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[intervex]

Autistic pride flag survey #2

A big thank you to everybody who participated in the survey I put out a week ago asking folks to rate 60 different proposed autism flags on a scale of 1 to 5.

I have put together a shortlist of 13 flags based on the results of survey #1, and a second survey which asks people to rate the ten flags along different criteria (aesthetics, symbolism, accessibility, etc).

💛 Survey #2 is open for responses here! 💛

Shortlist selection exposition: To assemble a shortlist of flags for survey #2, I looked at which flags from survey #1 had a median of at least 3 out of 5. I considered flags with a median of 2 or less to be nonviable: too many people disapprove of them.

I then sorted the flags from which had the highest proportion of votes for strong agree (SA) to least. I think this is an important measure for flags to consider. A flag that is popularly viewed as "eh it's fine but I don't love it" seems unlikely to get a lot of uptake. These designs had a median above 3 and ≥20% strong agree (SA) Sorted from highest SA to lowest (left to right, top to bottom)

The Extranthaic version (upper right) of the Julietanboy design (below, left) consistently outperformed the original Julietanboy design, having a higher mean (3.5 vs 3.3) and higher SA rate (21% vs 20%). So Survey #2 only includes the Extranthaic version.

These designs had a median of 3 and ≥15% SA Sorted from highest SA to lowest (left to right, top to bottom)

The nautilus on plain grey had a lower median and mean than the nautilus on grey with diagonal stripes (3 vs 4, and 3.3 vs 3.4, respectively). But it had a higher SA rate (24% vs 23%).

Some folks in the reblogs of Survey #1 said they preferred flags with more simple colour schemes, so I tried adding in some simplified versions of the nautilus with just 7 or 8 shell segments after the survey went live. The 7-segment variant outperformed the 8-shell variant, but still was not as popular as the original. So, Survey #2 only has the 9-segment version.

The pun flag did rather well in terms of SA (19%), though it had a relatively low mean of 2.9.

These designs had a median of 3 and ≥10% SA Sorted from highest SA to lowest (left to right, top to bottom)

The nautilus on plain grey consistently outperformed the nautilus on plain white, which had a mean of 3.0 and SA of 13%. So I didn't include the nautilus-on-white in the second survey.

Of the flags with concentric infinities, the version with disability pride colours on plain white did the best (mean: 3.0, SA 15%). The one with ROYLG on grey had a mean of 2.9 and SA of 13%. These flags had a median of 3 but below 10% SA Sorted from highest SA to lowest (left to right, top to bottom)

Most of the flags in this set have a distribution that is a bell curve centred around 3 -- most people were neutral on it, and not that many people were strongly for nor strongly against.

The original Autistic Empire flag outperformed the versions which segmented the infinity. It stood out for having a rather skewed distribution: 8% of participants gave it a strongly agree, versus 24% who gave it a strongly disagree.

Full results of survey #1 here

💛 Survey #2 is open for responses here! 💛

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Some updates on the survey!

14 flags have been added to the survey since initial deployment! They all have "added after" in their description, so you can ctrl-f to find them. 💛

The late additions are a mix of: - flags that people sent my way that I hadn't found on my own (ty!) - a couple of flags that I found on other platforms (reddit, WC) once I'd been tipped off I'd missed some flags from those sites - a couple of requests people submitted to me - a cleaned up version of a flag in already in the survey, because someone told me they disliked the original more because of the compression artifacts and less because of the design

Consider this a last call for last-minute adds to the survey!

While I wait on more responses to come in, I have started designing a second survey that will ask people to rate a shortlist of top-performing flags from survey #1.

A number of people told me they didn't like rating flags on a single scale of 1-5, and I agree, it would be nice to get more information. So survey #2 will ask people to rate a shortlist of flags along multiple criteria. These are what I have brainstormed:

Aesthetics: does it look good to you?

Semiotics: do you like its use of symbols and/or meaning?

Practicality: is this a practical choice? Would it be workable for art in whatever medium you work with (if you do art)?

Distinctiveness: does this flag look distinct from other groups' flags

Overall suitability: do you think this is a suitable flag?

Are there criteria that people think should be added or modified in this list? Do these seem clear? 💛

Autistic pride flag survey!

