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Speaker 1: Hey, this is Danny and Samantha and welcome to Stephano.

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Speaker 1: Never told your protection of I Heart Radio and welcome

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Speaker 1: to Well. So we typically called this women around the World,

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Speaker 1: And honestly, I've been thinking about this for a minute,

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Speaker 1: but we have come up on a hiccup. We need

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Speaker 1: to go beyond these restricting terms. We are definitely talking

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Speaker 1: about female identifying people, including trans film and of course, uh,

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Speaker 1: we're also talking about non binary and intersex people. So

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Speaker 1: we need to change this term. I think we need

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Speaker 1: to change our names because I love women around the

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Speaker 1: World as the like, Yes, we're talking about the marginalized

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Speaker 1: people around the world. Maybe that's what it is. I

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Speaker 1: don't know, activists sins, I don't know. Um, but as

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Speaker 1: catchy as that is, it's not inclusive and we want

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Speaker 1: to do better on that way. UM, So we need

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Speaker 1: to think of something better. And you're pretty good at

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Speaker 1: titles to be fair, we kind of struggled with this

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Speaker 1: one to begin with because that was a topic of

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Speaker 1: conversation of like, how do we do this and make

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Speaker 1: sure inclusive? Yeah, and I think that's been an issue

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Speaker 1: we've run into in several of our episodes. In our

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Speaker 1: kind of mini series and even in the name of

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Speaker 1: the show, so it is we're trying to get better.

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Speaker 1: I think a lot of us are trying to find

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Speaker 1: like the best terms to be inclusive. And it's ongoing, um,

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Speaker 1: and it's up for debate because people have different opinions.

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Speaker 1: But yes, it is important to us and it is

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Speaker 1: something that we would love to hear input on. Right

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Speaker 1: So if you have some suggestions or some ideas, catchy

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Speaker 1: phrases you you, I think we've been around this, the series,

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Speaker 1: mini series, the sub series, however you want to state,

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Speaker 1: it has been around long enough to understand for the

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Speaker 1: the regular listeners what this is about. So if you

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Speaker 1: have any ideas or suggestions, please let us know. We

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Speaker 1: love it, we need it. Our brains are fried. Our

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Speaker 1: brains are fried. We have all that going on right now,

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Speaker 1: but just generally U. But for today, we do want

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Speaker 1: to celebrate Hiker Cho, who is a Taiwanese activists that's

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Speaker 1: been advocating for the rights and the visibility of intersex

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Speaker 1: people in their community. If you go and look through

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Speaker 1: any of their biographies or any of their interviews, they

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Speaker 1: do say the s slash h E so to uh

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Speaker 1: include both sex and keeping out of the just the

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Speaker 1: binary levels. So we're going to just refer to them

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Speaker 1: as they because we want to be respectful. So please,

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Speaker 1: uh be respectful. I don't know why I did that.

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Speaker 1: Dar collapse, Samantha is true ours boot when I can

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Speaker 1: would talk about my brain is fried. Yeah, she has

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Speaker 1: a good reason for her brain be fried, all right.

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Speaker 1: Um So born with two reprotective organs in nineteen sixty six.

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Speaker 1: Um So didn't completely understand the biology of their bodies

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Speaker 1: and were taught to feel ashamed, and even said they

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Speaker 1: had written in their diary, I feel like a monster.

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Speaker 1: They spoke about how they were able to go back

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Speaker 1: and look at their medical files, which stated they had

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Speaker 1: their enlarge clearterists removed at the age of six without

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Speaker 1: understanding what was happening and how it would affect them.

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Speaker 1: They talked about how their parents were helpless and didn't

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Speaker 1: know what to do and felt shame as well. Yes,

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Speaker 1: they talk a lot about trying to discover who they were,

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Speaker 1: and when we talked about the fact that they didn't

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Speaker 1: know we're talking about they weren't able to give consent. Yeah. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: it wasn't until age forty two they started to figure

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Speaker 1: out their identity, they stated in an Amnesty International interview.

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Speaker 1: Inducted in after discovering the medical records, they quote googled

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Speaker 1: my condition and gradually learned that I was born a

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Speaker 1: healthy baby, except that I had two sets of reprojective organs.

