Intersex Awareness Day – marked every 26 October – is an opportunity to raise awareness about the lived experiences of intersex individuals and to advocate for their rights and dignity.
In South Africa, intersex people face unique challenges and obstacles, but there are also laws and policies in place to protect their rights. Yet, for many like Lungile Peaceworth Maquba, the fight for recognition and respect is deeply personal.
Peace, a Durban-born professional photographer, filmmaker, and intersex activist, has dedicated their life to amplifying the voices of South Africa’s marginalised intersex community. Born in 1989, Peace’s story is one of resilience, healing, and visibility.
“I want people to know that all bodies deserve to be acknowledged, and all bodies have the right to honest pleasure,” Peace says.
A Life Shaped by Early Struggles
Born five months premature, Peace’s early years were marked by frequent hospital visits and long periods away from family. At the age of 12, after being admitted to St. Augustine’s Hospital for severe abdominal pain, doctors discovered what they described as “genital ambiguity.” During surgery, Peace’s uterus was mistakenly removed, a traumatic experience that left lasting emotional scars.
“I thought I would one day bear children and live a life that matched what I had been taught growing up,” they recall. “Instead, my body became something to be ‘fixed’ rather than understood.”
Later in life, Peace was diagnosed with Turner’s Syndrome, a genetic condition that explained their intersex variation. This discovery marked a turning point, from confusion and shame to self-acceptance and advocacy.
Turning Pain into Purpose
Peace’s advocacy journey began in 2017 when they joined Intersex South Africa (ISSA) as a volunteer and later became its coordinator. Their passion for education and representation grew into the founding of their own organisation, Intersexions, where Peace serves as Founder and Director.
Through Intersexions, Peace has created a safe and empowering space to amplify intersex narratives through storytelling, creative expression, and community support. The organisation works to normalise intersex identities, challenge stigma, and promote the truth that bodies exist in many forms, and all deserve recognition and respect.
Today, Peace also serves as the African Intersex Rights Officer at Iranti, where they lead advocacy across the continent, pushing for greater legal protection, representation, and inclusion of intersex people in human rights spaces.
Over the years, they have represented the intersex community at major regional and global platforms, including:
- African Committee on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
- ILGA World Conference
- Pan Africa ILGA Regional Conference
- OutRight International Advocacy Week (Fellow)
- Intersex Pre-Conference
- UHAI CFCS
- UN Women Events
- LBQ Conference
- Kopano Conference
Through these engagements, Peace continues to advocate for bodily autonomy, intersex-inclusive education, and an end to unnecessary medical interventions on intersex children.
Creative Work: Telling Intersex Stories Through Art
A self-taught scriptwriter and filmmaker, Peace uses art as a tool for activism, awareness, and healing. Their creative projects include:
- Intersex Awareness Day Monologue — a short film performed in collaboration with GALA (Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action) to raise awareness of intersex experiences.
- Unboxing My Identity — a short film produced with AfriQueer, exploring the complexities of intersex identity and visibility.
In addition to film, Peace is an accomplished freelance photographer, specialising in events, stage, studio, wedding, and nature photography, as well as behind-the-scenes photography and videography.
Their artistic lens merges creativity and activism, capturing the humanity, strength, and beauty of intersex lives often overlooked by mainstream media.
Legal Protections — and the Work Still to Be Done
South Africa has made important strides in recognising intersex rights. The Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act (2000) prohibits discrimination based on sex characteristics, while the Alteration of Sex Description and Sex Status Act (2003) allows individuals to change their legal sex description to align with their lived gender.
However, the system remains binary, offering only “male” or “female” options, leaving many intersex people without accurate representation. On a continental level, the African Commission’s Resolution 552 calls on states to protect intersex people from human rights violations, including medically unnecessary surgeries and social discrimination.
These policies mark progress, but as Peace and other advocates remind us, change on paper means little without transformation in society.
A Call for Awareness and Inclusion
Raising awareness and education about intersex issues is essential to breaking stigma. Many still misunderstand what it means to be intersex, often confusing it with sexual orientation or gender identity. “Being intersex is not a medical condition, it’s a natural variation of human biology,” Peace emphasises.
As South Africa marks Intersex Awareness Day, Peace’s story reminds us that visibility and advocacy go hand in hand. Their journey is both personal and political, a testament to the courage it takes to live openly and authentically in a world that still struggles to understand difference.
“Intersex people deserve to live with dignity, free from shame, and to celebrate their bodies without apology,” says Peace.