There are LOTS of flags that people (myself included) have designed and proposed to be autistic pride flags.

I thought I'd run a survey on which designs folks prefer! My plan is to first do a long and comprehensive survey, and then based on its results possibly do a second survey (or Tumblr poll) with a shortlist from the first survey.

Here is a link to the survey on autistic pride flags! Please note:

Its purpose is to be comprehensive... so it is long!

You'll be asked to rate over 40 flags on a scale of 1 to 5

You do not have to rate every flag

If you get tired, you can just hit the submit button!

When you hit the submit button, you'll have an option to edit your response: right click this link and save the URL to a text file or somewhere else. You can use this URL to change your answers, or just fill in the survey bit by bit.

Here is a google doc with all the flag options in it, if you'd like to see them first, or to have as a reference when looking at others' responses.

You do not need to be autistic to fill in the survey, but I do hope any non-autistic folks filling it in are familiar enough with the community to know why I excluded flags that have puzzle pieces or a blue theme (i.e. references to Autism $peaks). 💛

Survey link again! <3

[intervex]

Autistic pride flag survey!

There are LOTS of flags that people (myself included) have designed and proposed to be autistic pride flags.

I thought I'd run a survey on which designs folks prefer! My plan is to first do a long and comprehensive survey, and then based on its results possibly do a second survey (or Tumblr poll) with a shortlist from the first survey.

Here is a link to the survey on autistic pride flags! Please note:

Its purpose is to be comprehensive... so it is long!

You'll be asked to rate over 40 flags on a scale of 1 to 5

You do not have to rate every flag

If you get tired, you can just hit the submit button!

When you hit the submit button, you'll have an option to edit your response: right click this link and save the URL to a text file or somewhere else. You can use this URL to change your answers, or just fill in the survey bit by bit.

Here is a google doc with all the flag options in it, if you'd like to see them first, or to have as a reference when looking at others' responses.

You do not need to be autistic to fill in the survey, but I do hope any non-autistic folks filling it in are familiar enough with the community to know why I excluded flags that have puzzle pieces or a blue theme (i.e. references to Autism $peaks). 💛

Survey link again! <3

[intervex]

Disability pride flag with a new meaning system

Happy disability pride month! After many months of discussions and three rounds of polls, we have new meanings for the disability pride flag! Thank you to @capricorn-0mnikorn (the flag's designer!) for all the suggestions along the way, and everyone else who gave input! 💚

In this system, rather than have each stripe represent a different category of impairment (physical, sensory, etc), each stripe represents a different model of disability ❤️💛🤍🩵💚 They are:

🩵 The social model of disability (blue): understanding disability as something that is caused by societal factors like lack of accessibility, rather than as a medical condition. For example, many wheelchair users consider what is disabling about being a wheelchair user is the lack of ramps, elevators, paratransit, etc.

The social model differentiates disability (which is social) from impairment (one's physical/mental limitations), inspired by the idea that gender is social and sex is biological.

The social model is kind of the OG model, and was big with the early disability rights movement. It influenced so many others that came after it, because it doesn't work for all disabilities, or even for all situations.

💚 The political minority model of disability (green): understanding disabled people as an oppressed minority who experience societal ableism, and who are working collectively to resist this oppression. This model isn't concerned with how or why people are disabled, it focuses on the ableism we experience. For example, folks with ME/CFS trying to get medical care and being dismissed, and the blind community suffers from braille illiteracy.

💛 The affirmation model of disability (yellow): disability is an identity worth taking pride in! Deaf gain, not hearing loss. Neurodiversity as something that enriches humanity. Whereas the social model is opposed to the medical model of disability, the affirmation model is opposed to the deficit model of disability.

❤️ The debility model (red): this is a postcolonial model that focuses on how colonial and racist violence cause disablement; like people who are injured by war, or preventable diseases like AIDS. This model differentiates disability, which has a clear before-and-after, from debility, which is a slow wearing out through repeated colonial/racist/etc violence. Unlike the affirmation model, this model views some disabilities as worth preventing, and focuses on how disability is used as a tool of racist/colonial/etc oppression.

🤍 Other models (white): there are lots of other models of disability! Like the medical model (disability is a medial problem), the human rights model (disabled people need human rights laws), and the cultural model (disability is a social construction). Models are lenses used for understanding disability, and one might use one lens in one context, and and another in a different context.

