Your lecture is called ‘Do Intersex & Transgender Children Have Human Rights?’. I should hope the answer is ‘yes’?
‘We assume that everyone is the same in the eyes of the law; at least, that’s what’s written down in black and white. But in reality, things are more complicated.

‘In the past, it was clear that some members of the human race did not have the same rights as others. There were unequal societies, where slavery existed, for example. As modern human beings, we claim to have put that behind us, but in practice, some groups suffer far more human rights violations than others. And when such violations are incorporated into legislation, I start to doubt whether they can truly be considered human beings from a legal point of view.’

How are their rights violated?
‘One example is the pathologisation of trans and intersex persons’ physical condition. They are forced to undergo treatments such as sterilisation or removal of sexual characteristics before they’re considered fully human in the eyes of the law. The problem is that such a treatment is in and of itself a violation of their human rights, of their bodily integrity.

‘The same kind of pathologising is done to other minorities, such as deaf people, people with autism, and people with Down syndrome. There was even a time when people with Down syndrome were forced to have plastic surgery in order to hide their condition. This used to happen to gay people, and in many places, it still happens to transgender and intersex people.

‘Funnily enough, the arguments people use to deny transgender children hormone treatments or gender-affirming surgeries do not apply to intersex children, according to these same people. They claim that transgender children cannot make a considered choice; that they’re too young; and the techniques too new.

‘But at the same time, intersex children are being operated on at an increasingly younger age, without their consent. This shows that the arguments to ‘correct’ the intersex condition are extremely poorly thought out.’

Are there other legal obstacles besides surgeries?
‘A significant proportion of transgender and intersex people identify as non-binary, neither man nor woman, and would also like to be recognised as such. However, much legislation and a large part of our society is still based on a binary gender norm.

‘I think it’s best to stop sex registration at birth. This is problematic because not only the sexual characteristics but also the gender of the child are recorded. Why is that necessary?

‘There is extremely little legislation where sex actually makes a difference. The only example I can think of has to do with parenthood, because the law differentiates between the parent who gave birth to the child and the parent who did not.

‘Registration of gender is only relevant when you’re dealing with legislation concerning gender equality. And self-identification at an adult age is more than sufficient for that purpose. As a matter of fact, it’s impossible to establish gender at birth. According to pedagogues, you can’t identify a child’s gender until they’re about four years old and can talk.'

‘One could also wonder whether it’s not a violation of privacy to have sexual characteristics recorded on your passport. A few years back, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that it was a privacy violation to include religion on a passport. Apparently, that is considered a private matter, but your sexual characteristics are not. I’m curious to see if there will be a case brought before the Court in the next few years that will challenge that.’

Why is the legal system changing so slowly?
That’s the burden of tradition that we carry: we’ve differentiated between men and women for centuries. It was only very recently that Western society started looking at this differently. We’re working to adapt the legal foundations, but so many things in society are still gender-based. There is still a lot of work to be done. The law is nothing but the official social norm, and it’s slowly changing.

‘At the same time, we see that, on the one hand, politicians are amending laws to facilitate sex registrations, but on the other hand, they’re passing legislation to prevent transgender people from participating in top-level sport or to ban them from bathrooms. The UK is a good example of this.

‘In the end, it is the day-to-day things that matter most to transgender and intersex communities. Legislative changes are nice, but not enough. What people truly want is to be able to live their lives in peace.’

How did you become involved in this topic?
‘In 2009, when I was still a student, I read an article in Le Monde about surgeries on intersex children. Not long after, I asked a urologist whether these kinds of surgeries were still being performed. He said yes.

‘There weren’t any French lawyers working on this at the time, so I decided I had to become a sort of whistle-blower and that I wouldn’t stop until the problem was solved. After twelve years of dedication and research, I’m happy to report that I succeeded. As of two weeks ago, it’s illegal in France to perform surgery on intersex children in order to make them conform to one of two genders.

‘When I started this endeavour, I knew very little about gender issues. I didn’t even use the word ‘gender’ back then. Over time, I changed my way of thinking. I started working with transgender and intersex people and expanded my work to other groups who were facing problems, such as deaf people and women who had been victims of abuse.

‘I find it astonishing that something that was considered so marginal has opened so many doors for me. I’ve personally learnt a lot from it and the insights I have gained still help me to this day, also when it comes to parenting my children.’