Hermaphrodites are born with both reproductive organs. Lately, the term has been replaced by the word intersex to describe a wide variety of people who do not neatly fit classification as simply male or female. There are many causes and symptoms of intersexuality. There is a rough estimate that 1 in 2000 people are born with intersexual characteristics. Some of the syndromes that classify as intersex include Turner syndrome, Klinefelter syndrome and androgen insensitivity syndrome. Furthermore, being intersex is different from being transgender.
Protect Transgender and Intersex Patients
Individuals can have atypical genitalia at birth, both male and female reproductive organs, differences in enzymatic activation of puberty that leads to secondary sex characteristics different from sex assigned at birth, mosaic genetics where some chromosomes are labeled XY and others XX, or several other variations leading to a biological sex that is not male or female. These variations are grouped as intersex conditions or DSD.
(The historical terms "hermaphrodite" and "pseudo-hermaphrodite" are outdated, pejorative, stigmatizing and no longer used in medical literature or research.)
In 2016, under the 0bama administration, Title IX coverage was expanded to include "discrimination based on a student's gender identity, including discrimination based on a student's transgender status."
This 0bama-era protection was most publicized for allowing transgender students to use the bathroom consistent with their gender identity.
Why was this so important to Barry?