InterAction: Contested Stipulations
Michael Barnett OAM
Contested Stipulations
On Wednesday, 3rd December at La Trobe University, Dr Morgan Carpenter was welcomed to present a lecture to students and staff. A large group gathered to learn or refresh their knowledge of issues concerning the health and wellbeing needs of people with innate variations of sex characteristics.
Morgan focused his lecture on the different ways people talk about intersex people and how to navigate them in a climate of often hostile debate about gender and sex. He explored the varied ideas people have and grouped them together in four models of contested stipulation, each with a significant impact on public and policy-maker understandings of sex as biological, and on understandings of innate variations of sex characteristics.
Morgan posed some ethical questions about what should happen to people who don't fit a particular model of sex determination and how we should manage a conflict between different models of sex determination. After some discussion, it was suggested that the decisions should be with people who are intersex.
Drawing on the Darlington Statement, Morgan spoke about it as a coherent data model where intersex is about sex characteristics, not sex. He highlighted that we need to respect birth registered/ assigned/ observed sex (unless an individual tells us otherwise), and respect diverse genders of people separate to having an innate variation of sex characteristics.
In conclusion, Morgan suggested a pathway forward where we acknowledge and accept diversity in language preferences, promote awareness and acceptance of code shifting and why people do it, promote awareness of impacts of different models and their impacts on people with innate variations of sex characteristics, promote coherent understandings using the ABS Model, perhaps challenge the universality of 2 normative sexes, rather than 2 sexes, and to focus on actual material circumstances, needs and demands.
The session was well attended and the audience were extremely engaged, asking questions and generating interesting discussion. Attendees reflected on their usage of language and their growing understanding and awareness. Congratulations to Dr Morgan Carpenter on a meaningful and informative lecture at La Trobe university.