Source: iStock. Sean Saifa Wall, a co-founder of the Intersex Justice Project, which has protested intersex surgeries at Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago for years. “They told my mom that the testes were cancerous,” Wall said. The Downtown Alliance There are plenty of events — both live and online — going on across Utah. Instead of telling them I was born with cancer, you hyped the risk that my “underdeveloped ovaries” which you decisively referred to as “gonads” – and really were my undescended testes – would likely develop cancer if left intact. 3 How about elevating your intersex? (SARAH-JI, INTERSEX JUSTICE PROJECT). Read But he wasn’t metabolizing the testosterone the way most people on the hormone do. Since then, the UN has condemned the surgeries — which remain legal in almost every country in the world — as “irreversible” and unnecessary procedures that can cause “permanent infertility and lifelong pain, incontinence, loss of sexual sensation, and mental suffering.”, Wall came out as gay at age 14. MELINDA ALEXANDER: Healing & Self-Love. Gallo is not the only intersex person in the world of filmmaking. Nearly all characteristics Long described matched what Pagonis had experienced, and after verifying their health records they found a chromosomal difference matched as well. The nearly 13-minute film dips in and out of what could be assumed to be Pagonis’ bedroom, kitchen and on the streets of Chicago. Intersex advocate Pidgeon Pagonis. That prestige made Lurie a prime target for a campaign to end intersex surgeries. Nov 30 And largely lost in this moment is the history of intersex surgery itself. I would’ve guessed Pidgeon Pagonis was a YouTuber if they hadn’t clarified they were new to recording themself in the first few minutes of “A Normal Girl.” “A Normal Girl” is a short documentary film that follows Chicagoan and intersex advocate Pidgeon Pagonis as they detail the harm they’ve experienced from genital mutilation surgery. Skiing may not spread coronavirus but slopes still risky, says U.N. Since the 1960s, medical convention has been that intersex variations should be “corrected,” often through a combination of painful surgeries and hormone therapy starting from infancy or before a child can consent. The day has come. Eight of his family members were intersex, Wall says. And those cast a pall on the gender clinic as calls to end the surgeries overwhelmed its social media channels. Pidgeon Pagonis, the co-founder of the Intersex Justice Project at a protest in 2017. This story was published by The 19th. “I was so angry,” he said. Some intersex people are born with varying reproductive anatomy or sex traits — some develop them later in life. Intersex operations were born out gynecology, a practice developed by James Marion Sims, who performed brutal experiments on enslaved Black women without anesthesia. In this Thursday, Feb. 19, 2015 photo, Pidgeon Pagonis poses for a photo at her home in Chicago. Intersex activist Pidgeon Pagonis grew up under the female identity of “Jennifer.” While they managed to keep up an image of perfect femininity, they always knew that something was off. Thank you. The facts that conclude the documentary leave us questioning when or if intersex education will be shared more widely, and if medical institutions will respond in a way that acknowledges sex and gender as non-binary. Sarah Robinson, Eugene’s mother, brought a daughter to the hospital. We are given a slice of Pagonis’ story as they explain how they learned they are intersex, and their mom shares why she permitted a mutilation surgery on her then-daughter when they were 11 years old. Your email address will not be published. Pidgeon Pagonis, the co-founder of the Intersex Justice Project at a protest in 2017. SARAH-JI, INTERSEX JUSTICE PROJECT. They spent 18 years in and out of Lurie for surgeries, hormones and exams. About 70 people showed up to protest outside Lurie. ... 'You should wait until your son or daughter … However, Lurie has enjoyed a sterling reputation among LGBTQ+ people since 2013, when it opened one of the first pediatric gender clinics in the nation under the leadership of Dr. Robert Garofalo, a nationally-renowned expert in transgender health. “When it comes to surgery, we are committed to reexamining our approach.”