About

Hida (pronounced "Heeda") Viloria is an intersex activist and writer committed to educating the public about intersexuality. She has has written about the topic for CNN.com, and spoken extensively in the media, including appearances on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," ABC's "20/20," and the films One in 2000 and Gendernauts. She has also lectured on intersexuality at numerous institutions such as U.C. Berkeley, Stanford and San Francisco State University. In May, 2004, Viloria spoke before the San Francisco Human Rights Commission urging them to pass legislation to ban surgical alteration of intersex infants. It was the first public hearing held on intersex issues in the United States.

She holds a B.A. in Gender and Sexuality from the University of California at Berkeley, and, after attending U.C. Hastings College of the Law, turned her attention to writing. She has performed her work at events including the ForWord Girls Spoken Word Festival, the National Queer Arts Festival, and the Spring Scream Music Festival. Her first book, Mighty Hermaphrodite: Memoir of a Well-Hung Woman, will be available in 2010.

Childhood

Hida was born and raised in New York City, the child of recently immigrated Colombian and Venezuelan parents, with what is known as clitoromegaly (or enlarged clitoris.) She was spared medically unnecessary treatments (such as non-concensual genital surgery and hormone therapy), due to the objections of her father, a physician, to surgery, and her mother, a former teacher, to hormone treatment.

Contrary to popular medical opinions that intersex children will be socially isolated and emotionally challenged, Hida was a well-adjusted child. In grammar school, she was placed in a gifted-child's group and was both an All-Star athlete (basketball) and a cheerleader. High school years included cheerleading, math league, and honor roll.

Although she felt more assertive than other girls growing up, she did not feel this was a negative thing. Later, she enjoyed that her breasts did not develop like most girls' did, as well as the other differences in her body that are specific to being intersex. She continues to do so today.

"I was never told that there was anything wrong with me or my body, and I feel blessed that this was the case because it enabled me to formulate my own, positive, identity. We fill our minds with what we are taught about the world around us. Let's make sure we teach our children how to love the unique beauty in themselves and others."