Who are the most famous intersex people? A list of the top 15 most outspoken
Intersex individuals are people with gonads, chromosomes, or reproductive organs that do not match the traditional female or male gender concepts. Some are identified as intersex from birth, but others only know when experiencing puberty. Discover below globally famous intersex people whose conditions didn't stop them from excelling.
Source: UGC
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- The 15 most famous intersex people
- 1. Mokgadi Caster Semenya - track and field athlete
- 2. Morgan Carpenter - bioethicist
- 3. River Gallo - actor
- 4. Sean Saifa Wall - researcher
- 5. Pidgeon Pagonis - writer
- 6. Hanne Gaby Odiele - model
- 7. Hida Viloria - author
- 8. Erik Schinegger - skier
- 9. Anne Fausto-Sterling - sexologist
- 10. Dutee Chand - track and field athlete
- 11. Caroline Cossey - Model
- 12. Annet Negesa - track and field athlete
- 13. Margaret Nyairera Wambui - track and field athlete
- 14. Kimberly Zieselman - attorney
- 15. Del LaGrace Volcano - photographer
- Are any famous people intersex?
- Who was the first intersex person?
- Is intersex an XXY?
- Which is the rarest form of intersex?
- How rare is true intersex?
- What is the most common intersex?
- Can you be intersex and not know it?
- Can intersex people reproduce?
- Has an intersex person ever had a baby?
- What is Androgen insensitivity syndrome?
Doctors and the family usually decide the gender of an intersex baby, either male or female, at birth. Therefore, it is also common for the baby's gonads or reproductive organs to undergo surgery, and the child can be given hormones to help them fit into either male or female gender as they enter puberty.
The 15 most famous intersex people
Intersex people often have similar experiences to LGBTQ+ people and face almost the same challenges. In most cases, they are discriminated against at school, work, or whenever society segregates people based on gender. Some of these intersex people identify as LGBTQ+, and despite the challenges, they continue to rise and prove they are important in society:
| Ranking | Intersex celebrity's name | Profession | Nationality |
| 1. | Caster Semenya | Athlete | South African |
| 2. | Morgan Carpenter | Bioethicist | Australian |
| 3. | River Gallo | Actor | American |
| 4. | Sean Saifa Wall | Researcher | American |
| 5. | Pidgeon Pagonis | Writer | American |
| 6. | Hanne Gaby Odiele | Model | Belgian |
| 7. | Hida Viloria | Author | American |
| 8. | Erik Schinegger | Skier | Austrian |
| 9. | Anne Fausto-Sterling | Sexologist | American |
| 10. | Dutee Chand | Athlete | Indian |
| 11. | Caroline Cossey | Model | British |
| 12. | Annet Negesa | Athlete | Ugandan |
| 13. | Margaret Wambui | Athlete | Kenyan |
| 14. | Kimberly Zieselman | Attorney | American |
| 15. | Del LaGrace Volcano | Photographer | American |
When interacting with an intersex person, understand that such people are still vulnerable to discrimination and stigmatization. So, the best thing to do is to show that you cherish them and help them accept themselves. Below are intersex celebrities who inspire society to embrace people like them:
1. Mokgadi Caster Semenya - track and field athlete
Source: UGC
- Full name: Mokgadi Caster Semenya
- Birthdate: 7 January 1991
- Age: 33 years (as of 2024)
- Birthplace: Ga-masehlong, South Africa
- Height: 1.78 m
- Parents: Dorcus Semenya, Jacob Semenya
- Spouse: Violet Raseboya (2015-present)
- Children: 2
- Career: Athlete
Caster Semenya is a South African middle-distance runner. She has won three World Championships and two Olympic gold medals in the 800m.
The athlete won her first gold medal at the 2009 World Championships. She won another gold at the 2016 Olympics and took bronze at the 2017 World Championships in the 1500-m race.
In her autobiography, The Race to Be Myself, Caster recalled taking a gender recognition test in 2009, the same year she won a first world title in Berlin at 18.
What is Caster Semenya's condition?
