The Tamil Nadu government disclosed 40 recorded births of intersex infants across the 38 districts in the state. This data resulted from efforts by diverse intersex persons in the State led by “Mx Vino Dhan”, a Dalit and disabled intersex activist from Coimbatore.
Published Jan 17, 2025 | 7:00 AM ⚊ Updated Jan 17, 2025 | 11:55 AM
Intersex births in Tamil Nadu. Representational Image. (iStock.)
On 5 January, the Tamil daily Dina Thanthi reported that the Tamil Nadu government released a record of intersex children born in the state in 2024.
The data, disclosed for the first time, declared 40 recorded births of intersex infants across the 38 districts of Tamil Nadu. This data resulted from efforts by diverse intersex persons in the State led by “Mx Vino Dhan”, a Dalit and disabled intersex activist from Coimbatore.
Vinodhan is the founder of VoIS India (Variations of Intersex Support), a Coimbatore-based collective of intersex persons working at the intersections of caste, disability, intersex, trans and queer rights.
Vinodhan has congenital Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP – causing vision degeneration) and Androgen Insensitivity and is an Intersectional human rights activist. He mentioned that intersex variations are natural and can be hormonal, karyotypic and genital (atypical genitalia).
VoIS India.
Vinodhan stated, “The Tamil Nadu intersex births data was obtained as part of a VoIS India Initiative. I will now attempt to access the original government notification from the relevant government department. First, the government must issue a circular to ensure that this data is released annually.”
“Further, according to the second demand in my pertinent letter to the state government of Tamil Nadu, sensitisation regarding intersex and trans rights is crucial in state government hospitals,” Vinodhan said.
This, however, is impossible without support and directions from the government. The government hospital administrations, according to Vinodhan, have so far rejected VoIS’ attempts to sensitise healthcare professionals about intersex persons.
Vinodhan added, “The Tamil Nadu government hospitals’ administration and doctors say that they already know everything about intersex and trans persons”.
After Vinodhan joined the drafting committee for the proposed Tamil Nadu State LGBTQIA+ Policy in July 2023, as an intersex community representative, he submitted a letter to the Department of Health and Family Welfare (DoHFW), Government of Tamil Nadu, demanding that state government hospitals be directed to:
In 2023 and 2024, Vinodhan followed up with the Tamil Nadu DoHFW about the status of the above demands, every time he visited Chennai.
Even though he has not yet received formal communication from the DoHFW, the Tamil Nadu government released the intersex births data on 3 January, according to the news report.
Highlighting the historical importance of this data in his social media post sharing this news, Vinodhan requested intersex community members across India to seek such data from their respective states too.
Intersex births in Tamil Nadu. (Supplied/VoIS India)
Although the data records births of intersex infants, the wrong Tamil term “Moondram Paalinam” (roughly translated as “third gender”) is used to categorise intersex while publishing.
Trans and intersex activists in Tamil Nadu have repeatedly and publicly asserted that “Moondram Paalinam” is a derogatory term and that it should not be used to refer to either trans or intersex persons.
The Tamil Nadu government’s Department of Social Welfare and Women Empowerment published an English and Tamil glossary to address the LGBTQIA+ community, through their gazette notification dated 20 August 2022. Further, the Tamil queer magazine Paalputhu Pakkangkal has published a detailed Tamil glossary to refer to the LGBTQIA+ community.
In fact, many of us LGBTQIAP+ persons have been saying for long that using “third gender“ is regressive and unacceptable. Our gender and sex are not in competition and enumeration and we reject such disrespectful and dehumanising terms.
Nevertheless, many government bodies and media persons across India, continue to use incorrect and unsuitable terms for us LGBTQIAP+ persons and our community.
Fred Rogers, a trans and queer affirmative counsellor by profession and a transgender rights activist working for the inclusion of assigned female at birth transgender and gender diverse communities opined, “We should write to the Tamil Nadu government to use terms from the LGBTQIA+ glossary that the state published. Let us request the print media to use the LGBTQIAP+ community’s framed glossary”.
Apparently, some doctors in India were performing gender “assignment” surgeries on intersex children, with the consent of their parents, before the Madras High Court Order (April 2019) and corresponding Tamil Nadu Government Order (August 2019) banning such surgeries were issued.
“Although these orders apply only to Tamil Nadu, I believe that gender assignment surgeries on intersex children have reduced overall”, observed Dr Meghana Bagalkotkar, a Puducherry-based plastic surgeon who has operated on intersex adults with Androgen Insensitivity, as necessary.
Having attended to intersex persons in India, she remarked, ”The medical literature in India was hardly intersex affirmative when I studied there. It had a disease and disorder approach. But considering the social aspects of medicine is vital”.
This summarises the urgent need and steps to end the pathologisation of intersex persons.
(This article uses content (with prior, explicit and documented consent) from the website Transgender Despatch Online (TDO) written and published by Mugil Anbu Vasantha. Ritash is a neuroqueer gender fluid Ace, LGBTQIAP+ peer counsellor and supporting co-founder, Intersex Human Rights India (IHRI – Instagram: @intersexhumanrightsindia), a pan-India network of intersex persons, providing affirmation, emotional support, legal and healthcare referrals to intersex persons and their families/caregivers. Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
