Creating Intersex Justice
David A. Rubin, Michelle Wolff, Amanda Lock Swarr
Abstract
On April 22, 2021, the editors of this special issue interviewed activists Sean Saifa Wall and Pidgeon Pagonis. Sean Saifa Wall is a Black intersex and transgender activist known as the cofounder of Intersex Justice Project. Over the past decade, Pidgeon Pagonis rose to visibility as an activist on behalf of intersex people. They created viral content, two films, cocreated the Intersex Justice Project, and currently are wrapping up a memoir. Today, they're embarking on the journey of a lifetime: figuring out their life's purpose(s) post intersex activism. Wall and Pagonis cofounded the Intersex Justice Project (IJP) with Lynnell Stephani Long in 2016. In addition to centering Black and Brown liberation, IJP collaborates with activists in the Global South and uses direct action to end nonconsensual surgeries performed on minors. Among IJP's accomplishments, perhaps the most notable is their historic #EndIntersexSurgery campaign. In July 2020, they succeeded in getting Lurie Children's Hospital to become the first in the United States to apologize for and pledge to end nonconsensual intersex surgeries. The Google/Stink Films documentary Stonewall Forever documents the campaign. We are pleased to share Wall and Pagonis's commentary on the past, present, and future of intersex activism.