H.Res. 827

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 827 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 827

Expressing support for the recognition of October 26, 2025, as Intersex 
Awareness Day, and supporting the goals and ideals of Intersex 
Awareness Day.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

October 24, 2025

Ms. Balint (for herself, Mr. Takano, Mr. Pocan, Ms. Bonamici, Mrs. 
Foushee, Mr. Frost, Mr. Mullin, Mr. Peters, Ms. Tlaib, Ms. Norton, Mr. 
Torres of New York, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Ms. Jayapal, Mrs. Ramirez, Mr. 
Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Carson, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Ms. Jacobs, Mr. 
Evans of Pennsylvania, Ms. Randall, and Mr. Huffman) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Workforce, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 
the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

RESOLUTION

Expressing support for the recognition of October 26, 2025, as Intersex 
Awareness Day, and supporting the goals and ideals of Intersex 
Awareness Day.

Whereas Intersex Awareness Day honors the first public demonstration by intersex 
people in the United States, which took place at the annual conference 
of the American Academy of Pediatrics on October 26, 1996;
Whereas, since that historic demonstration in 1996, October 26 has become a day 
during which intersex people and allies come together to celebrate and 
uplift the intersex community;
Whereas ``intersex'' refers to individuals with innate variations in their 
physical sex characteristics, including external anatomy, reproductive 
organs, hormonal function, or chromosomal patterns that differ from 
stereotypes about male or female bodies;
Whereas being intersex is not the same thing as being transgender, but both 
transgender and intersex people hold shared interests in bodily 
autonomy, self-determination, and the recognition of their existence and 
rights;
Whereas policies, orders, and governmental actions that espouse an unscientific 
definition of biological sex as a rigid binary erase and demean the 
existence of people with intersex variations;
Whereas intersex is not generally considered to be a ``third sex'', but rather 
represents the wide range of biological variation observed in bodily 
development, with over 40 different intersex traits having been 
discovered;
Whereas the most widely cited estimate of the frequency of intersex traits in 
the population is 1.7 percent, yet the true prevalence is likely higher;
Whereas the rights, health, and well-being of intersex people are undermined by 
erasure and by patterns of stigmatization and discrimination on the 
basis of variations in sex characteristics, intersex status, and 
perceived gender nonconformity;
Whereas babies and young children with intersex variations are often subjected, 
without their own informed consent or assent, to irreversible genital 
surgeries, sterilizations, and other interventions to make their bodies 
conform to stereotypical expectations of what it means to appear, behave 
as, or be male or female, most commonly before the age of two;
Whereas it is exceedingly rare that a child's intersex variation would 
necessitate surgery on an urgent basis in infancy or early childhood, 
and decisions about such surgeries could therefore be safely postponed 
in the vast majority of cases until such time as the child becomes able 
to provide informed consent or assent, or such time as a medically 
urgent indication for surgery may otherwise arise;
Whereas there is evidence that performing these irreversible surgeries in 
infancy and early childhood in the absence of the intersex individual's 
consent can result in severe lasting physical and psychological harm, 
including loss of bodily function, the destruction of reproductive 
capacity, and the imposition of a sex assignment with which the 
individual will not identify, leading many intersex advocates to 
describe these nonconsensual surgeries as Intersex Genital Mutilation 
(IGM);
Whereas 3 former Surgeons General of the United States have agreed that such 
early, nonconsensual surgeries on intersex children can cause ``severe 
and irreversible physical harm and emotional distress'' and ``violate an 
individual's right to personal autonomy over their own future'', 
``clearly infring[ing] on the child's right to physical integrity, 
preservation of sexual and gender identity, and procreative freedom'';
Whereas the Department of State has commemorated Intersex Awareness Day by 
recognizing the harm of these nonconsensual surgeries, stating that ``at 
a young age, intersex persons routinely face forced medical surgeries 
without free or informed consent. These interventions jeopardize their 
physical integrity and ability to live freely'';
Whereas the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) ``opposes medically 
unnecessary genital surgeries performed on intersex children'' and 
states that ``Genital surgeries should only be recommended as medically 
necessary for intersex infants and children for the purpose of resolving 
significant functional impairment or reducing imminent and substantial 
risk of developing a health- or life-threatening condition'';
Whereas the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, in its 
Standards of Care Version 8, recommends that providers treating intersex 
