Intersexuality is the state of a living thing of a gonochoristic species (the individuals of a species are of one of two distinct sexes, and retain that sexuality throughout their lives) whose sex chromosomes, genitalia and/or secondary sex characteristics are determined to be neither exclusively male nor female. An organism with an intersex condition may have biological characteristics of both the male and female sexes.
Intersexuality is the term adopted by medicine during the 20th century (the 1900s) applied to human beings who cannot be classified as either male or female. Intersexuality is also the word adopted by the identitary-political movement, surged in the nineties, to criticize medical protocols in sex assignment and to claim the right to be heard in the construction of new ones.
Intersex people face stigmatization and discrimination from birth, or from the discovery of an intersex trait, such as from puberty. This may include infanticide, abandonment and the stigmatization of families.
Being intersex is not to be confused with being nonbinary - the former is based on both identity and physical variations on the typical definition of male or female, while the latter is purely a gender identity.