. Pagonis and Wall garnered support and educated the public by sharing intimate personal stories. In both cases, his mom “lost it,” he said. 4/13/87—Dear Mr. & Mrs. Pagonis–I am attributing her elevated blood pressure to being somewhat fearful in our exam room. Find out what intersex advocate Pidgeon Pagonis had to say to doctors who perform medically unnecessary surgeries on intersex babies. Kate Sosin, The 19th I didn’t talk about it for a while. Intersex activists have long pointed to a disconnect between the gender-affirming care for trans and non-binary youth at the hospital and surgeries done on intersex children without their knowledge or consent. The film puts a spin on a typical young person’s hair or makeup YouTube channel. Also included is Arisleyda Dilone’s film Mami y Yo yi mi Gallito (2015) which focuses on the vulnerable relationship between a mother and her intersex daughter and Pidgeon Pagonis’ photographic series Children’s Memorial Hospital Killa [CMHK] (2015) that depicts their singular protest in front of the hospital where they underwent numerous medical procedures as “corrective” measures during their childhood. “I just thought these were my doctors that I had to go to because I had cancer when I was a kid,” Pagonis said. All Rights Reserved. Samantha Paige is an artist and mother with a passion for life. She returned home with a son. For Pagonis and Wall, that has meant revealing details about their own traumas, sexual experiences, anatomy and family histories. The Downtown Winter Farmers Market is being held this year at The Gateway in Salt Lake City, every Saturday through April 17, 2021. JENNIFER YASHARI: Living with HIBM. Pidgeon Pagonis struggled with depression and angst until meeting young intersex adults who’ve embraced their differences. Two of his nine siblings had undergone similar operations, but his relatives never talked about the fact that androgen insensitivity syndrome, a genetic intersex condition, ran in the family. You can find the original article here. According to the activist, the surgery they experienced at Lurie Children’s Hospital left them feeling physically different, even though they were told they wouldn’t experience any nerve changes. 2 What is Intersex Day of Solidarity? #FiveFilms4Freedom global LGBTQIA short-film initiative. Pidgeon Pagonis is intersex, meaning that similar to one in 2000 people, they were born with sex characteristics not easily categorized as either male or female. They had another operation when they were 3 or 4 years old, and another when they were 10. Wall says the memory “blew my mom’s mind” — for seven years she had a sister. His aunt said “‘do you not remember playing with Queen Esther as a child?’”, “And my mom was like, ‘Who’s that?’ And she’s like “‘That’s Gene.’”. She returned home with a son. When he was 25, he started taking testosterone, something he wanted to do as a trans person to confirm his gender. Pidgeon Pagonis […] “By the time this intersex variation appeared in my family, there was knowledge and awareness of it, but people didn’t talk about it, because there was shame and stigma and secrecy.”, Left: Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Eugene Robinson had four intersex surgeries as a child. Arizona certifies Biden’s victory over Trump, By Nasser Karimi, Jon Gambrell, Associated Press. “I was like, ‘Oh, this is not fair. I would’ve guessed Pidgeon Pagonis was a YouTuber if they hadn’t clarified they were new to recording themself in the first few minutes of “A Normal Girl.” “A Normal Girl” is a short documentary film that follows Chicagoan and intersex advocate Pidgeon Pagonis as they detail the harm they’ve experienced from genital mutilation surgery. Kate Sosin, The 19th. Lurie’s end to intersex surgeries marks a watershed moment for intersex rights. “You cannot stand W/ trans ppl & step ON intersex ppl!” Moore wrote on Twitter. For 19 years, Lurie patient Pidgeon Pagonis also believed they had survived ovarian cancer. This leaves viewers with an idea of how millennial parents have more resources available to them in order to make more informed health decisions, unlike parents just a few decades ago. A number of staffers within Lurie pushed for an end to the surgeries, most notably transgender research coordinator Dr. Ellie Kim, who publicly criticized the practice. When Jennifer Pagonis was born in the winter of 1986, her parents brought her home to a wardrobe of pink and white, ruffles and frills. I thought I survived cancer.”