Who are the world’s most prominent intersex heroes and activists? Ponyboi creator River Gallo won a GLAAD award while Olympian Caster Semenya stayed strong through athletic controversies

Mar 17 , 2021

Intersex activists fighting prejudice and stigma, from left, River Gallo, Sean Saifa Wall and Pidgeon Pagonis. Photos: @rivergallo, @saifaemerges, @pidgeon/Instagram

While Elliot Page, Jojo Siwa and other celebrities have come out as LGBT, for intersex people the journey to recognition is still an uphill battle

Semenya won World and Olympic gold medals in the women’s 800m while Gallo’s film Ponyboi premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival

In recent years the acronym LGBT (and expanded forms like LGBTQ+ and LGBTQIA+) has become much more widely used, reflecting an increase in representation and acceptance in the public sphere.

We’ve witnessed a slew of high-profile individuals come out publicly as gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual and transgender. (Hello, Elliot Page and Jojo Siwa.) We’ve watched films and TV shows with LGBTQ+ themes break into the mainstream. And we’ve experienced a shift in society’s attitudes towards people whose sexual and gender identities don’t conform to traditional convention.

Until now the L, G, B and T members of the community have enjoyed the lion’s share of the spotlight. There is, however, one group still to gain from more awareness, understanding and overall acceptance: the I, or intersex.

Intersex people are defined by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights as individuals “with sex characteristics (including genitals, gonads and chromosome patterns) that do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies. Intersex is an umbrella term used to describe a wide range of natural bodily variations. In some cases, intersex traits are visible at birth while in others, they are not apparent until puberty. Some chromosomal intersex variations may not be physically apparent at all.”

There is certainly more work to be done in eradicating outdated stigmas and discriminatory stereotypes surrounding intersex people, but fortunately there is an growing band of intersex heroes and activists inspiring acceptance, equality and love.

River Gallo

A model, activist and filmmaker all in one inspiring package, River Gallo is the GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) award-winning creator of short film Ponyboi. The film was presented as Gallo’s master’s degree thesis and premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.