Intersex Society of North America

Before this last year I rarely thought about sex, gender or relationships. My “hermaphroditism” was completely off limits as a topic for introspection, except in vague despondent moments when I would reflect to myself that “people like me” were just not able to become involved in relationships or have sex. I absolutely never entertained the notion that I would talk about my biological status with anyone... it was too dark a secret even for me to contemplate for very long. When I was thirteen I chose my sex in a game of binary roulette at Johns Hopkins and with that choice I accepted the implied vow of silence: “Don’t ask, don’t tell.”