Why these colours? In brief: ⚪ White is often considered the combination of all colours. 🩸 Red has associations with blood and violence. 😁 Yellow has associations with happiness. ♿ Blue is associated with accessibility. 🟩 Green is a combination of yellow (affirmation) and blue (social), or for how the political minority model has grassroots organizing, in contrast to the human rights model.

🖤 Dark grey (or black) continues to represent our collective mourning of disabled lives lost to ableism, eugenics, violence, suicide, abuse, and neglect.

SVG version of the infographic here. ❤️💛🤍🩵💚

Tagging for archival: @disabilitypride @disabilityflagsarchive @radiomogai @liom-archive

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Honestly I’ve been rather discouraged by this post, and needed time to formulate a reply. 🫤

I’ve personally received a lot of positive feedback about the models-as-meanings idea. 💙 Including from people who say it is more inclusive. 

TLDR: I think having specific models for specific stripes is important for actually getting people talking and learning about disability studies, my proposal already has an "other models" option, and models are not identity categories that will leave people feeling "left out" in the same way categories of impairment would.

Point 1: It's worth it to pick a few models and be specific about them, and white is already proposed as the "other models" stripe.

To be clear, my proposal was (and continues to be) that the white stripe represent models of disability not otherwise shown. I know there are a ton of models, and they can't all fit. 

I also know that not every model of disability is equally prominent, influential, or easy to learn. And people learning about models of disability for the first time will need a few to familiarize themselves with first, not a few dozen to be overwhelmed by. It makes a great deal of sense to me to pick a few of the most influential/basic ones and then have a stripe for the others. 

I think white makes good sense to represent the models not otherwise featured, and thus far feedback has supported that.

My expectation is that if the stripes don’t have specific models attached to them, people aren’t going to bother making the association. I don’t think a vague “they all stand for different models” is going to spark the same conversations or level of learning as when it's “blue is social model, yellow is affirmation model, green is political minority, red is debility, and white is other models” - naming major models makes them concrete. (And also may help people remember them by giving them colour associations.) 

There has been a lot of feedback and many polls about what would be the most suitable models to represent the stripes and I personally felt we had finally landed on green being the political minority model (which you had helpfully suggested!), and that had been the only colour that there seemed to be any disagreement on, and even then the vibe was very friendly disagreement rather than strong feelings.

Since your post, I’ve feeling a lot of regret for not trying to do more to get the word out, and clarify that green seems to have finally been figured out. I'm working on crip time here. 😞

Point 2: I think specificity matters and makes this flag stand out from alternatives

I want the disability pride flag to mean something. To me, that means having actual specificity about things like what the stripes mean.

We already have a disability flag with where the individual stripes don't have meaning and it's all a vague “the different colours reflect the diversity of disability”. It's the Eros Recio flag. 🙃

Point 3: models of disability are not identity categories

In my experience, people don’t identify themselves to models in the way that they do to groups of impairments. My sense is that people who really vibe with the political-relational model of disability are also people who will still appreciate attention being given to the social and political minority models of disability. 

Models of disability are lenses, not identity groups in the way that “physical disability” or “mental disability” are. The same person can use one model to talk about a disability in one context, and a different model in another.

I don't think people are going to feel left out if their favourite model isn't on the flag - mine isn't and I personally consider that a good thing, because I know from teaching disability studies that students really struggle with the cultural (social construction) model. I don't think it makes for a good flag stripe, honestly. 🤷

Which is, again, why I think it’s vital to pick a few important models and give them specific colours so that people get the basic building blocks. I’d rather more people to actually learn the basic models rather than be overwhelmed by the wealth of available models, especially the more academic-oriented ones. 🩵

Hi there are ppl discussing where I live about the blue for psychiatric disabilities, since it reminds of light it all blue campaign controversy. what should I reply them?

https://www.instagram.com/p/DKNxEN_utUS

I don't have an Instagram account, BTW (I stay away from all things Meta™ as much as I can).

I assume you're talking about the blue (or cyan, depending on how you categorize it) stripe on the Disability Pride Flag. Correct?

I chose those colors for the flag (black, red, yellow, white, blue, and green) because they are all of the six "standard" flag colors. Together, they represent a global community, united by common experiences, rather than national borders (just as the official flag of the Olympics has all six colors, to unite, at least in theory, the global community of athletes). Swapping out the blue stripe for a non-standard color would break that symbolism.

That said, Tumblr user @intervex has also raised concerns about each stripe representing a specific medical category of disability. And back in September, 2024, they proposed having each stripe represent a different conceptual model of disability, instead.

But that raises a similar problem: there are a lot more than six models of disability, and trying to pin down a single meaning for each stripe will always leave someone out.

So (perhaps) it's best to just say: "The five colored bands cutting through the black field represent the wide variety of Disability Experience, even as we work in solidarity, to fight for Justice and Equity."

And we can use the different colors of the flag as a conversation opener to discuss the different ways disability is experienced.

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Term coining: desmosex

I've recently been researching intersex representation for Intersex Wiki, including Intersex in Mythology and Intersex Art History.

And it's made me want a term for individuals like: - Ardhanarishvara, the Hindu deity that is the combination of Shiva (male) and Paarvati (female) - Hermaphroditus, the Greco-Roman god who according to Ovid was transformed to have mixed sex characteristics after his sexual harasser Salmacis got her body forcibly merged into his body in an act of serious body horror (note: there are alternate versions of this myth where he was born intersex) - Stevonnie, the Steven Universe character who is a fusion of Steven and Connie

As @praeobscura in writing the call for An Intersex Jam point outs, these individuals are not actually intersex. And thus, I coin...

Desmosex: an individual with a varsex body, who has sex characteristics that were modified as a result of fusion/integration of multiple individuals/headmates or collaborative transition by a plural system. (Desmo- means to bind, connect)

This term would include: - fictional characters like Stevonnie - religious/mythical entities like Ardhanarishvara, Harihara, Lakshmi-Narayana, and the Ovid version of Hermaphroditus, etc - plural systems with perisex bodies who decide as a group to medically transition towards androgynous/neutral sex traits as a compromise for the varying genders of the different headmates - plural systems with intersex bodies who change their sex characteristics for similar reasons - a corelet who, because of their plural experiences, had changed their sex traits prior to final fusion

Note: I am not a plural system! I am a possibly median intersex individual, and I personally interpret stories about "two individuals are merged into one varsex body" as an experience that belongs more with plurality than intersex. In coining a term and creating a definition for the mythical/fictional characters above, it struck me that there are probably plural systems out there who would identify with these individuals! Acknowledgements: @clairvoyant-weapons, who is an actual system, gave helpful feedback on the definition, coining, and the flag! 💜 And @goingrampant started the conversation that triggered me looking for a term for this, and was the one who first picked desmosex out of a list of several ideas I brainstormed. 💜

Flag is inspired by these transition flags that @bloomshroomz made. Symbolism is: - Orange, dark violet, and treble ampersand: plurality - White chevron and trans symbol: gender transition - Dark red: for the specifically embodied aspect of this - to be desmosex, one has to have changed one's bodily sex characteristics.

Copyright: public domain

Tagging for archival: @varsex-pride @radiomogai @liom-archive @pluralterms @plurchive

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hai i was just wondering if people with vulval hypospadias can use the genitalia intersex flag?

Of course! Vulvar hypospadias is a genital variation! Any intersex person can use whichever (and as many) of the intersex variation type flags I made that make sense for them! 💜

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Flags for types of intersex variations

I made some pride flags for different types of intersex variations 💜 Bright versions on the right, sensory friendlier versions on the left.

Environmentally intersex: having an intersex variation caused by prenatal conditions, such as in utero exposure to diethylstilbestrol or synthetic progestins.

The flag features a placenta. The placenta icon used is by onclang and is CC BY 3.0. As such, I'm releasing this flag as CC-BY-4.0. 💜

Genetically intersex: having an intersex variation with any genetic basis! Examples include 46,XX with SRY and CAH.

The flag uses this symbol by Koson Rattanaphan and is CC BY 3.0. As such, I'm releasing this flag as CC-BY-4.0. 💜 Chromosomally intersex: having an intersex variation caused by having different sex chromosomes than 46,XX or 46,XY! Examples include Trisomy XXY and Monosomy X.

