The Intersex Reading List
Intersex describes a variety of conditions in which a person is born with anatomy and/or genes that fall outside the definitions of male or female.
Intersex people may express themselves as any gender. Some intersex conditions require medical care, but many do not. Intersex people may know that they are intersex their whole lives, but others do not until later. (Either because they have a late onset condition, or because they are raised as male or female.) Estimates inclusive of intersex traits that arise after birth find that roughly 1.7% of people are intersex, though studies are ongoing.
Being intersex does not necessarily mean that someone is transgender, but an intersex person may find solidarity in the trans community if their gender identity is different from the gender assigned at birth. Similarly, intersex individuals may or may not identify with LGBTQIA+.
The intersex community’s advocacy intersects with LGBT advocacy in the areas of medical care, family structure, fertility, gender expression, mental health, and more. Intersex activists are especially interested in promoting bodily autonomy, human rights, and healthy intersection of health and social policies.
Adult Fiction
Middlesex
by Jeffrey Euphrenides
This 2002 Pulitzer winner was written when Jeffrey Euphrenides found himself dissatisfied with intersex discourse. It chronicles a Greek immigrant story, highlighting three generations of the same intersex gene passed through the family.
Golden Boy
by Abigail Tarttelin
A rare story about a teenager but intended for adult audiences, Golden Boy bounces between multiple character perspectives as protagonist Max's perfect life is violently changed. (TW: sexual assault)
Pantomime
by L.R. Lam
Pantomime feels as much a historical piece as much or more than it does a fantasy. Steampunk fans will enjoy the attention to detail given to its Victorian circus settng. Pantomime is advertised as a romance, but it is only one of the plotlines - intersexuality is an integral part of Micah's character arcs.
Adult Nonfiction
Nobody Needs To Know: A Memoir
by Pidgeon Pagonis
Activist Pidgeon Pagonis chooses to advocate through memoir, cultivating self-love for the intersex community by humanizing the experience of a trauma they unfortunately share with many. They aim to help other intersex people realize that they are more than their trauma. (TW: body mutilation)
Sex Is a Spectrum: the Biological Limits of the Binary
by Agustin Fuentes
Anthropologist Agustin Fuentes's fascination with the flexibility and adaptability of human nature shines in this new book. Fuentes explores beautiful and unique contradictions, both in our bodies and in societal systems, to demonstrate scientifically that sex is a non-binary spectrum.
XOXY: A Memoir
by Kimberly Zieselman
Kimberly, like many, did not learn that she was intersex until much later in her life - the age of 41, to be exact. She wasn't a part of the LGBTQIA+ community before this discovery, but went on to hold the (former) title of first intersex "U.S. State Department Senior Advisor to the Special Envoy to Advance the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons". That's longer than the title of her book!
Teen & Kids
Across the Green Grass Fields
by Seanan McGuire
A standalone Wayward Children story containing all-new characters, and a great jumping-on point for horse girls and new readers ages 12 and up. Regan is a young girl who has doting parents and a deep love of horses but is enmeshed into a toxic friend group that she can’t find the confidence to leave. As puberty hits her friend group and Regan lags behind her peers, her loving parents sit her down and have a conversation with her: she is intersex, born with Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome, and may never naturally undergo puberty. She takes this news surprisingly well, all things considered, and heads to school the next day, upset but not distraught. That is until she makes a mistake in confiding in the wrong friend and everything comes crashing down around her. Regan runs away from school and she suddenly finds herself thrust through a doorway that asks her to "Be Sure" before swallowing her whole. Now Regan must learn to live in a world filled with centaurs, kelpies, and other magical equines―a world that expects its human visitors to step up and be heroes. But after embracing her time with the herd, Regan discovers that not all forms of heroism are equal, and not all quests are as they seem… Representation: Intersex main character. Trigger warnings: Animal death off page, bullying, off page death, intersexphobia, kidnapping, snake bites, violence, blood, discussion of murder.
Icarus
by K. Ancrum
This runaway romance tells the tale of an art thief and the boy who teaches him that you shouldn't need to be liked to be loved. Teen-appropriate, Ehlers-Danlos representation, and chapters are very short. K. Ancrum is a tender writer who treats her characters with dignity. "Since Icarus is my first book that contains an intersex character, I had a very specific vision for it. I wanted to present this character exclusively through the eyes of somebody who loves him." -K. Ancrum (TW: child abuse, drug abuse)
Cattywampus
by Ash Van Otterloo
The magical story of a hex that goes haywire, and the power of friendship to set things right for ages 8-12. In the town of Howler’s Hollow, conjuring magic is strictly off-limits, but Depha McGill has never been a fan of rules. So when she finds her family's secret spell book, she's ready to use it to solve her mama's financial troubles. She just has to stay quiet as the grave, something she's not so good at. Meanwhile, Katybird Hearn, the daughter of a rival witching family, also has plans for the book of spells and she's not going to let their family feud or Delpha contrary ways stop her. But their squabbles over the book accidentally unleashes a hex so evil that it resurrects a cemetery full of their ancestors bent on destroying everything. If Delpha and Katy want to save the town, they will have to overcome their problems and work together. Representation: Intersex main character, non-binary author, two moms, interracial marriage, deaf side character, asthma. Trigger warnings: Injury/injury detail, violence, grief, religious bigotry, death, blood, car accident.
Just Ash
by Sol Santana
Novel for 13 and up. Ashley "Ash" Bishop has always known who he is: a guy who loves soccer, has a crush on his friend Michelle, and is fascinated by the gruesome history of his hometown―Salem, Massachusetts. He's also always known that he's intersex, born with both male and female genitalia. But it's never felt like a big deal until his junior year of high school, when Ash gets his first period in front of the entire boys' soccer team. Now his friends and teachers see him differently, and his own mother thinks he should "try being a girl." As tensions mount with his parents and Ash feels more and more like an outcast, he can't help feeling a deeper kinship with his ancestor Bridget Bishop, who was executed for witchcraft. She didn't conform to her community's expectations either; she was different, and her neighbors felt threatened by her. And she paid the ultimate price. Ash is haunted by her last recorded words: You will keep silent. Ash realizes that he needs to find a way to stand up for who he really is, or the cost of his silence might destroy his life, too. Representation: Intersex main character, intersex author. Trigger warnings: bullying, deadnaming, emotional abuse, transphobia, medical content, medical trauma, outing, abandonment, dysphoria, racism, xenophobia, sexual harassment.