infants and young children delay ``genital surgery, gonadal surgery, or 
both, so as to optimize the children's self-determination and ability to 
participate in the decision based on informed consent'';
Whereas the American Bar Association in a 2023 resolution took a position 
``Oppos[ing] all . . . policy that attempts to impose medical or 
surgical intervention on minors with intersex traits (also known as 
variations in sex characteristics) without the minor's informed consent 
or assent, and urg[ing] licensed professionals not to conduct or propose 
medical or surgical intervention on minors with intersex traits until 
the minor requests the proposed care, understands the impact of the 
proposed care as well as alternatives, is provided with affirming 
psychosocial supports, and gives informed consent or assent, except when 
immediate life-threatening circumstances require emergency 
intervention'';
Whereas the Presidential Memorandum of February 4, 2021, on ``Advancing the 
Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex 
Persons Around the World'' makes it ``the policy of the United States to 
pursue an end to violence and discrimination on the basis of sexual 
orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics'';
Whereas President Biden convened the first White House Roundtable on intersex 
issues on October 26, 2021, in celebration of Intersex Awareness Day, 
declaring that the administration ``is committed to advancing justice, 
opportunity, and safety for intersex Americans'';
Whereas Executive Order 14075 of June 15, 2022, states that it is the policy of 
the United States Government ``to combat unlawful discrimination and 
eliminate disparities'' affecting ``lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, 
queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) Americans'', including discrimination on 
the basis of sex characteristics;
Whereas, in 2024, the Biden-Harris administration released their final rules on 
``Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities'' and 
``Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or 
Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance'', explicitly 
clarifying that section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act and title IX of 
the Education Amendments of 1972, respectively, prohibit discrimination 
on the basis of sex characteristics (including intersex traits);
Whereas, on April 4, 2024, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a 
landmark resolution entitled ``Combating discrimination, violence and 
harmful practices against intersex persons'' with 24 countries, 
including the United States, voting in favor;
Whereas, in January 2025, the Department of Health and Human Services released 
the first in-depth report on intersex health by a United States Federal 
agency, recognizing the ``well-documented medical harms to intersex 
people across their lifespan resulting from childhood medical 
interventions performed when the child was too young to participate in 
decision-making'', and concluding that this denial of bodily autonomy, 
in addition to discrimination and lack of access to competent and 
affirming medical providers, is a key barrier that must be addressed to 
achieve health equity for the intersex community;
Whereas recent legislative proposals and agency actions attacking health care 
for transgender youth have simultaneously harmed intersex people, 
incorrectly labeling necessary gender-affirming medical care as 
``mutilation'' while routinely exempting the actual nonconsensual 
mutilation of young intersex children from scrutiny;
Whereas medical practices should respect the human rights and bodily autonomy of 
all people, and government institutions should implement policies that 
protect and support intersex people;
Whereas the House of Representatives has voted twice to explicitly codify 
nondiscrimination protections for people with intersex variations in its 
passage of the Equality Act, and various Federal agencies, including the 
Department of Justice, have recognized that, consistent with the legal 
reasoning of Bostock v. Clayton County, discrimination on the basis of a 
person's sex characteristics is prohibited sex discrimination; and
Whereas intersex people are an important part of the diversity of the Nation to 
be celebrated and should be afforded respect, dignity, and the universal 
human right to bodily autonomy: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) supports the goals and ideals of Intersex Awareness 
Day;
(2) encourages the Federal Government, States, localities, 
nonprofit organizations, schools, and community organizations 
to observe the day with appropriate programs and activities, 
with the goal of increasing public knowledge of the intersex 
community and empowering individuals to celebrate and respect 
their diversity;
(3) encourages health care providers to offer culturally 
and clinically competent care to the intersex community that 
respects bodily autonomy and self-determination, and encourages 
schools to support education regarding the intersex community 
and connect individuals to resources for young people with 
intersex variations and their families; and
(4) encourages the Federal Government, States, 
international funding organizations, and United States 
bilateral and multilateral aid efforts to prioritize the health 
and human rights of intersex people.
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