Nationality British Known for Intersex activism | Name Sarah Graham | |
Born April 1969 United Kingdom Occupation Addiction therapist and consultant Website www.sarahgrahamsolutions.com | ||
Crystal Clear Warning
Sarah Graham is an intersex activist and drug addiction counsellor and consultant. As an expert on drug addiction, she is a member of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs and a co-founder of the Amy Winehouse Foundation. In recognition of her intersex activism, The Independent on Sunday has called her an LGBT "national treasure" and ranked her second in its 2015 "Rainbow List" of the most influential LGBT people in the UK.
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Androgen insensitivity
Graham has XY chromosomes, but due to having complete androgen insensitivity syndrome (CAIS), she was identified and raised as a girl. Doctors lied to her and her parents about her diagnosis, subjected her to repeated medical investigations, and removing her internal testes (which they claimed were ovaries) at age seven or eight "to protect her from cancer and imminent death", resulting in her needing otherwise-unnecessary hormone replacement therapy from age 12.
Graham was not given her CAIS diagnosis until she was 25. She was offered no support, and "felt like a total freak ... like the only person in the world with the condition and that no one would love [her]." Already a regular drug user, the diagnosis led to a period of self-destruction including drink and drug addiction. With the support from a doctor, however, she recovered, saying "I have turned my pain into my work" and "I'm now very happy with who I am ... I don't ever regret being born intersex now – except for the infertility – because it has made me very strong and understanding of our human similarities and the differences that make us each unique".
Counselling and consulting
Graham currently works as an addiction counsellor and therapist, running her own drug rehabilitation company including a weekly LGBTI addiction and recovery therapy group. She has written articles on drug addiction for a variety of newspapers and magazines including The Sun, The Times and Diva, and appeared on radio and television programmes including The Today Programme, BBC News and This Morning.
Additionally, Graham was appointed to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs in 2011 and remains on the council as of 2015. She is also an expert communicator for the government drug education service FRANK, and co-founded the Amy Winehouse Foundation.
Activism
Graham is one of the UK's most influential activists for intersex human rights. She has spoken out against surgery to "normalise" intersex children's bodies, saying "it's politically driven, to make society feel safer and reinforce the gender boxes: male/female, pink/blue." She has also investigated legal recognition of intersex as a distinct gender, and has praised Germany for allowing babies to be registered as neither male nor female.
Because of her activism, The Independent on Sunday listed her as a "national treasure" in its 2011 "Pink List", and in the renamed 2015 "Rainbow List" called her the second most influential LGBT person in the UK.