interACT: Advocates for Intersex Youth

interACT: Advocates for Intersex Youth is the premier national legal and policy organization dedicated to protecting the bodily autonomy, civil rights, and healthcare decision-making of intersex children and young people. Founded in 2006 under the legal name Advocates for Informed Choice, the organization has grown into a leading national authority that combines legal advocacy, legislative reform, media education, and youth leadership to advance equality for individuals born with variations in sex characteristics.

A central focus of the organization is ending non-consensual, medically unnecessary surgeries and medical interventions performed on intersex infants and children. interACT advocates for medical protocols grounded in patient consent, bodily integrity, and psychological well-being. Its legal and policy experts work directly with major medical associations, hospital ethics committees, state health departments, and international human rights bodies to replace outdated surgical standards with affirming, multi-disciplinary care models that defer irreversible interventions until the individual can participate in informed decisions.

In the legal and policy arena, the organization monitors federal and state legislation affecting intersex and LGBTQ+ communities, provides expert testimony before legislative committees, and authors comprehensive policy briefs. interACT also participates in significant civil rights litigation, submitting amicus briefs in federal courts to ensure that non-discrimination protections, healthcare access, and anti-bullying laws fully encompass intersex individuals across the nation.

Youth empowerment is a cornerstone of the organization's work through the Intersex Youth Advocacy Program. This signature initiative recruits and trains intersex youth and young adults in media storytelling, grassroots organizing, public speaking, and legislative advocacy. Members of the youth program represent the community in national media, speak at academic conferences, and lead awareness campaigns such as Intersex Awareness Day, ensuring that youth voices remain central to all advocacy efforts.

Furthermore, the organization develops accessible educational materials, clinical brochures, and school guidance toolkits that assist educators, parents, and healthcare providers in creating supportive environments for intersex children. By bridging law, medicine, media, and grassroots community organizing, interACT fosters systemic cultural transformation across the United States. Its dedicated initiatives ensure that future generations of intersex young people grow up with the freedom, dignity, and legal protections to make choices about their own bodies and healthcare. Through national solidarity campaigns, educational symposia, policy consulting, media partnerships, and coalition building with human rights partners, the organization champions bodily self-determination, personal autonomy, and dignity for all people. By empowering youth to share their lived experiences and advocate for systemic legal change, interACT leads the nationwide movement for intersex justice, healthcare equity, bodily autonomy, and fundamental civil rights across the United States. Through these ongoing efforts, the organization builds a society where intersex individuals are fully respected, protected, and celebrated.

Intersex individuals, families, educators, healthcare professionals, and community allies can access comprehensive educational toolkits, request policy consultation, participate in national webinars, or support ongoing civil rights advocacy through charitable contributions online.