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Speaker 1: And it was that same year that they watched X

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Speaker 1: x Y, the two thousand seven Argentinian film following a

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Speaker 1: fifteen year old intersex person that received critical acclaim and

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Speaker 1: explored the main character's discovery of their identity, even if

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Speaker 1: it didn't meet social norms. It was at this time

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Speaker 1: show learned the term intersex right, and according to the

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Speaker 1: American progress dot org site, the term intersex is quote

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Speaker 1: an umbrella term used to describe people born with sex

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Speaker 1: traits that do not fit binary medical definitions of male

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Speaker 1: or female, sexual or reproductive anatomy. Intersex populations are born

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Speaker 1: within these differences in sex traits or may develop them

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Speaker 1: during childhood. Human sex development is naturally diverse, with many

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Speaker 1: variations possible in genitalia, hormones, internal anatomy, and or chromosomes.

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Speaker 1: It is estimated that up to one point seven percent

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Speaker 1: the population has an intersex trait, and that approximately point

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Speaker 1: five percent of people have clinically identifiable sexual or reproductive variations,

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Speaker 1: and according to this organization, oftentimes intersex individuals are given

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Speaker 1: medical treatment without consent and are often unnecessary, which can

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Speaker 1: be considered a violation of human rights, as in fact

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Speaker 1: that HRC are staying this as a violation of human rights.

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Speaker 1: They stay quote mistreatment of intersex individuals begins early in life,

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Speaker 1: with intersex infants and children commonly subjected to non consensual

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Speaker 1: medical unnecessary interventions to alter natural variations in genital appearance

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Speaker 1: or reproductive anatomy with the aim of conforming their bodies

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Speaker 1: to binary sex stereotypes. These procedures on intersex infants and children,

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Speaker 1: such as clteral reductions and sterilizing gonaddictomies, are often justified

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Speaker 1: by discriminatory attitudes about healthy variations and sex characteristics, and

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Speaker 1: they continue on writing that these types of medical procedures

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Speaker 1: are typically harmful to the individuals. They say quote they

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Speaker 1: have high complication rates and lifelong consequences such as infertility,

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Speaker 1: reduced sexual function, and other physical and mental health impacts.

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Speaker 1: These outcomes contribute to with the high physical and mental

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Speaker 1: health disparities that intersex populations experience. In a study for

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Speaker 1: example of adult intersect respondents reported their physical health as

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Speaker 1: fair or poor and reported the same of their mental health,

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Speaker 1: and show talks about feeling these consequences growing up and

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Speaker 1: being confused about their bodies and how they fit into society.

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Speaker 1: It was after the discovery of their past they started

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Speaker 1: the organization Organization Intersex International or o I I Chinese

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Speaker 1: in two thousand and eight, and according to their statement,

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Speaker 1: o I I Chinese was quote established in two thousand

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Speaker 1: and eight to provide Chinese speaking inner sex people information

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Speaker 1: created by intersex people and to bring intersex people together

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Speaker 1: for peer support and quote provide support for Chinese speaking

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Speaker 1: intersex people through an online group, especially with the pandemic

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Speaker 1: and its impact on mental health. The organization advocates for

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Speaker 1: intersex individuals, seeking to bring awareness of intersex people and

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Speaker 1: educating others as well as intersex people who had not

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Speaker 1: been able to get the information or know that there

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Speaker 1: were organizations for the intersex community. They also advocate on

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Speaker 1: a governmental level, seeking to lobby for the rights of

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Speaker 1: the intersex community and pushing to quote and normalizing surgeries

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Speaker 1: on intersex children and to get governmental recognition of intersex

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Speaker 1: as gender. Show is passionate about educating people about intersex folks. Uh,

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Speaker 1: they said in the Amnesty International interview. Quote, there needs

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Speaker 1: to be more education for the general public, letting them

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Speaker 1: know that intersex people are common and not rare. They

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Speaker 1: shouldn't discriminate against us and see us as shameful. Why

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Speaker 1: should we and our parents have to bear the consequence

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Speaker 1: of society's prejudice and goes deeper about educating and supporting

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Speaker 1: parents of intersex people. Quote, it is really important to

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Speaker 1: support our parents. My parents have felt sad, guilty and

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Speaker 1: sorry towards me most of their lives. I had no

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Speaker 1: idea why my body is a painful matter for my parents.

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Speaker 1: My birth brought them so much pain. Now I know

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Speaker 1: intersex is a biologically natural variation. I hope parents understand

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Speaker 1: that intersex babies are natural, their intersex traits are not

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Speaker 1: a disease and don't need unnecessary treatment. Parents don't need

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Speaker 1: to feel sad about it, right, and they do talk

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Speaker 1: about the side that they are close with their parents

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Speaker 1: now and have a better bond. But it definitely took

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Speaker 1: a minute to get there. And cho has become a

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Speaker 1: speaker in public figure for the advocacy of the intersex

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Speaker 1: community with their first public event as an intersex person

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Speaker 1: at the two thousand tent Taiwanese Pride, where they started

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Speaker 1: the Free Hugs with Intersex UH and it was a

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Speaker 1: really cute shirt they were wearing UH. They stated of

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Speaker 1: their mission, I'm changing TI wants impression of intersex people

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Speaker 1: and encouraging everyone to question if it is appropriate to

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Speaker 1: operate on intersex babies without letting them have the choice.

