Australia’s First Intersex Mayor
City councillor Tony Briffa has been elected Mayor of Hobsons Bay in the Australian state of Victoria. This marks the first time an intersex person has served such office in Australia, and possibly the world.
There are many conditions that fall under the category of “intersex”; Briffa specifically was born with Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS), wherein a person with an XY chromosome’s (male) cells response either incompletely or not at all to androgens (male hormones) in the womb, and so develop physically as slightly feminine or almost completely feminine in appearance.
As a child, doctors chose to assign Briffa as female and subjected him to repeated surgeries and hormone treatments to define him as such. The LGBTI Health Alliance in Australia hopes that his election will allow Briffa to spread awareness of non-consensual genital surgery and other issues affecting intersex individuals.
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