. (AP Photo/M. Intersex activists don’t have that luxury yet, says Hans Lindahl, director of communications for youth intersex organization InterAct. Still, it wasn’t until college, while doing a Yahoo internet search, that Wall pieced together that he is intersex. ... A NORMAL GIRL brings the widely unknown struggles of intersex people to light through the story of intersex activist Pidgeon Pagonis. Sarah Robinson, Eugene’s mother, brought a daughter to the hospital. It explores the historic ties between racism and harmful medical treatment of intersex people, how these medical treatments negatively impacted both activists, and much more. "Daughter Rite is a classic, the missing link between the 'direct Cinema' documentaries and the later hybrids that acknowledged truth couldn't always be found in front of a camera lens. It wasn’t until they learned about intersex issues at DePaul that they realized that all those visits to Lurie hadn’t been about cancer at all. Pagonis was the lead and co-produced this film with Shawna Lipton. About 1.7 percent of people are born intersex, according to a 2000 report by Dr. Anne Fausto-Sterling. Wall, like Robinson, is intersex. Under Garofalo’s leadership in the Gender & Sex Development Program, Lurie became the first hospital in the United States to adopt a trans-inclusive policy for its young patients. By Randy Myers. Doctors would ask Pagonis if they had questions. Eugene Robinson recovered from his double mastectomy on a hospital porch in Durham, North Carolina. “Since I was like 11 they would always just lift my shirt off, touch my chest and then pull my pants down and look at my vulva area,” Pagonis recalls. She saw his older intersex siblings suffer through their own operations and thought they were unnecessary. Required fields are marked *. Here’s how it feels when COVID-19 symptoms last for months, Read Since November eight is Intersex Day of Solidarity 2018, PinkNews identified that as an intersex behaviorist Anick identified to 3 intersex activists to develop intersex, "LGBTI + I is invisible , " Contents 1 What does intersex imply? “I think I felt really suicidal,” he said, referring to people constantly misgendering him. In July, “Pose” star Indya Moore excoriated the hospital for using their image to promote LGBTQ+ inclusion. Activists have been protesting intersex surgeries since 1996, when a group demonstrated outside the American Academy of Pediatrics’ convention in Boston. Since the 1960s, medical convention has been that intersex variations should be “corrected,” often through a combination of painful surgeries and hormone therapy starting from infancy or before a child can consent. Nov 30 Boomerang: Millennials Still Figuring it Out, South Side is an inside joke even outsiders will get. The display listing old wives’ tales is prepared. How the Cherokee Nation has curtailed the pandemic, Read Learn more about Friends of the NewsHour. But a Black family with three kids whose sex characteristics varied meant they were tormented endlessly. It was his third of four surgeries. Since that time, Lurie has been the target of a relentless campaign to end the surgeries, and protests outside the hospital have only grown. At 11, Pagonis underwent genital surgery, where they were asked in front of their mother and right before anesthesia if they wanted to have the size of their vagina expanded. The news comes after a three-year campaign against the hospital led by Wall and Pidgeon Pagonis, co-founders of the Intersex Justice Project. LISTEN: Supreme Court appears skeptical of Trump’s census plan, Read CHICAGO (AP) — She was born to a young Chicago couple, named Jennifer, and grew into a beautiful long-lashed child with wavy dark hair, big brown eyes and a yearning, This fantastic piece in The 19th features in depth, illuminating interviews with Intersex Justice Project founders Pidgeon Pagonis and Sean Saifa Wall. ELISA GOODKIND & LILY MANDELBAUM: Mother, Daughter . 6 Pidgeon Pagonis. He had spent two years under the care of a doctor that he says studied him, asking him questions about whether or not hormones made him less gay. “We’re still so under the purview of being medicalized that I think there’s a pressure that we almost have to tell these stories at this point in our movement in order to get people to listen.”. The more that Wall started to talk about himself, the more his family opened up about their own histories. Up until the time he was 13, Wall’s mom resisted doctors’ insistence that he have surgery to remove undescended testes, he says. It’s largely considered disrespectful for reporters to ask transgender people about their surgeries or genitalia. All films in the #FiveFilms4Freedom initiative are publicly available until March 31, 2019. She returned home with a son. The surgeries and exams started before Pagonis could remember, at 6 months old. Nov 24 Nov 30 Activist Pidgeon Pagonis was born intersex and underwent a clitorectomy at Lurie Children's Hospital as a child to bring their genitalia more in line with a typical "female" body. Pidgeon Pagonis “What they told me actually, when I was 11, right before the surgery, was that it was so that I could have sex with my husband when I was older, and that he wouldn’t see or notice anything was different about me,” Pagonis said. Years of intersex surgeries to make their body conform to the idea of the female sex had left them unable to feel most sexual sensation. © 1996 - 2020 NewsHour Productions LLC. Sarah Robinson, Eugene’s mother, brought a daughter to the hospital. Garofalo said the hospital has long been revising its polices on intersex care, but it had never apologized for the harm those surgeries had caused. Then, he came out as transgender. