The Media Doesn't Get Intersex, And Why I Must Move

I really have to comment on the disappointing reception of my recent newspaper article on my case against the Dutch hospitals. Even the journalist who wrote the article, Lucien Baard, expressed his disappointment in a message to me about how few newspapers ran the article. In the end it appeared in just three newspapers: TC Tubantia, Noord-Hollands Dagblad and De Stentor. This covers part of the western side of the country as well as the province I'm in. Coverage in subscriptions is about 300,000.

I'm glad at least RTV Oost contacted me and wanted me on their talk show, otherwise I would have been exceedingly disappointed as well. As-is I think that the problem is still the same: people, and especially those in the media, do not understand intersex. They do not understand what it is, they do not understand why it'd be wrong to forcefully perform surgery on an infant, they do not understand why what was done to me was a horrible thing.

And the few times someone in the media does 'get' it, like Lucien did, his colleagues do not pick up on it or only in a few exceptions. The major talk shows on Dutch TV like Pauw en Witteman still aren't interested.

What would take it to really break through this ignorance? Yesterday I had a good chat with my lawyer, Yme Drost, and decided upon a course of action. He's going to contact a specific hospital so that the DNA and karyotype testing as described in my previous blog post can be performed there. I'm hoping that with a few weeks I can have these tests and that within two months we'll have a case prepared against the Dutch hospitals.

I think that only when the legal case gets underway will the media finally bother to learn why it is something big and important which is happening here and will they become educated. I wish that it could be sooner or via a different way, but you can not force a mountain out of the way with your bare hands. I do have one person, my lawyer, who could do this for me since he's well-known in the Dutch media, but it's completely at his discretion whether or not that's going to happen. He did get me into contact with Lucien after all who then proceeded to write the wonderful article on my story and current news.

It just shows that there is most definitely a story, the media just doesn't get it yet.

In other news, thanks to the Dutch government changing the rules for people on welfare this year I find myself forced to move away from my mom's place, as otherwise the moment I start earning a significant amount of money (say in a month and onwards when Trevor and I release our first video games), my mom will lose her welfare and I'll have to pay for everything.

Add to this that where I currently live (Rijssen) I can not even get a family doctor any more as there are none left whom want to take me on as a patient or whom I can trust. In general Rijssen is a very unpleasant and stressful environment for me due to the very right-wing Christian attitude this city is (in)famous for. The place I'm currently staying at doesn't have many good memories for me either as it's been the scene of so much strife and pain for over a yer now. I need a change of scenery.

Tomorrow when I see this sister of my beautician, the former having offered me life coaching, I'll ask her to help me find a place in the city of Deventer. Why this city? It's where I have most of contacts at this point. I have the beauty salon there, the swimming pool I like, a number of people including store owners who know my story and with whom I can talk. It's also where I met that girl whom I helped carry that heavy box a month ago. Finally Deventer isn't home to a large number of students living in the city itself, meaning that I'm far more likely to find a place there.

What form this will take on I do not know. I might end up living at someone's place again, though finally with my own room, or find something cheap to rent (200 Euro/month? Maybe...). I hope to find some hospitality at least.

Wish me luck.


Maya