South African Olympic champion Caster Semenya is among the world's most famous intersex people in history. She has 5-Reductase 2 deficiency, XY chromosomes, and innately elevated testosterone levels.
In 2011, the IAAF categorized her as a woman with a medical condition called hyperandrogenism, where your body naturally produces more testosterone.
Is Caster Semenya in a relationship?
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Semenya and her long-term partner, Violet Raseboya, married traditionally in 2015 and civilly in 2017. The couple has two daughters, born in 2019 and 2022.
Caster told BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour that she will not allow her children to pursue athletics. She said:
No way. They will not do athletics. I need to take them away from this nonsense of women being treated like they are animals.
2. Morgan Carpenter - bioethicist
Source: UGC
- Full name: Morgan Carpenter
- Birth year: 1966
- Age: 58 years (as of 2024)
- Birthplace: Australia
- Career: Bioethicist, intersex activist, and researcher
Morgan Carpenter designed the intersex flag in 2013. The same year, he co-founded Intersex Human Rights Australia and became its president. He is now the foundation's co-executive director.
Carpenter drafted the foundation's submissions to Senate as part of the processes that led to the acceptance of 'intersex status' ascribed in Australia's anti-discrimination law on 1 August 2013.
Intersex activist Morgan Carpenter was an adult when he was diagnosed with intersex traits, including indeterminate sex and surgical history.
3. River Gallo - actor
Source: UGC
- Full name: River Gallo
- Birth year: 1992
- Age: 32 years (as of 2024)
- Birthplace: New Jersey, USA
- Career: Actor, filmmaker, model, writer, and intersex human rights advocate
River Gallo is a Salvadoran-American actor, filmmaker, model, and intersex human rights advocate. When they were twelve, the actor discovered they had been born without testicles.
The doctor did not inform them that they were intersex. Their parents disclosed they were born with a condition called Anochria, where testicles are absent at birth. Without Gallo’s consent, they underwent cosmetic surgery and testosterone treatment to present as a cisgender man.
The filmmaker is one of the most famous intersex actors in history. River Gallo directed, wrote, and performed in the 2019 short film Ponyboi. It was the first film to showcase an intersex person playing an intersex person. Gallo played the titular Ponyboi, an intersex sex worker hustling to survive in New Jersey.
4. Sean Saifa Wall - researcher
Source: UGC
- Full name: Sean Saifa Wall
- Birthyear: 1979
- Age: 45 years (as of 2024)
- Birthplace: Bronx, USA
- Career: Researcher, speaker, and intersex rights activist
Sean is an LGBT transgender and intersex man of color and the former president of Interact Advocates for Intersex Youth.
He is also a former advisor to the Astraea Intersex Fund for Human Rights and the former Board President of interACT: Advocates for Intersex Youth.
The activist describes himself as an unapologetic Black voice in the intersex community. Sean Saifa underwent gonadectomy at 13 after being diagnosed with partial androgen insensitivity syndrome.
He made history by confronting the surgeon on ABC News Nightline who performed his gonadectomy, requiring lifelong hormone substitution therapy.
5. Pidgeon Pagonis - writer
Source: UGC
- Full name: Pidgeon Pagonis
- Birth year: 1986
- Age: 38 years (as of 2024)
- Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Career: Writer, artist, filmmaker, speaker, consultant, and intersex activist
Pidgeon fights for intersex civil rights and opposes oppressive intersex therapies and irreversible medical interventions.
The writer was diagnosed with androgen insensitivity syndrome as a kid. They were not informed of their intersex status and were assigned female at birth.
In addition, Pidgeon Pagonis were told they had ovarian cancer when they had internal testes and no ovaries, hence being exposed to surgeries that modified their gonads.
The author published a book, Nobody Needs to Know: A Memoir. As the co-founder of the Intersex Justice Project (IJP), Pidgeon co-produces viral informational videos and creates art that centers intersex voices.
6. Hanne Gaby Odiele - model
Source: UGC
- Full name: Hanne Gaby Odiele
- Birthdate: 8 October 1988
- Age: 35 years (as of August 2024)
- Birthplace: Kortrijk, Belgium
- Height: 1.78 m
- Spouse: John Swiatek (2016-present)
- Career: Model
Hanne Gaby is among the most famous intersex female celebrities on the global fashion stage. She came to learn about her intersex variability weeks before starting her modeling profession.
