HRC has teamed up with InterACT, a leading advocacy group for intersex issues, to honor Intersex Awareness Day.

Both groups collaborated on HRC's new "Understanding the Intersex Community" resource page. The guide answers common questions about the intersex community, including what it means to be intersex, what human rights issues impact the intersex community, if intersex people are members of the LGBTQ community, and how allies can support intersex people.

The guide also highlights non-consensual intersex surgeries, a key issue intersex people still encounter. According to the resource page, these medically unnecessary surgeries are performed on intersex infants to change the appearance of their genitals to fit arbitrary norms. This can have devastating consequences for intersex people, including issues with fertility, sexual function, or emotional well-being.

The launch of "Understanding the Intersex Community" was timed to this Monday for Intersex Awareness Day, celebrated annually on October 26.

According to InterACT, the date commemorates the first public demonstration by intersex people in the U.S., which took place on October 26, 1996. At the time, members of a now-defunct intersex group gathered outside the American Academy of Pediatrics' annual conference in Boston to denounce non-consensual intersex surgeries on infants.

To learn more about the intersex community, check out HRC and InterACT's new resource guide here. (InterACT even has a handy-dandy list of 26 ways allies can support intersex people on Intersex Awareness Day.)