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THE CONSTRAINT OF BINARY

June, 2021

 

Sex is primarily referred to anatomical and physiological manifestations including gene expression, chromosomes, and level of hormones. However, discrepancies such as cases with overlapping reproductive and chromosomal structures or naturally acquired two physical sex markers exist and they are calling for medical and legal intervention.

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Mixed genitalia and mosaic genetics that affect the distinct sex category of an individual is referred to as intersexuality, but the manifestation does not necessarily appear at birth, some discover the condition during puberty while some lived without ever knowing (found only during autopsy). There are a lot of medical factors that result in intersexuality, but the term disorders of sex development (DSD) was rejected by the majority of intersex people, concerning how it only stigmatized and encouraged genital normalizing surgery which is usually unnecessary and done without full consent to the patient. Furthermore, the supposedly medical intervention causes irreversible damage to resemble standard genitalia, but physical attributes do not influence hormones and chromosomes which leads to the high probability of uncorrelated altered genitalia to how they classify themselves. Due to being unfit in the criteria of socially acceptable sex characteristics, intersex people experienced human rights violations such as coercive medical surgery, discrimination, infanticide, abuse, and torture.

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In 2008, a division of the Supreme Court in the Philippines granted the petition of Mr. Cagandahan who has an inherited genetic disorder called Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) that causes virilization. He fought to change his name from Jennifer to Jeff and reassign his sex from registered female to male, the court acknowledged the constraint of biological parameters in binary recognition, stating “The current state of Philippine statutes apparently compels that a person be classified either as a male or as a female, but this Court is not controlled by mere appearances when nature itself fundamentally negates such rigid classification”. However, Mr. Cagandahan is still fighting against the stigma acquired from a heteronormative narrative of sex in society, by lobbying to end the binary normativity of the legal classification of sex to ensure both inclusion and protection of intersex people in the eyes of the law.

 

Only a few countries took concrete measures to protect the human rights of intersex, it is now time for the Philippines to address the struggle of these individuals by breaking the stigma, raising awareness, providing transparency of clinical practices, and adopting measures to embrace their existence.

 

 

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