She, therefore, made her intersex status public in 2017 and also joined interACT to champion intersex human rights. Odiele also called for an end to the "traumatizing surgeries" that are still forced on intersex children to change their gender.
Gaby was born intersex with an androgen insensitivity syndrome. It means she is genetically male (has XY chromosomes) with neither a uterus nor ovaries but has internal testes.
Since her body was resistant to male hormones, she appeared like any other baby girl, and her parents thought they had a daughter. Hanne Gaby explained how doctors tried to change her gender as a child. Without her parent's consent, she was subjected to medical processes that made her female.
7. Hida Viloria - author
Source: UGC
- Full name: Hida Viloria
- Birthdate: 29 May 1968
- Age: 56 years (as of 2024)
- Birthplace: Jamaica, Queens, New York, USA
- Career: Writer, author, producer, and human rights activist
Hida Viloria is a writer, author, producer, and human rights activist of Latino descent. They identify as intersex and gender fluid and use the pronouns they/them.
Viloria was born with adrenogenital syndrome and a significantly enlarged chloris. Their father, a physician, and mother, an ex-school teacher, registered and raised them as female without subjecting them to corrective surgeries.
Their father felt the surgery was medically unnecessary and presented unjustifiable health risks. As an adult, Hida Viloria became one the first non-binary celebrities to emerge in national and international media.
The author also founded the Intersex Campaign for Equality and has published books such as Born Both: An Intersex Life.
8. Erik Schinegger - skier
Source: UGC
- Full name: Erik Schinegger
- Birthdate: 19 June 1948
- Age: 76 years (as of 2024)
- Birthplace: Carinthia, Austria
- Spouse: Christa Schinegger
- Children: 1
- Career: Skier
Erik Schinegger is an intersex skier from Austria. In 1966, he won the women's downhill ski world championship and was recognized as Erika Schinegger.
Later, a medical examination before the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble disclosed that Schinegger was genetically male.
Schinegger's gender was misidentified for years due to internal growing gonads, a condition known as pseudohermaphroditism. So, he underwent surgery and transformed his first name from Erika to Erik.
Although the intersex skiing champion once competed as a woman before discovering he was a man, he believes transgender women should not compete in female events.
9. Anne Fausto-Sterling - sexologist
Source: UGC
- Full name: Anne Fausto-Sterling
- Birthdate: 30 July 1944
- Age: 80 years (as of 2024)
- Birthplace: Queens, New York, USA
- Parents: Dorothy Sterling
- Spouse: Paula Vogel (2004-present)
- Career: Sexologist
Anne Fausto-Sterling is a sexologist from the USA who has written extensively on the social construction of gender identity, sexual identity, and intersexuality. She was a Brown University Professor of Biology and Gender Studies.
In addition, Fausto-Sterling has served on the advisory board of the feminist academic journal Signs and the editorial board of the journal Perspectives in Biology and Medicine. She retired from Brown University in 2014 after 44 years on the faculty.
10. Dutee Chand - track and field athlete
Source: UGC
- Full name: Dutee Chand
- Birthdate: 3 February 1996
- Age: 28 years (as of 2024)
- Birthplace: Gopalpur, India
- Height: 1.5 m
- Career: Sprinter
Dutee Chand is an openly gay Indian sprinter and the women's 100m national champion. She was the first Indian woman to win a gold medal in a global 100 m race, making her one of the most famous intersex people in history.
The athlete is also the third Indian woman to qualify for the Women's 100 m event at the Summer Olympics. The IAAF had previously barred Dutee Chand from competing as a female athlete due to hyperandrogenism regulations.
After taking hormones to reduce her testosterone levels, she qualified and participated in the Women's 100 m event at the 2016 Rio Olympics, 36 years after Thekkeparambil Usha (a now-retired track and field athlete) competed in the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
Is Dutee Chand in a relationship?