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/the-fight-to-end-intersex-surgeries-at-a-top-hospital-took-a-deep-toll-on-activists, “I would tell people here and there, but I didn’t talk about it publicly because I had so much shame.”. Please check your inbox to confirm. via Ted Eytan, MD, Ted Eytan. Nov 27 Pagonis also shares “sex either hurts really bad, and sometimes you bleed, or it feels like absolutely nothing.”. “A Normal Girl” is certainly an educational tool in and of itself, as intersex hasn’t been acknowledged or taught in many institutions. The YouTube-channel like filming seems to draw a link to young people who have not learned about intersex health at all. It was August 1956, and as a Black child in the Jim Crow South, Robinson wasn’t allowed to heal next to White patients. Looking back, she did remember Esther. Credit: M. Spencer Green/AP “Since I was like 11 they would always just lift my shirt off, touch my chest and then pull my pants down and look at … Although intersex surgeries were popularized in the 1960s, doctors had been doing them for years before, as Wall’s family history shows. We briefly follow Pagonis as they protest Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago with a group in Streeterville. That’s when Wall decided to start organizing for intersex rights. “And also, I was so unlucky that I had this ‘urethra problem.’”. Pagonis thought that because of the cancer, they would never be able to have a baby. Lie #2: Your Daughter’s Gonads Will Develop Cancer. “I didn’t know I had a vaginoplasty, and I didn’t know I was intersex,” Pagonis said. The film also introduces viewers to a 10-year old intersex person whose mom details how she rejected genital mutilation surgery when a doctor suggested it for her child. “I mean, the truth of the matter is that it has been uncomfortable for me at times,” conceded Garofalo, who does not oversee intersex care at the hospital. ALEJANDRO AMEIJEIRAS: Self-Acceptance Under Pressure. Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else. The Intersex Justice Project — Pagonis and Wall’s organization of intersex activists of color — led its first protests against Lurie in 2017 and again in 2018, when the Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome-Differences of Sex Development Support Group held its conference in Chicago. But on July 28, the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago became the first hospital in the United States to suspend the operations. Iranian official claims Israel killed nuclear scientist remotely, Read On July 28, the same day the hospital announced it was suspending the surgeries, the hospital apologized. Pictured above is Pidgeon Pagonis speaking during a protest outside the hospital in July 2018. JEANNE MARKS: Mother's Day Special. So his mom agreed to the surgery. “I really owe Ellie a debt of gratitude for really stepping forward and not being shy about her thoughts on the matter,” Garofalo said. Hospital Course: patient underwent a clitoral resection and recession without difficulty. “But there are areas where there are some overlaps.”. She created Last Cut Project in 2016, a multi-media documentary project about those big life decisions- last cuts- we make to bring us closer to truly … [19659003] Antimatter. In truth, Pagonis never had cancer. Nearly 65 years later, Sean Saifa Wall, 41, sifts through Robinson’s medical records, looking for answers about his uncle’s story that might shed light on his own. https://www.dailyherald.com/article/20150420/entlife/150429990 Pagonis, who was raised a girl but has male chromosomes, works as … Early in the process, the organizers of the 23rd annual United Nations Association Film Festival realized that this year's theme - "The Power of Empathy" - … You didn’t tell my parents the same lie. Wall says his family was already harassed as a Black family in the segregated South. I would tell people here and there, but I didn’t talk about it publicly because I had so much shame.”. February 7, 2016 / Pidgeon Pagonis. MIA SABEL. 