The Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, Act 4 of 2000 (PEPUDA), which is sometimes referred to as The Equality Act, was passed by the South African government in 2000 to protect its citizens from discrimination, hate speech, and harassment. Following the work of LGBTIQ+ activists, PEPUDA was amended in 2005 and became the first legislation in the world to include “intersex” within the legal definition of ‘sex’ as “a congenital sexual differentiation which is atypical, to whatever degree.”

This definition of intersex reflects the work of activists as it is almost identical to the recommendation submitted to the court by Intersex South Africa (ISSA). ISSA’s founder, Sally Gross, advocated for and worked passionately towards this inclusion. One of the major accomplishments by activists in the amendment to PEPUDA was to insist that ‘intersex’ be self-defined, removing it from medical definitions and interventions or the forced surgeries that often accompany legal definitions of ‘sex.’