Regularily, our board member Albert Kehrer invites an inspiring role model of the LGBT*IQ community or an LGBT*IQ Ally for a chat. You can look forward to an interesting exchange about role models and visibility in the LGBT*IQ community.
This event took place in German.
Guest of the day
Birgit Spors
Head of Marketing + Digital Channels (Director) at KfW Bankengruppe
3rd place PROUTExecutives 2021
Birgit Spors is responsible for all customer interfaces at KfW Germany. In this role, she plays a key role in driving KfW’s connectivity to the digital economy. She wants to make funding simple, digital and accessible everywhere. Internally, she is involved in KfW’s Rainbow Network and, through her management function, also sends an important signal that equal opportunities are a reality at KfW and that she is an exemplary diversity employer.
Intersex
Awareness Day 2021
Intersex Awareness Day was established in 1996 and has been held annually on October 26th since then. This day is intended to draw attention to the inter* community worldwide and to raise awareness for discrimination and disadvantage in the everyday life of inter* people.
The term is formed from the Latin prefix “inter” which means “between“.
Inter* is the term for people with biological characteristics (chromosomal, gonadal, hormonal, anatomical) that show variants, of purely female or purely male biological characteristics. In some cases, intersex traits may be visible at birth, while in others they may not be visible until puberty. Some hormonal/chromosomal variations need not be physically visible at all.
Intersexuality is not an isolated case, because besides the chromosome sets XX and XY, there are thousands of other possibilities of chromosome pairings, such as XXY, which do not correspond to the bisexual “norm”. This is indicated by the asterisk, which stands for different self-designations and clarifies that there is no “one right way” to be inter*. Intersexuality refers to biological sex and should be distinguished from sexual orientation or gender identity.
A big step in the direction of a free and self-determined life for inter* people was the law published in 2021 to prohibit genital reassignment surgery for inter* children who are unable to give consent.
THE INTERSEX FLAG:
The colors of the inter* flag are intentionally purple and yellow to move away from gender-specific colors like pink and blue.
The circle symbolizes the unbroken and the potential of inter* people, because even today the inter* community is still fighting for their right to be who they are.
Interview with Nica Schächtele (Nonbinary, Trans*, Inter*)
What formative experiences related to your intersexness have you had (in the workplace)?
Intersexuality is a topic that cannot be explained in 10 minutes, but needs a lot of time, so an intensive conversation can take several hours.
Is the topic of intersex addressed in your workplace, and if so, how?
Intersex is very rarely a topic in the work, and usually initiated by me, for example at Diversity Week.
What challenges and stereotypes have you faced as an inter* person?
There are many caveats and self-declarations. Example: Intersexuality can’t exist at all, because there are only male or female cells, at least according to biology classes. Only a few people can really understand the terms intersex or intersexual, some mix it up with bisexual or non-binary. Even within the LGBT*IQ community, the “I” is a very small letter.
Would you have wished for anything else for your coming out and what are your wishes for the future of the inter* community?
When I came out it went well, the new info was almost always received positively. For the future I wish the inter* community more visibility, knowledge about the many variants, information exchange between individual groups and joint actions with the nonbinary-trans* community.
TIPS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Ace Week 2021 Beyond Awareness
Ace Week (formerly known as Asexual Awareness Week) has been held annually in late October since its inception in 2010. This year, it will be held from October 24th to October 30th with the theme “Beyond Awareness.” Its purpose is to make A_Sexuality visible and to give a_sexual people the opportunity to talk about their experiences.
The term “a_sexual” is formed from the prefix “a” which means “none” or “without” and refers to no or only slight sexual attraction to other people and/or oneself. However, different organizations, but also a_sexual people themselves define A_Sexuality mostly individually.
In contrast, a_romantic describes no or only a slight romantic attraction to other people. A_sexual people are not necessarily a_romantic and vice versa. The opposite of A_sexuality is allosexuality (people who are sexually attracted to other people).
A_sexuality is on a spectrum, which is made clear by the underscore. Also part of the spectrum are for example demisexual (a person feels sexual attraction to another person only after a deep emotional connection), greysexual or also graysexual, (a person feels sexual attraction to others only rarely or very little) and many more.
A_sexuality is not related to celibacy. That means a_sexual people do not decide voluntarily or for religious reasons to abstain from sex. Moreover, despite their a_sexuality, they can perform sexual acts for various reasons, e.g. to have children.
This also distinguishes A_Sexuality from Antisexuality, where sex is rejected on principle. Additionally, A_Sexuality has nothing to do with repressed sexuality or fear of it. Ace people simply do not feel sexual desire. It is estimated that about 1% of humanity is a_sexual.
The symbolism behind the colors of the A_sexuality flag:
- Black stands for a_sexuality
- Gray symbolizes the a_sexual spectrum
- White stands for sexuality
- Purple represents the a_community
A_Sexuality can be defined individually, so this post is to inform about the topic and provide a basic overview. Use this week to learn more about the topic, because – you never stop learning!
TIPS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Regularily, our board member Albert Kehrer invites an inspiring role model of the LGBT*IQ community or an LGBT*IQ Ally for a chat. You can look forward to an interesting exchange about role models and visibility in the LGBT*IQ community.
This event took place in German.
guest of the day
Dr. Christophe Campana
Founder and Managing Director of Campana & Schott
3rd place PROUTExecutiveAllies 2021
Dr. Christophe Campana is founder and managing director of the Campana & Schott group of companies. He has over 25 years of experience in (top) management consulting and is a member of various expert and advisory boards. He has been instrumental in shaping the company’s open, tolerant and diverse culture from the very beginning.
Christophe is also a sponsor and one of the biggest supporters of Campana & Schott’s LGBTQ+ network SCOUT. He has already accompanied the community on its way to coming out and is its trusted ally, advisor and friend.