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Anick Soni

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Anick Soni
BornApril 3, 1995[1]
Leicester, England
Known forIntersex human rights activist
Websiteinterconnecteduk.org

Anick Soni (born 1995) is a British Asian intersex human rights activist, creative[2] and researcher, and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.[3][4][5] In 2020, he co-founded an intersex charity in the UK named InterconnectedUK.[6]

Early life

Soni was born with uncommon sex characteristics including hypospadias and partial androgen insensitivity syndrome.[1] Growing up, Soni was subjected to failed surgery at age 4 months, followed by multiple procedures over 17 years to try to improve the outcome and enlarge the size of his penis.[1] In a 2017 interview with Patrick Strudwick for BuzzFeed, he recalls repeated medical examinations, living in fear of discovery at school, an adolescent desire to be 'normal', never having met another intersex person, and a lack of counselling support for him or his parents, leading to an attempted suicide.[1][7][8] Despite experiencing a lack of disclosure during his childhood,[9][10] Soni later chose to undergo a phalloplasty.[1] He learned the word intersex at age 21, initially misunderstanding the term,[11] when he obtained access to his medical records.[12]

Soni graduated with an honours degree in Law from the University of Westminster in 2017,[13][3] which included a year of study in Sydney, Australia.[1][14] He is currently studying the sociology of childhood and children's rights at University College London.[15] He participated in his first event by and for intersex people in February 2018, at an OII Europe conference in Copenhagen.[16] This experience was filmed for the BBC.[17]

Media

Soni has been the subject of a BBC TV[16] and radio documentary,[17][18] named The Intersex Diaries. In January 2020, Soni became the first intersex person on the cover of Attitude Magazine.


Activism

Anick Soni has been involved with intersex activism publicly since 2017, first disclosing his story to BuzzFeed.[1] Soni campaigns for protections from discrimination and forced surgeries, and for better support for children and caregivers,[6][14] visibility and community healing.[4] He describes himself as favoring personal consent and bodily autonomy, and not anti-surgery.[19][20] He has written the first briefing on intersex for the UK Parliament[3] and speaks nationally[21] and internationally.[22]

He helped organize a first intersex march in London in 2018, with fellow activists and allies.[8][4] and is communications officer at UK Black Pride.[23][5] Whilst acknowledging that intersex is not necessarily an 'LGBT+' issue, as a bisexual, he feels comfortable speaking about this intersectionality.[17]

In 2020 he became a co-founder and trustee of new intersex charity InterconnectedUK (iConUK).[6]

Soni joined the advisory board for The Privilege Project, where he represents work across Media/Broadcasting and Higher Education. In May 2021, he was included in Queer Power! A Celebration of Icons, Activists and Game Changers from Across the Rainbow by illustrator Dom&Ink,[24] published by HarperCollins. He was recognised for his intersex activism and being a Queer Person of Colour within the LGBT+ community - it mentions his involvement in planning events like UK Black Pride and outreach and educational work. [25]

Selected bibliography

  • Soni, Anick (June 25, 2019). "The realities and complexities of being a Black intersex woman". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  • Soni, Anick (May 1, 2019). "Telling Caster Semenya her body is not normal damns the future of sport". Metro. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  • Soni, Anick (September 30, 2018). "Why I Made A Film About Being Intersex". AZ Magazine. Retrieved March 17, 2021.


Recognition

Soni is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.[3] In 2019 he was awarded the Gay Times 'British Community Trailblazer' award in recognition for his work on intersex activism within the LGBT+ community.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Strudwick, Patrick (November 2, 2017). "This Young Man Wants You To Know What It's Like Being Intersex". BuzzFeed. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  2. ^ "Anick Soni". ScreenSkills. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d University of Westminster alumni (2020). "Let's Talk About Intersex". issuu. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d Megarry, Daniel (November 21, 2019). "Anick Soni wins the GAY TIMES Honour for British Community Trailblazer". Gay Times. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Newbold, Alice (June 11, 2020). ""Queer People Of Colour Are Resilient & Resilience Is Power," Says UK Black Pride Founder". British Vogue. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c InterconnectedUK (2020). "About Us, InterconnectedUK". InterconnectedUK. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  7. ^ Lindahl, Hans (October 25, 2019). "9 Young People on How They Found Out They Are Intersex". Teen Vogue. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  8. ^ a b Soni, Anick (September 30, 2018). "Why I Made A Film About Being Intersex". AZ Magazine. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  9. ^ Strudwick, Patrick (November 14, 2018). "The Government Will Launch A Consultation Into How Intersex People Are Treated". BuzzFeed. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  10. ^ Strudwick, Patrick (January 17, 2019). "The Government Has Admitted It Doesn't Know How Many Intersex Children Are Being Operated On". BuzzFeed. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  11. ^ Carty, Aaron; Soni, Anick (October 26, 2020). "Five things to share on Intersex Awareness Day". UK Black Pride. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  12. ^ Duffield, Charlie (December 11, 2018). "The Rights Violations and Stigmatisation of Being Intersex 'Are Unique'". EachOther. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  13. ^ University of Westminster, London (December 2, 2019). "Alumnus Anick Soni awarded the GAY TIMES Honour for British Community Trailblazer". Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  14. ^ a b Gallagher, Sophie (October 26, 2018). "'I Was Tired Of Keeping This Big Secret': The Truth Of Growing Up Intersex". HuffPost UK. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  15. ^ "River Gallo Selects Their Intersex Icons". Hunger TV. December 20, 2019. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  16. ^ a b McDermott, Sarah (October 26, 2018). "My intersex life: Now I have a new penis, I hope I will find love". BBC News. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  17. ^ a b c "Radio 1 Stories, The Intersex Diaries". BBC Radio 1. October 26, 2018. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  18. ^ "Meet Anick - born intersex, and about to have his final surgery". BBC Radio 1. October 26, 2018. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  19. ^ Silverman, Rosa (May 2, 2019). "What it's really like to grow up intersex". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  20. ^ Stroude, Will (October 30, 2018). "What's it really like to grow up intersex?". Attitude. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  21. ^ Savage, Rachel (January 18, 2019). "Intersex people should not live in 'fear of humiliation' - UK minister". Reuters. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  22. ^ Braidwood, Ella (July 5, 2019). "Intersex People Were Overshadowed At Pride London Last Year – Now We're Marching Again". EachOther. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  23. ^ UK Black Pride (2020). "Meet the team". UK Black Pride. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  24. ^ "Dom&Ink". Dom&Ink. 14 May 2021. Retrieved 14 May 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  25. ^ Dom&Ink (2021). Queer Power: A Celebration of Icons, Activists and Game Changers from Across the Rainbow. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 9780008434168.
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