In 2023, Dutee had plans to marry Monalisa, her partner of five years, if the Supreme Court had legalized same-sex marriages in India. She is the first Indian athlete to openly acknowledge being in a same-sex relationship.
11. Caroline Cossey - Model
Source: UGC
- Full name: Caroline Cossey
- Birthdate: 31 August 1954
- Age: 70 years (as of 2024)
- Birthplace: Brooke, UK
- Parents: Doreen Cossey
- Spouse: David Finch (1992-present), Elias Fattal (1989-1989)
- Height: 1.83 m
- Career: Model and actress
Cossey is a British model and actress. After appearing as an extra in the 1981 James Bond film For Your Eyes Only, the British tabloid News of the World outed her as transgender. She responded with her first autobiography, I Am a Woman.
Regardless of what the media wrote about her, Caroline Cossey still managed to become the first trans-woman to pose for Playboy in 1991 and has since then fought for her right to marry and be recognized as a woman legally.
Through puberty, Cossey was distinctly feminine in appearance due to an intersex variation of XXXY syndrome. Her autobiography, My Story, narrates a tough childhood, fighting confusing feelings and bullying due to her femininity.
Cossey started transitioning while working as an usherette in London. By 17, she was on hormone therapy and had mammary gland augmentation surgery while working as a showgirl in Paris and as a dancer in Rome.
She saved money for her sex reassignment surgery in 1974 at Charing Cross Hospital, London. Her biggest heartache was not having children with her second husband, David Finch.
12. Annet Negesa - track and field athlete
Source: UGC
- Full name: Annet Negesa
- Birthdate: 24 April 1992
- Age: 32 years (as of 2024)
- Birthplace: Uganda
- Height: 1.72 m
- Career: Middle-distance runner
Annet Negesa is a Ugandan former middle-distance runner specializing in the 800 m. As a teenager, she broke Ugandan national records in the 800 m and the 1500 m. She was also a three-time national champion.
Negesa has an XY disorder of sex development and a natural testosterone level in the male range. In June 2012, she had just finished training for the London Olympics in Kampala, Uganda, when she received a call from a doctor from the IAAF.
What surgery did Annet Negesa have?
The Ugandan 800-m Olympic was advised to undergo irreversible surgery because of naturally elevated testosterone levels. So, Negesa woke up from surgery to learn her internal testes had been removed. She was left with severe medical side effects that derailed her career.
Before this, Annet Negesa had represented her country in other major events like the 2011 World Championships in Athletics and was the 800 m gold medalist at the 2011 All-Africa Games.
13. Margaret Nyairera Wambui - track and field athlete
Source: UGC
- Full name: Margaret Nyairera Wambui
- Birthdate: 15 September 1995
- Age: 28 years (as of August 2024)
- Birthplace: Kenya
- Height: 1.85 m
- Parents: Anne Wambui
- Career: Middle-distance runner
Margaret Wambui is a Kenyan middle-distance runner who specializes in 800 m races. She won gold at the 2014 World Junior Championships, her first international competition, and later competed at the 2015 World Championships without advancing from her heat.
In 2019, her qualification for the IAAF women's competition was affected when it was revealed that she was born with the 46, XY karyotype and an intersex condition.
The Kenyan runner feared testosterone IAAF rules on intersex athletes would end her career. The organization's new rules required women with high levels of testosterone to seek medical attention to suppress it.
So, Margaret Wambui wasn't sure she would compete internationally again. Switching to another distance, like 5,000 m, was impossible since different skills and training were needed, and it would take years to reach the elite level.
Is Margaret Nyairera Wambui gay?
The athlete was rumored to be gay about six years ago. Unconfirmed reports claimed she snatched a Nairobi businessman's girlfriend.
14. Kimberly Zieselman - attorney
Source: UGC
- Full name: Kimberly Zieselman
- Birthplace: USA
- Career: Attorney, activist, and author
Kimberly Zieselman is an intersex woman with androgen insensitivity syndrome. She is an attorney, intersex human rights advocate, media consultant, author of XOXY, and the executive producer of the Common As Red Hair film.
