The Archive
Primary sources from the founding of the intersex movement
A cataloged collection of documents from the founding of the Intersex Society of North America and the modern intersex movement: newsletters, correspondence, photographs, artwork, and early digital materials, assembled by founder Bo Laurent.
This archive documents the founding years of the modern intersex movement through its own records. The materials were created and gathered by Bo Laurent (who published much of this work under the name Cheryl Chase), founder of the Intersex Society of North America. Each item is cataloged, dated, and presented three ways: an editorial headnote placing it in context, a full transcription, and the original document.
Scope and content
The collection includes the Hermaphrodites with Attitude(s) newsletters, founding correspondence with journalists, scientists, and historians, photographs, artwork, and early databases and website captures. Together they trace how a scattered correspondence network became an organized movement with a public voice.
New items are added as they are prepared and cleared for publication. Items still under review — including correspondence that requires a privacy pass — are not listed here.
Items
| Date | Item | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 1, 1994 | Hermaphrodites with Attitudes — Volume 1, Number 1 | The complete first issue of Hermaphrodites with Attitudes, the newsletter of the Intersex Society of North America (ISNA), Winter 1994 — the first regular publication of the intersex movement. Full transcription with an editorial headnote, plus the original born-digital issue. |
Arrangement and use
Items are cataloged individually and can be browsed above by date or filtered by theme. Each item carries a stable identifier (for example, hwa-01) and a stable URL; sections within an item are separately linkable for citation.
Provenance
Assembled and held by Bo Laurent. The collection is mixed: physical materials are held in the Kinsey Institute Library’s archival collections, while born-digital materials — such as the newsletters — are published here. Each item’s page states its own source and holding.
Rights and reproduction
Rights vary by item and are stated on each item’s page. Where a document carries its own distribution terms — as the newsletters do (“Free to copy and distribute”) — those govern. For permissions, reproduction of restricted materials, or questions about items not yet published, please get in touch.
How to cite
Cite an item by its title, date, and archive identifier — for example: Hermaphrodites with Attitudes, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Winter 1994), ed. Cheryl Chase. The Bo Laurent Intersex Movement Archive, item hwa-01, https://bolaurent.com/archive/hwa-01/. For a physical item, add its holding repository (the Kinsey Institute Library).