Episode 38: Intersex Insights: John Schindler Confronts the 4 S's of Intergender Living

Intersex, Identity & the “Four S’s”: John Schindler on Surgery, Secrecy, Shame, and Silence In this episode of Demystifying the Transgender Journey, Lynn Murphy and Wendy Cole interview intersex advocate John Schindler, who explains what intersex means, how variations can involve hormones, chromosomes, and gonads/genitals, and why non-consensual infant surgeries remain a civil rights issue. John shares their personal medical history, including early surgeries, a missing or atrophied pituitary, participation in an NIH human growth hormone program, and delayed puberty until testosterone treatment at 20, which shifted their identity from asexual to gay. John discusses frequent misgendering, coming to identify as intergender and non-binary, and the “four S’s” of the intersex experience: Surgery, Secrecy, Shame, and Silence. John also describes how speaking publicly supports families and students, references research on intersex biology and cancer resistance, and highlights resources including Intersex Friends and Families and Organization Intersex International. For More Information about John Schindler and organizations mentioned in this episode: Email John: [email protected] https://www.facebook.com/groups/747602648624184/ https://oiiusa.org/ https://genderequalityny.org/ https://www.seaofvisibility.com/ For more information about this project: https://www.thetransgenderjourney.com  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/demystifying-the-transgender-journey/id1799458202  https://www.facebook.com/thetransgenderjourney  https://womenwhopushthelimits.com    To contact Wendy: https://www.MeetWendyCole.com   https://www.facebook.com/wendycolegtm  https://www.youtube.com/@wendycole8326  https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-cole-gtm