The attorney also serves as executive director of interACT and a signatory of the Yogyakarta Principles plus 10. Kimberly Zieselman was referred to a reproductive oncologist at Massachusetts General Hospital at age 15 when she did not have her periods.
After being told her ovaries and uterus needed to be removed to eliminate a risk of cancer, she had surgery at age 16, requiring a subsequent dependence on hormone replacement therapy.
Neither Kimberly nor her parents were told the truth about her diagnosis, androgen insensitivity syndrome, internal testes, and XY sex chromosomes.
The attorney discovered her medical records at age 41, including a statement that she and her parents had consented to the surgery. The news was disorientating, challenging her identity and that of her husband.
15. Del LaGrace Volcano - photographer
Source: UGC
- Full name: Del LaGrace Volcano
- Birthdate: 26 July 1957
- Age: 67 years (as of 2024)
- Birthplace: California, USA
- Spouse: Johnny Volcano
- Children: 2
- Career: Photographer and activist
Del LaGrace Volcano (formerly named Della Grace) is an openly gay American photographer, performer, and activist from California. His photography art demonstrates how intersex bodies can offer an entirely new perspective on the body.
Volcano was born intersex and raised as female. They developed male and female characteristics in adolescence and continued to live the first 37 years of their life as women. After their 37th birthday, Del LaGrace Volcano has lived as male and female.
Is Del LaGrace Volcano married?
After marrying a gay man, Johnny Volcano, the artist took on their current name. Nonetheless, the photographer still kept the Volcano surname and passed it on to their two children. Del has partnered with the children's mother, Matilda Wurm, since 2006.
Are any famous people intersex?
Some of the 15 most famous intersex people are:
- Caster Semenya - South African athlete
- Morgan Carpenter - Australian bioethicist
- River Gallo - American actor
- Sean Saifa Wall - American researcher
- Pidgeon Pagonis - American writer
- Hanne Gaby Odiele - Belgian model
- Hida Viloria - American author
- Erik Schinegger - Austrian skier
- Anne Fausto-Sterling - American sexologist
- Dutee Chand - Indian athlete
- Caroline Cossey - British model
- Annet Negesa - Ugandan athlete
- Margaret Wambui - Kenyan athlete
- Kimberly Zieselman - American attorney
- Del LaGrace Volcano - American photographer
Who was the first intersex person?
The first recorded intersex case was credited to the seventh-century Rashidun caliph 'Ali, who tried to resolve an inheritance dispute between five brothers, one of whom had both male and female genitalia.
Is intersex an XXY?
Intersex people have chromosome combinations that are different from the normal XY. XXY is one of the intersex chromosome combinations.
Which is the rarest form of intersex?
The extraordinary type of intersex is commonly detected during the neonatal period while examining ambiguous reproductive organs.
How rare is true intersex?
About 1.7% of people are intersex, meaning 1 in 2,000 babies (0.05% of humans) are born intersex.
What is the most common intersex?
AIS is the most prevalent trigger of 46, XY intersex. It's also referred to as testicular feminization. The hormones are all natural here, but the receptors for male hormones are dysfunctional.
Can you be intersex and not know it?
Read also
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If a person's reproductive organs vary from what doctors and nurses anticipate when they are born, they may be considered intersex. Other times, someone may not realize they are intersex until afterward in life, such as during puberty.
Can intersex people reproduce?
An intersex person may or may not be able to reproduce. Some intersex people's external reproductive organs fall into the typical male/female categories, but the internal organs/hormones don't. So, one may or may not get pregnant for an intersex person. On the other hand, an intersex person can get pregnant or not be able to carry a pregnancy.
Has an intersex person ever had a baby?
Many people who are intersex can get pregnant. An intersex person with fully functional female reproductive organs, chromosomes, and/or hormones can get pregnant.
What is Androgen insensitivity syndrome?
AIS occurs when someone is genetically male but is insensitive to androgens (male sex hormones). If you wish to get the famous androgen insensitivity syndrome pictures, check online for images demonstrating this genetic condition.
Famous intersex people have taken a courageous stance and made significant contributions in fighting for intersex civil rights. They also strongly oppose oppressive forced corrective surgeries and intersex therapies.
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