8/28/1997—Jennifer is an 11-year-old. Lurie is ranked among the top pediatric hospitals in the nation, and intersex rights activists hope that other hospitals follow suit. “And to that extent, I’m really proud to be where I’m at.”. (Sarah-Ji, Intersex Justice Project) “Since I was like 11 they would always just lift my shirt off, touch my chest and then pull my pants down and look at my vulva area. Double your gift now with our Year-End Match, Nation’s first known ‘intersex’ birth certificate issued in New York City, Judge rules in favor of intersex veteran who was denied passport, COVID-19 has spurred America’s first female recession, Here’s how it feels when COVID-19 symptoms last for months, How the Cherokee Nation has curtailed the pandemic, Iranian official claims Israel killed nuclear scientist remotely, LISTEN: Supreme Court appears skeptical of Trump’s census plan, Arizona certifies Biden’s victory over Trump, Tigray leader urges Ethiopia’s prime minister to ‘stop the madness’, Minnesota gives final green light to disputed oil pipeline. Wall never had cancer. “The truth of the matter is they are very distinct and separate populations in many ways,” said Garofalo. Pidgeon Pagonis has slowly, oftentimes not so quietly risen to visibility as an activist on behalf of intersex people. Directed by Aubree Bernier-Clark for The British Council and BFI FLARE’s #FiveFilms4Freedom global LGBTQIA short-film initiative, the documentary has the potential to educate the masses in a way other institutions haven’t at all. Pagonis wanted to know why they were experiencing puberty differently than other kids. This circa 1990 photo provided by George Pagonis shows his child, Jennifer Pagonis, who now goes by the name "Pidgeon, " Read blogs of those affected by BRCA or HBOC. How are your grades?’”. No other major U.S. hospital has ever stated that they don’t perform intersex surgeries, so Lurie was far from the only institution performing such procedures. The tweet set off a firestorm of bad press for the hospital as an old petition against the surgeries at Lurie racked up 45,000 signatures. Pagonis attended college practically in the shadow of the hospital at DePaul University, watching doctors come and go as they studied for finals. THE 19TH/KATE SOSIN. “We empathize with intersex individuals who were harmed by the treatment that they received according to the historic standard of care and we apologize and are truly sorry,” the hospital stated in a letter signed by President and CEO Dr. Thomas Shanley. “Something that we say a lot is that we have not yet had our Laverne Cox moment,” said Lindahl. “She was like, ‘why do you want to wear men’s clothes, men’s underwear?’”, But Wall’s oldest aunt reminded his mom about his intersex uncle, now deceased. Pidgeon Pagonis, pictured at her Chicago home, was born Jennifer, but doctors later learned she was intersex. Lurie is ranked among the top pediatric hospitals in the nation, and intersex rights activists hope that other hospitals follow suit. Pagonis’ advice for parents with intersex infants? A letter discusses the various surgeries performed on children in the Robinson family. “So for me, my intersex story comes out of this legacy that’s rooted in the South, that’s rooted in North Carolina,” Wall said. LILY PARROTT & LAURA STAHNKE of MIGRATION COLLECTIVE. ... A mother holds her 8-year-old daughter… Discovering they are intersex was the beginning of Pagonis’ and Long’s relationship—and the beginning of Pagonis’ re-defining of themself. Admission date: 10/27/90 Discharge Date: 11/1/90 Attending Physician: Dr. B. The mini chalkboards urging guests to vote whether you’re having a boy or girl is up. It’s not right. ARTHUR GROSS-SCHAEFER. Spencer Green) Learn more . “I did not know I had a castration, and I did not know I had a clitorectomy at that point. “But I knew that if I took my own life, that no one would ever know what happened to me, and no one would ever know my side of the story.”. Subscribe to ‘Here's the Deal,’ our politics newsletter. Intersex is an umbrella term for people with variations in sex characteristics that don’t fit neatly in the binary of male or female. According to chicago.suntimes.com, Pidgeon Pagonis, who is a filmmaker, was born with androgen insensitivity syndrome. But for advocates like Wall, the campaign has also taken a deep toll. Pagonis' father remembers being told by three doctors at Children's Memorial that his daughter was born with "cancerous ovaries," which, in reality, were internal testes. “And then they’d ask me questions like, ‘How are you?

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