Prominent anti-Apartheid and intersex activist, Sally Gross, who founded the first intersex rights organisation in Africa (Intersex Society of South Africa), passed away on 14 February 2014.
In 2000, Sally secured the first known mention of intersex in national law, with the inclusion of “intersex” within the definition of “sex” in the anti-discrimination law of the Republic of South Africa. Since then, she helped to draft legislation on the Alteration of Sex Descriptors, and the Promotion of Equality. In an interview with InterAction, Sally spoke about her influence on intersex law:
“Since 2000, I’ve drafted amendments bearing on intersex for the Alteration of Sex Descriptions Bill and the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, 2000, and these have been lobbied into law. Getting intersex into the Promotion of Equality Act is the weightier of the two. Lobbying persuaded the South African Human Rights Commission that intersex is a serious human rights issue. This yielded an SAHRC workshop three years back that looked at the imposition of genital surgery on intersex infants and children, and the possible need for legislation.”
Sally’s last communication had been with prominent New Zealand-based intersex activist, Mani Bruce Mitchell, a friend who had posted a GoFundMe appeal for help on Gross’s behalf in January of the same year.
Sally’s founding of and work as part of Intersex South Africa (ISSA)had severely depleted her own limited resources and she fell into poor health. The tragedy of her death as a result of this poor health affected communities all over the world. Many obituaries* followed her death. Sally continues to be greatly missed, but her powerful legacy lives on.
* See, for example, the tributes written by Gabrielle Le Roux and Organization Intersex International.
Watch Sally speak in this video interview with It Gets Better South Africa:
