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Why I am offended by Trevor Noah's intersex joke

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I attended a Women's Day celebration at a friend's beauty salon on 9 August 2013.

As I am intersex/transgender, I rarely go to female events because I often feel like the odd one out.

Despite feeling a little out of place, I enjoyed the day until I went onto twitter and saw a tweet of someone I followed.

Yes, Trevor Noah insulted Caster Semenya - someone I grew very fond of, not only because of her being seen as intersex, but also because of the severe public scrutiny she had to face when people questioned her gender.

Something I also face regularly, but not on the scale she faced. I was in tears as I rushed to my car.

Two of my friends tried to stop me, but I told them I just needed to get away, because suddenly I was overwhelmed with a feeling of not belonging.

I cried myself to sleep that night because a mean spirited joke hurt me so much and revived all my own struggles with my gender.

When you are a public figure, people listen to your words. When you are a comedian, people laugh at your words. In both instances you are followed by a lot of people.

I wonder if Trevor Noah even knows how hurtful the wrong words can be.

As a transgender/intersex woman, I often battle against people who are not willing to see me for who I am. They usually attack you in the one area they know they can do the most damage: your gender.

We often end up being the punchline of jokes. The day Trevor made that joke, he did not only poke fun at Caster, but he poked fun at me and every other person who battles to be seen for who they truly are.

It hurts even more knowing his millions of followers are laughing at us and it seems as if it is okay to poke fun at us.

We are human beings with feelings like everyone else. I think it is in poor taste to make jokes on a subject that causes nearly 41% of transgender people to commit suicide.

Comedians shouldn’t be bullies. We get bullied enough. They should learn that some topics should remain off limits. On 9 August 2013 he not only lost a fan, he lost my respect.

The struggles transgender and intersex people face are difficult and real and should never be made fun off.  Our struggles are not a joke. Our lives are not trivial.

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