Up to 1.7% of the global population is born with intersex traits—that is, variations in chromosomes, genitals and internal organs that put an individual outside the typical binary of male or female. If that sounds rare to you, consider that it is broadly equivalent to the odds of being born with red hair. For how common being intersex is, however, there’s a shocking lack of public awareness about what it actually means.
However, if Hanne Gaby Odiele has her way, the conversation about being intersex will be moving to the forefront. “It’s 2017, we should be able to talk about this,” she said. “We shouldn’t be invisible.”
Odiele, a 29-year-old native of Kortrijk, Belgium, has made a name for herself in fashion, walking the runways of New York, London, Paris…
