are interested. So ask away and I know I am pretty open minded that not much offends me! Maybe i will start coming up with thought provoking questions! And where oh where is Anupam any body know does anybody talk to him?? I guess that is the question of the day!! have a fabulous evening everyone!

Well an intersex person may identify with one specific gender - male or female - but they can't do much about it because they do not possess completely formed genitalia. In my opinion, GBLT is meant to encompass sexual minorities, and the very idea of the movement is not to be restricted merely to gays, lesbians, bisexuals or transgenders. In fact at the start of the movement, it referred only to gays and lesbians, and then expanded its scope some years later. So in terms of securing human rights for intersex people, I think that the GBLT movement can champion their cause effectively.

In some societies, such as Arab and Indian, intersex people fall in a social category of a 'third gender', called a hijra in some languages (or by a variant of this word). They have their communities, and being defined thus allows them to become accepted by the mainstream (if not a part and parcel of it).