THE GUERRILLA ANGEL REPORT — Seven years later, the intersex child now identifies as a male.
The child was unwanted by his mother following his birth resulting in his ending up in the hands of the South Carolina Department of Social Services. At 16 months, for whatever reason, the state decided the child was a girl and had his penis surgically removed as they looked for a permanent home for him.
Today, the boy, known as “M.C.”, is the son of Mark and Pam Crawford, who eventually adopted him. They, along with support from Southern Poverty Law Center, are suing the state and some of the doctors for this mutilation of their son arguing was a needless surgery done only because the state didn’t accept that idea the child could exist as not belonging to one of two “fixed” genders.
Pam Crawford: “By performing this needless surgery, the state and doctors told M.C. that he was not acceptable or lovable the way he was born. They disfigured him because they could not accept him for who he was – not because he needed any surgery. . . .”
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There are a number of major blunders here IMO — the first one, of course, is not waiting until the child self-identifies before doing irreversible surgery. There was no health risk by waiting.
While the report didn’t say, I’ve a hunch that Christian right thinking — moralists — influenced the decision-making in that particular group of people. This lawsuit, regardless of the outcome, will go a long way in making doctors think twice about being influenced by state officials who may not have the child’s best interest as a higher priority.
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Previous intersex article on moralists: https://lexiecannes.wordpress.com/2013/07/26/radio-icon-sheena-metal-poses-dilemma-for-anti-trangender-moralists/
On being intersex: https://lexiecannes.wordpress.com/2013/08/12/transgender-feelings-explained-following-mans-er-visit/
More on the SC case: First Do No Harm – South Carolina Guesses Wrong, Removes Baby Boy’s Penis | The New Civil Rights Movement.
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THE GUERRILLA ANGEL REPORT is associated with Wipe Out Transphobia: http://www.wipeouttransphobia.com/
Read Lexie Cannes in The Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/courtney-odonnell/
Categories: Judicial, Courts, Transgender, Transsexual, Trans
LEXIE CANNES STATE OF TRANS 
I would have taken that child as is.. and would have loved this precious soul no matter what gender he/she/zie would have identified with.
I’m sure many others would too. Thanks for commenting!
This is so awful! What could possibly have been the point of performing such an unnecessary surgery?? I hope that poor boy recovers well.
Yup go cutting too soon when you can’t figure out what the person is going to identify as and you will cock it up. Yet if a child with normal genitalia Identifies as the opposite gender to their birth gender they (the state & the medical profession) make it difficult to get the appropriate treatment.
Yes, because they want to have control over who you are, or rather, who they perceive you to be, which to them is one and the same. You are who they say you are.
What did the state do to determan the gender of M.C, flip a coin? Heads its a girl tails its a boy. They need to let the child decide how they view themselves.
I wonder if intersexuality is evidence of evolution right in front of us. Many other species are able to change gender in order to promote their survival. Perhaps this is something similar in the making. To the religious, all I can say is stop playing god and let him/her do their work.
This could also be avoided by removing sex from birth certificates AND outlawing genital mutilation on ALL children. That is, unless it is medically necessary, it should not be done.
Only a hand-full of original creative writing yet still religious bashing finds its way in.