Showing posts with label gender. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gender. Show all posts

Monday 23 January 2017

Model Hanne Gaby Odiele reveals she is intersex

Hanne Gaby Odiele is a fearless fashion star known for putting herself out there in a bold and striking take on street style.

Now, the veteran of the runway and city sidewalks is revealing a more intimate piece of herself: Odiele is intersex.

“It is very important to me in my life right now to break the taboo,” says the 29-year-old supermodel from Kortrijk, Belgium, in an exclusive interview with USA TODAY.

“At this point, in this day and age, it should be perfectly all right to talk about this,” says Odiele, one of the first high-profile people to disclose her intersex status and share her story.

Intersex individuals are born with sex characteristics such as genitals or chromosomes that do not fit the typical definitions of male or female. Up to 1.7% of the population is born with intersex traits, according to the United Nations — a figure roughly equivalent to the number of redheads.

Beyond giving a voice to people who are often in the shadows, Odiele is making this disclosure to spotlight medical procedures intersex children undergo without their consent in a misguided effort to make a child appear more typically male or female. “I am proud to be intersex,” she says, “but very angry that these surgeries are still happening.”

Source:-usatoday