Remembering Sally Gross

Huma remembers Sally Gross, intersex activist, who passed away early February 2014. Sally wrote and spoke against injustices and the dehumanising of all people, especially people born with ambiguous genitalia. Sally was a great supporter of Huma, having participated in our launch program in 2010, raising crucial questions central to one of our flagship themes ‘on being human’.

In April 2013, Sally gave another talk at Huma, ‘Infanticide of intersex infants in the Northern Cape’ challenging how intersexuality is pathologised and how intersex people are often used as ‘specimen’ for scientific investigations, or forced to have surgeries that they do not consent to. She spoke against these violations on babies and challenged the ways in which we think about sex and gender.

We will miss Sally for her directness,  activism and generousity in sharing information that has changed the lives of many people in South Africa. For more information on Sally and the legacy she has left, visit the organisation she founded and the movement she pioneered at Intersex South Africa.