The flag depicts anaphase (the stage in mitosis when chromosomes move to opposite sides of the about-to-divide cell). If a chromosome winds up on the "wrong" side nondisjunction happens, which causes chromosome aneuploidies. Based on this CC-BY-SA 4.0 image from WC. As such, this flag is also CC-BY-SA 4.0. 💜

Genitally intersex: being intersex and having any sort of genital variation! Examples include ambiguous genitalia, hypospadias, micropenis, labial fusion, and vaginal atresia.

The icon in the middle is based on the first diagram in this infographic on human genital development. It depicts the genital tubercule before any sexual differentiation. I chose the colours so that it would look like a combination of the 🍑 and 🍆 emojis, which made me happy 😅. This one is public domain. 💜

Pelvically intersex: being intersex and having any sort of variations of the internal sex organs! Examples include gonadal variations like ovotestes and gonadal dysgenesis, and ductal variations like Müllerian agenesis and PMDS.

The icon in the middle is based on the first diagram in this infographic about sexual differentiation, depicting both the Wolffian and Müllerian ducts with the the gonads, before any sexual differentiation happens. It's based on a CC-BY-3.0 image by Teixeira, Rueda & Pru, so this flag is also CC-BY-3.0. 💜

Hormonally intersex: being intersex and having any sort of hormonal variation. This is a new variant on the flag I made earlier this year, putting it in the ring to be like the other flags here. It is public domain.

💜 Square versions for avatars & SVG versions available here. Thank you to @scifimagpie and @goingrampant for feedback on prototypes!

Tagging @intersexflags @varsex-pride @radiomogai @liom-archive for archival! 💜

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Alternate intersex symbols

@lexicalblog recently suggested a new astronomy-inspired symbol for intersex that made me go "oooh!"

I'm personally exited for any alternative to the Mercury symbol 👍️ (Mercury is a reference to the h-slur, and was invented by biologists)

So I made some SVG/PNG symbols based on Lexi's idea! 💜 These are derived from this gender symbol from Wikimedia Commons. ......... intersex .......................... intersex fem ................... intersex masc

.... intersex enby .............. intersex transfem ............ intersex transmasc

SVGs: available here

Copyright: these are all copyright-ineligible (i.e. public domain) - but please credit Lexi for the symbols. The idea was hers, I just made them into SVGs.

Tagging for archival @interarchive @varsex-pride @liom-archive @radiomogai

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Some specific intergender flags

I made these all in late June 2024 as part of my review of intersex flag mashup techniques, and only now realized I never posted these specifically to Tumblr (Whoops! 😅)

These are all flags for specific intergenders (genders that are influenced/connected to being intersex). They all take the most common flag for the combining gender and add intersex yellow stripes to the top and bottom. 💛

Inter-xenogender................ inter-agender................... inter-bigender

inter-genderqueer................. inter-neutrois.......... inter-trigender

inter-neutralgender..... inter-genderapathetic........ inter-maverique

Inter-maverique is maverique in a specifically intersex way, inter-genderapathetic is gender apathy that is specifically connected to being intersex, and so on. 💜

I am under the impression that all the source flags used here for intergender mashups are public domain on the basis of Threshold of Originality. My mashups are all public domain as a result. 💛

I posted SVGs to Wikimedia Commons back in June 2024.

Tagging for archival: @intersexflags @varsex-pride @radiomogai @liom-archive

[intervex]

Intersex & intergender sex worker flags

The red umbrella is a symbol of sex workers & sex worker rights. It represents beauty & resistance to attacks on social workers. ❤️

Top: intersex (intersex purple on intersex yellow background) Bottom: intergender (intersex yellow on intersex purple background) Sensory friendlier versions on the right.

Requested by: @scifimagpie

Licensing: the umbrella icon comes from Font Awesome by Dave Gandy, and has a Creative Commons BY-SA 3.0 license. As a result, I am releasing the flags as CC BY-SA 4.0 (the newer, compatible version of the same license).

Square versions for avatars/etc under the cut.

Tagging for archival: @intersexflags @varsex-pride @liom-archive @radiomogai

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More intersex headcanons

Some more intersex headcanons that came to mind after my last headcanon post! These are all headcanons of mine.

