On Intersex Awareness Day, 26th October 2022, the Darlington Consortium of intersex-led and allied organisations, and community members working towards implementation of the Darlington Statement will announce the recipient of the third Darlington Australia/Aotearoa intersex ally award, “The Darling”.
The award is presented to an organisation, institution or individual that has demonstrated an exemplary commitment to action on intersex issues, beyond affirming the Darlington Statement. This Statement, created in five years ago in 2017, is a community consensus statement that sets out the demands of the intersex community in Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand. It calls for recognition of our right to bodily integrity, and outlines the systemic changes needed to ensure their enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health, wellbeing and other human rights.
Intersex allyship is multifaceted and can be displayed through:
- Learning about intersex people and issues from intersex community members
- Making services affirmative and meaningfully inclusive for intersex clients
- Elevating intersex voices
- Advocating for intersex issues and targeted funding within governments, NGOs, private and public sectors
- Meaningfully including intersex within their core work
- Creating or promoting affirmative, rights-based healthcare services that depathologise intersex
- Creating opportunities for intersex people and our peer-led groups
The nominees
Two nominees for the 2022 Darling were shortlisted after a public call for nomination. The nominations received are:
The Darling 2022 Nominee: Working It Out (Tas)
Working It Out (WIO) provides support and advocacy services for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) Tasmanians and education and training programs to schools, workplaces, government and non-government organisations. Beyond affirming the Darlington Statement, WIO have undergone YellowTick Intersex Ally training and address Darlington Statement priority areas in the following key areas:
- Learning about intersex people and issues from intersex community members
- Making their service affirmative and meaningfully inclusive for intersex clients
- Elevating intersex voices through the creation of intersex specific resources and the Better Lives project – educating Midwives about variations to sex characteristics and how to support these community members and their families
- Advocating for intersex issues within governments, NGOs, private and public sectors
- Meaningfully including intersex within the LGBTIQA+ sector
- Creating or promoting affirmative, rights-based healthcare services that depathologise intersex
Statement from the Nominee:
“Working It Out is excited to be a nominee for the “Darling” award again in 2022. Intersex awareness and education have become a central focus for our organisation through the establishment of the Better Lives project. We are very proud of the work our Better Lives project officer, and IPSA worker, is doing both within our service to build our capacity for intersex inclusion, as well as with the project’s target sectors. We’re looking forward to working further with and for intersex people as we move through the life of the Better Lives project, and beyond.”
The Darling 2022 Nominee: The Office of LGBTIQ+ Affairs (ACT)
The ACT Government Office for LGBTIQ Affairs (Office) coordinates and supports strategic government projects and policy to promote Canberra as the most LGBTIQ+ welcoming and inclusive city in Australia. It is located within the Policy and Cabinet Division of the Chief Minister Treasury and Economic Development Directorate. The Chief Minister and his Office have affirmed the importance of the Darlington Statement, and it is central to their commitment to action on intersex issues. Having being the first jurisdiction in the region to publish draft legislation that protects people with innate variations of sex characteristics in medical settings, the Chief Minister and his Office are moving ahead with reform.
Statement from the Nominee:
“The Office of LGBTIQ+ Affairs is honoured to have been nominated for The Darling 2022. We work to support government policy to promote Canberra as the most LGBTIQ+ welcoming and inclusive city in Australia. One of the flagship reforms to which the government committed is reforming how care and support is provided to people who have variations in sex characteristics. This project would not be possible without the ongoing advocacy, expertise, and wisdom of intersex people. We hope that our work will make a difference to intersex people in the ACT and around Australia, better ensuring respect for bodily autonomy and bodily diversity.”
The recipient of the Darling 2022 will be announced on Intersex Awareness Day, Wednesday 26 October 2022.