Allied Practices with Intersex Children in the School System: Opportunities and Challenges

Intersex children / adults are born with sexual characteristics (reproductive organs, genitals, hormonal status, chromosomes, gonads) that do not fit into the typical definition of the male and female body. Intersex is the umbrella name for a spectrum of variations in sexual characteristics that occur naturally among humans. The term intersex recognizes the fact that physical gender appears as a spectrum and that there are people whose gender characteristics do not have to meet social and medical expectations. Operations of the so-called gender normalizations were not carried out until the middle of the 20th century, they are a legacy of modern medicine, and the creation of “convincing genitals” in intersex children / persons is presented as a pledge for their “regular” life.

Public and engaged advocacy for intersex rights was first formulated at the international community level in 1993 with the founding of the Intersex Society of North America. Kristijan Randjelovic’s presentation follows the line of development of the struggle for human rights of intersex children / persons, with a special focus on the countries of the former Yugoslavia and the examples he encountered in his activist work. Drawing on the recommendations of Australian theorist and activist Tiffany Jones, active in the fight to identify the needs of intersex and trans children within the school system, as well as examples of good practice from Oviedo countries, Christian seeks to formulate initial settings for adequate “meeting” children’s interests and the domain of institutionalized education.

The event is organized by GenLab – Gender Research Laboratory and EduLab – Educational Strategies Laboratory of the Institute of Philosophy and Social Theory.

• Lecturer: Kristian Randjelovic (XY Spectrum)
• Moderator: Milica Sekulović (EduLab, IFDT)

Kristian Ranđelović is trans and intersex activist, working and living in Belgrade, Serbia. He is an executive director in the XY Spectrum organization. Organization is working on promotion and advancement of human rights and quality of life for intersex and trans persons. Main areas of his work is on visibility and empowerment for intersex and trans children and their parents, psycho-social support for intersex, trans ans non-binary individuals, capacity building of organizations in ex-Yugoslavia region and Africa on intersex issues. He is a board member of TransMentors International and OII Europe- Intersex International Europe. And also a member of internationaly advisory board of Astraea Lesbian Foundation For Justice.