You may have wondered what the I in the LGBTIQ+ acronym stands for. The answer, Intersex, has become one of the words of the Olympic Games after the fight between boxer Imane Khelif and boxer Angela CariniThe Algerian, whose participation has been the subject of much controversy, punched her opponent twice in the nose, forcing him to withdraw before the first minute of the round was up.
Social media has been filled with hate messages exposing the athlete as a transsexual woman. However, despite having been excluded from the World Boxing Championship due to her high testosterone levels, she does not identify as transgender but as cisgender. What this means is that she was assigned the female sex at birth and identifies as such to this day, regardless of the fact that in the eyes of many she is considered an intersex person.
Amnesty International defines intersex people as a broad group whose sexual characteristics fall outside the typical binary norms of male or female. These characteristics may include primary sexual characteristicssuch as internal and external genitalia, reproductive systems, reproductive organs, hormonal levels, and sex chromosomes or secondary sexual characteristics that become apparent at puberty.
It has nothing to do with the gender self-conception that each person has of themselves, nor with the sexual orientation of the person. It is simply a biological condition, like being born with reproductive organs that are different from the usual ones. The Committee against Torture and the Committee on the Rights of the Child have called on countries not to operate on intersex children.
The XY chromosome
According to the National Human Genome Institute of the United States, a person’s sex is defined by the combination of the X and Y chromosomes. Men have one of each, while women have two X chromosomes. It is on these bases that organisms rely to evolve in one way or another.
However, in the case of intersex people, Chromosomes can mix in different ways, although their effects may not become noticeable until puberty. Therefore, explaining the concept is very difficult due to the different types of intersexuality that exist.
Types of intersexuality
At least four different types of intersexuality have been identified.
46 XX
The first is called 46 XX, in which the person has male ovaries and genitals. The labia majora and clitoris enlarge to form something resembling a penis, even though the rest of the reproductive system is female. Causes can range from congenital adrenal hyperplasia, maternal consumption of male hormones, presence of maternal male hormone tumors, or aromatase deficiency.
46 XY
The person’s genitals have not fully formed or are female, although there may be testicles internally that have not finished sprouting. The causes may derive from the fact that, due to inadequately formed testicles, insufficient production of male hormones, or problems with the formation or use of testosterone.
DDS Ovotesticular
The person has both ovarian and testicular tissue, which could translate into the presence of one ovary or one testicle. Chromosomes can be either XX or XY and externally the genitals can be varied.
Complex DDS
These are cases in which there is only one chromosome or in which There are even three (either XXX or XXY)). In this situation there are no differences between the external and internal genital organs, but There are clear alterations in the levels of sexual hormones produced.
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