Intersex councillor claims hospital is performing 'traumatising involuntary procedures on intersex children' which force them to be male or female
- Intersex councillor says hospitals perform traumatising involuntary surgeries
- Melbourne councillor Tony Briffa says Royal Children's Hospital is one of them
- Cr Briffa says they force children to adhere to 'heteronormative stereotypes'
- The councillor is calling for the hospital to not participate in the pride march
An intersex councillor has claimed hospitals are performing traumatising involuntary procedures on intersex children to force them to be male or female.
Hobsons Bay councillor Tony Briffa is furious the Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) will be walking in Melbourne's Pride March despite performing the surgeries.
Intersex people are born with multiple variations in sex characteristics, including chromosomes, gonads, sex hormones or genitals that don't fit binary definitions of male and female bodies.
Cr Briffa said the RCH has recognised transgender and gender diverse people but fails to give the same recognition to intersex people
The former mayor is calling for the hospital to pull out of the march (pictured) as it engages in 'conversion therapies against intersex children'
The procedures are routinely conducted around Australia without personal informed consent and are usually irreversible.
There are up to 40 different types of intersex variations and 1.7 per cent of Australia's population are born with one or more, the Star Observer reported.
Cr Briffa said the interventions aren't medically necessary and surgeons never get consent from the children involved.
'Current interventions by the RCH include surgically reducing the size of clitorises in baby girls who have clitorises deemed too big by doctors, forced testosterone injections given to baby boys with certain intersex variations, and the surgical removal of healthy gonads in some intersex children to remove any possible intersex trait,' Cr Briffa said.
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While some intersex traits are visible when a child is born, sometimes they aren't clear until puberty.
The surgery can cause permanent infertility, pain, loss of sexual sensation and can cause psychological trauma.
Cr Briffa said the RCH has recognised transgender and gender diverse people but fails to give the same recognition to intersex people.
'The same hospital and many of the same doctors that [perform medical interventions] on intersex children also treat trans and gender diverse children, but their bodily integrity and right to self determination are recognised,' the councillor said.
Intersex councillor Tony Briffa claims hospitals are performing traumatising involuntary procedures on intersex children to force them to adhere to 'heteronormative stereotypes'
Cr Briffa said all transgender operations are always conducted with the consent of the child involved.
'This is in complete contrast to intersex children… so why is the RCH marching in Pride March?' Cr Briffa asked.
The former mayor is calling for the hospital to pull out of the march as it engages in 'conversion therapies against intersex children'.
RCH told Daily Mail Australia they preferred not to comment on Cr Briffa's claims.
Cr Briffa was born intersex but raised as a female, undergoing multiple surgeries over his lifetime.
His gonads were removed when he was seven-years-old, after his mother's request for his castration was approved.
Cr Briffa, who prefers to be referred to as neither male nor female, now advocates for children not to have the surgery at such a young age.
When he was 30-years-old, he went onto testosterone tablets and had his birth certificate changed from male to female. He also changed his name from Antoinette to Anthony.
Cr Briffa then went on to become the 'world's first intersex mayor' actively campaigning for human rights.
Hobsons Bay councillor Tony Briffa is furious the Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) will be walking in Melbourne's Pride March (pictured) despite performing the invasive surgery
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