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Speaker 1: It also helps as Taiwan's gender movement is now relatively

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Speaker 1: mature and the society has more tolerance towards gender diversity.

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Speaker 1: Love is all I'm trying to convey from my movement.

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Speaker 1: Intersex people are also people we love, we need to love,

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Speaker 1: and we desire to be loved. It's the meaning of

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Speaker 1: my Chinese name love grass on a hill. My parents

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Speaker 1: have been loving me wholeheartedly and have helped me achieve

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Speaker 1: what I have achieved today, and show has not stopped

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Speaker 1: in their advocacy. They co founded Intersex Asia, which is

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Speaker 1: a Pan Asian organization that works quote for slash with

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Speaker 1: intersex activists, organizations and communities in Asia. The network aims

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Speaker 1: to be a leading and sustainable intersex human rights advocacy

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Speaker 1: organization in Asia. The organization is based out of Taiwan,

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Speaker 1: but has spanned across the continent and in two thousand

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Speaker 1: eighteen established the first Asian Intersex Forum in Bangkok, Thailand,

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Speaker 1: and it included people from Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, menmar Nepal, Pakistan,

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Speaker 1: the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam and appointed Brashant Seeing,

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Speaker 1: an Indian human rights lawyer, as the organization's coordinator. So

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Speaker 1: pretty big step. Intersex Asia wants to provide advocacy through

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Speaker 1: getting representation in the community and government, promote the protection

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Speaker 1: of intersex people in Asia and protect their basic human

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Speaker 1: rights including bodily integrity, autonomy and consent and self determination.

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Speaker 1: The key issues the organization brings up quote discrimination, violence

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Speaker 1: and killings of intersex people by a number of cultural, religious,

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Speaker 1: traditional and medical beliefs and practices. Cho also became the

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Speaker 1: first intersex activists elected to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,

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Speaker 1: Trance and Intersex Association are the i l g A

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Speaker 1: Board as the co chair in treet fifteen and is

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Speaker 1: currently a part of the organization as a representative of

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Speaker 1: the Intersex Steering Committee for Asia and also is currently

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Speaker 1: a member of the Advisory Board for the Intersex Human

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Speaker 1: Rights Fund at Austraia Foundation, which is also involved with

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Speaker 1: the o I I Chinese and Intersex Asia organization. Show

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Speaker 1: has been celebrated since they're publicly sharing their story and

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Speaker 1: was awarded by Appcom, an Asian and Pacific nonprofit working

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Speaker 1: to improve the health and rights of the gay community,

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Speaker 1: with the Community Hero Award for their work improving the

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Speaker 1: quote lgbt I people in any capacity in specific countries

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Speaker 1: in Asia and the Pacific, or across the region more broadly.

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Speaker 1: While accepting the prestigious award, they said, we are determined

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Speaker 1: to build intersex communities in each Asian country and support

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Speaker 1: intersex people to speak for themselves to defend their human rights.

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Speaker 1: We believe one day we will have a community that

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Speaker 1: includes intersex people from every Asian country. For me, the

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Speaker 1: community always goes first without community, no community hero. This

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Speaker 1: honor definitely goes for intersex community. I believe this honor

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Speaker 1: will help me raise more intersex awareness in Asia and

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Speaker 1: incubate more community heroes in the future. You love to

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Speaker 1: see it building up. Oh, it's so lovely, that's so well,

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Speaker 1: But it's fantastic, as always, can't wait to see what

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Speaker 1: Chow continues to do. And also, as always, listeners, If

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Speaker 1: there's someone you think we should focus on in these segments,

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Speaker 1: please let us know our emails Stephanie, your mom, step

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Speaker 1: and I Hurt mea dot com. You can find us

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Speaker 1: on Twitter at most of podcast or on Instagram and

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Speaker 1: Stuff I Never Told You. Thanks as always to our

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Speaker 1: super producer Christina, Thank you yes, and thanks to you

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Speaker 1: for listening Stuff I Never Told the protection of I

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Speaker 1: hire adio for more. Podcast in my radio is Heardio

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Speaker 1: Apple podcast where we listen to your favorite shops