Intersex Awareness Day brings attention to the legal, social, and psychological issues of intersex people. Intersex individuals may be born with biological variations of typical male/female sex characteristics (including genitals, gonads and chromosome patterns), and not fit in the common binary definitions of male and female.

Intersex people often face stigmatization and discrimination from birth and historically, parents were advised a variety of surgical procedures to “correct” the variation at an early age. Now many doctors advise against surgery on infants and young children. These interventions carry a risk of harm, both physically and psychologically, and can often be safely deferred until a person is old enough to participate in the choice.