Intersex youth are also hurt by anti-trans laws, advocates say
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When Kristina Turner’s middle child, Ori, was around 4 or 5, she decided to steer them away from organized sports.
Around that time, Turner began reading about the obstacles South African track star Caster Semenya was facing competing internationally. At 18, Semenya won the gold medal in the 800-meter race at the 2009 World Athletics Championships. But afterward Semenya, who has hyperandrogenism, a condition that causes her body to produce high levels of testosterone, was subjected to gender verification tests. She was allowed to compete again but only if she took medication that altered her body’s natural hormone levels.
Ori is intersex, meaning they were born with sex traits associated with both male and female bodies. Turner feared the kind of discrimination Ori might encounter playing in organized sports.
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