Min Farshaw from Wheel of Time as interneutrois (neutrois in a specifically intersex way)

Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill from Animorphs as interandrogyne (androgyne in a specifically intersex way)

Casey from Mr Dressup as intersexgender (and also pangender)

Crowley from Good Omens as intersex and transmascfem.

LMK if you have any intersex headcanons you want flagified! I feel like intersex headcanons pretty much always get put on the intersex flag, and that flag makes me happy, but I also wanna show some love to intersex microlabels 💛💜💛

Edit to add: all of the pictures of characters are copyrighted. Feel free to use/share per fandom social norms, just know you can't upload it to Wikimedia Commons or the like.

[intervex]

Miscellaneous headcanons (some mine, some from others)

Deadpool from the MCU as varsex (since he has all the cancers). Photo credit. Inspired by this ask to @consciousexe.

Paul Atreides from Dune as intersex and interexpressive-masculine (i.e. his masculine gender expression is connected to / reflective of being intersex). Photo credit. Submission by @goingrampant.

Brienne of Tarth from Games of Thrones as intersex and having interexpressive-neutral gender expression. Image source. Inspired by this post by @thehmn.

Chummy Browne from Call the Midwife as intersex and interexpressive-androgynous (while also being a woman). Inspired by the same post by @thehmn. Image source.

Bobbie Draper from The Expanse as intersex and interexpressive-feminine. Her femininity (especially in the books) is always described in reference to her large stature and musculature, but it's always understood as feminine. Very feminine in a specifically intersex way. Photo source. Inspired by this post by @intertrek.

Camina Drummer from The Expanse as extersex, because what kind of beltalowda has access to medical testing? This one's from me, I headcanon most of the Belters in the TV show as hypogonadally intersex to explain why they're not as tall as they should be per the books 😂. And I think Drummer wouldn't be bothered to figure out if she is intersex or not.

Ahsoka Tano from Star Wars as intersex AFAB transfeminine with the intertransgender flag. Source image. Inspired by this poll by @aretheyqueer.

Fiona from Shrek as PCOS-intersex (i.e. intersex on the basis of having PCOS hyperandrogenism). Suggested by @scifimagpie. Image source.

Harth Fray from the Buffy comics as XTM intersex, having access to feminine powers that are shared with his twin sister. Suggested by @goingrampant. Image source.

Joan Lambert from Alien is XTF intersex! Photo from here. I've seen a bunch of people list Lambert as an intersex headcanon but I personally think the reveal she was medically assigned from male to female at birth is pretty canonically intersex. 🤷

Tedd Verres from El Goonish Shive is intersex and interfluid! Picture source. Submission by @goingrampant.

Azi Nareen from Scavenger's Reign is intersex and inter-agender/intergenderless. Picture from from here. Another headcanon of mine.

Note on copyright: all of these flags include copyrighted images. They are not public domain. Feel free to use/share within the norms of using material derived from popular media on social media.

[intervex]

Hello! I was inspired by your fandom intersex flags to make these Splatoon intersex flags.

Awesome! Thanks for sharing! 😀

[intervex]

An interandrogyne flag design

Following the trend of other intergender flags I and others have made by sticking intersex yellow on the borders :)

I switched the androgyne stripes to horizontal, because the vertical versions I tried didn't look as good. I rotated them to the left rather than the right so that they'd be in the opposite order of the bi flag (to try and reduce confusion). Sensory friendlier version on the left.

This flag is public domain! 🎉

Nobody requested this one, I just wanted to to make it for my own benefit.

Best as I can tell the original coining was by @intersexfairy in 2021.

Tagging for archival: @intersexflags @varsex-pride @liom-archive @radiomogai

[intervex]

[ID: Nine pixel hearts of various flags in order being Demi-Intergender, Extergender, Inter-Demigender, Inter-Demigirl, Inter-Demiboy, Inter-Demi-Agender, Inter-Demineutrois, Inter-Demixenine, and Inter-Demiflux. End ID]

@ipso-faculty Demi-Intergender, Inter-Demigender

@intervex The rest (^side blog of ipso but still where the other flags were originally posted)

[intervex]

Hi are you ann magill?

No. @capricorn-0mnikorn is Ann Magill.