Peaceful Resistance

The recent revolution in Tunisia and the ongoing struggles in Egypt and Yemen are all examples of human individuals coming together to fight for the one thing they desire the most: the freedom to live the way they want. It's pretty much a given that any suppressed individual will one day fight back against his or her oppressors once given the chance. In the case of a country-wide oppression this is more than one individual can take on, and hence it takes a trigger to create a group-effort. Once this force has taken on sufficient momentum, there is no stopping it, as Egypt proves. Even after multiple concessions by the pretty much defunct Egyptian government and in particular Mubarak - concessions unthinkable just a few weeks ago - there doesn't seem to be any way to put an end to the momentum until the goal of a free Egypt has been reached.

Similar things have happened over and over during the course of this world's history. From Gandhi fighting with peaceful demonstrations against the British occupation of India, to Rosa Parks fighting against the oppression of people with coloured skin in the USA by refusing to yield to it. Similarly the resistance against the oppression of women, homosexuals and so on in various countries around the world. All started with a few individual voices of dissent, which eventually were taken over by others until the unstoppable force was created which eventually demolished the oppression.

History is an interesting source. It provides many lessons and insights, and shows many parallels with current events. One such parallel is that of certain groups in society fighting for recognition and fair treatment with homosexuals, women and people with coloured skin in the past, and intersexuals now. There are a few dissenting voices around the world, including mine, but it isn't enough yet to create the unstoppable force required to effect the required changes.

Much like Gandhi, who got taken and help prisoners by the British many times, and Rosa Parks who both didn't stand a chance against the system they were protesting against, I am in a situation where my protesting has gone unheard for over six years now, and my lonely voice won't do anyone any good.

By going to the media I created some tiny ripples in the Netherlands and Germany at least, but these quickly faded and aren't enough by themselves to effect any changes. By lobbying Dutch politics there may be some changes in the long-term, but there'll be no revolution there.

What changed matters with all previous social and national revolutions was the moment when the dissenting voices of the few got taken over by the many. This is the point I haven't reached yet, and which the other lonely voices over the world haven't reached yet. Mind that even things like homosexuality and women's rights which are generally accepted in the Western countries and many Asian ones as well are still a battle to be fought in many places. Those aren't places where I expect to get a lot of support. But maybe... once this unstoppable, world-wide force has been formed, who knows?

I'll probably be launching the Intersection Online magazine site this weekend. It should provide the central, world-wide platform required to organize and merge the lonely voices of this new revolution, so that hopefully more and more voices will join. All I need for this magazine are more articles, on or related to intersexuality. If you yourself or someone you know is intersexual or has experience with it, or just want to write an opinionated (positive) article on the subject, I would welcome your input. You can send me an email with a summary of the article via my personal site (mayaposch.com), and if I like it I'll ask you to submit it. Thanks in advance.

As for my current situation, I found out thanks to a British friend that this Middlesex clinic has been terminated back in 2005, but he also managed to contact the secretary of one of the people who used to work there, one Dr Conway. I sent him an email two days ago. Hopefully I'll get a response next week. It would be nice if this situation got resolved this year.


Maya