{"id":2429,"date":"2024-06-26T15:00:19","date_gmt":"2024-06-26T14:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/alumni\/?p=2429"},"modified":"2024-06-26T15:00:20","modified_gmt":"2024-06-26T14:00:20","slug":"alumni-pride-anicks-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/alumni\/alumni-pride-anicks-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumni Pride: Anick\u2019s Story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the run up to London Pride, we’re sharing the stories and celebrating achievements of our queer alumni. Here, Law graduate and intersex campaigner Anick Soni (He\/Him) shares how his experiences at Westminster shaped who he is today.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anick was not out when he went to his first Pride.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He became curious about it after seeing a poster in his Marylebone campus hall of residence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t thinking about my sexuality at that point. It was more that I was wondering if there were other people like me, who are intersex,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

University of Westminster graduate Anick Soni is now an intersex human rights activist, TEDx speaker and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He runs a charity and has appeared in programmes, documentaries and radio programmes raising awareness about and advocating for intersex people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intersex, also known as \u2018variations of sex characteristics\u2019 or \u2018differences of sex development\u2019 refers to chromosomal, hormonal, reproductive and sex characteristics that do not fit neatly with societal definitions of typical female or male bodies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But when he was in first year, Anick says didn\u2019t even know the word intersex. Going to Pride was the first step towards something totally different. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opening the door<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Westminster was hosting National Student Pride and was asking for volunteers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know what I was getting into,\u201d Anick says, \u201cand if I hadn\u2019t seen that poster, I probably would never have gotten involved.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He describes his volunteering experience as something that \u201copened the door\u201d to starting to find his community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He met lots of people from different universities, all with different stories and experiences. Meeting others similar \u2013 and different \u2013 to you can be powerful. It prompted Anick to \u201cdo a lot of soul searching to realise what it is that I want.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His journey towards self-discovery had begun. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A degree of flexibility<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around this time, Anick decided to go on a study year abroad, which turned out to be life changing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn Australia, a doctor said to me: \u2018How long have you known you\u2019re intersex?\u2019 And I said: \u2018How long have I known I\u2019m what?\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe just don\u2019t use that term in the same way that they do there. I never thought of myself as being between sexes, I just thought there was something different about me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The word intersex was an outdated medical term in the UK, that is being reclaimed by its community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning this word first captured Anick\u2019s attention \u2013 and then his academic interests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought, what am I doing in my current studies that will make space for my queerness and for being intersex?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Studying at Westminster meant he was able to choose modules and do research on what he was interested in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnce I found out I was intersex, I was able to incorporate it. It really made such a big difference working with open minded lecturers who were also on that learning journey with me \u2013 because they hadn\u2019t heard the word intersex either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think if I was anywhere else, I\u2019m not sure what would have happened. Whether I would have felt comfortable saying to my tutors or anyone else that I want to do an essay or I want to do some research on queer topics. Or I want to focus my law degree on human rights violations for intersex people. I didn\u2019t ever think that would be an opportunity. And then it just kind of created itself through all of the different networks that exist at Westminster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was learning about myself but also about the history and potential for a future. That was all because there were so many ways I could incorporate it into my degree.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your connection with Westminster doesn\u2019t stop at graduation. Anick says: \u201cWhen you stay in contact with the university it gives you the opportunity to carry on that learning and keep those connections.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Intersex campaigning<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the pandemic Anick set up a charity called Interconnected UK with two others: Dr Lih-Mei Liao, a clinical and health psychologist who has been working with intersex people since the 90s, and Magda Rakita, an intersex woman and campaigner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe realised that we need healing as a community. So much of the work done is focused externally \u2013 it\u2019s to do with getting people to understand us. So what we wanted to do was create a space where we could understand ourselves.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re having conversations with those of us who have grown up with this \u2013 how do we feel? What are we doing? Again that wouldn\u2019t have happened if I hadn\u2019t been able to study intersex as well as be intersex. And that comes down to Westminster.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anick says intersex campaigning has become broader in recent years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re having conversations around bodies that we weren\u2019t having before. These days I make a distinction between saying intersex and variations of sex development. There are so many things that could be a variation of sex development but it\u2019s up to the individual and how it impacts them as to whether they want to take on this more political identity of saying they are intersex. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIntersex has a lot more inclusion in spaces, particularly queer spaces. But we don\u2019t want people to feel that they have to be a queer activist to be part of this, intersex has nothing to do with sexuality per se, in terms of orientation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd we still haven\u2019t made an impact in education or the way that we actually talk about our bodies. We haven\u2019t seen enough in the mainstream.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anick doesn\u2019t want people to go through what he did \u2013 only finding people with variations when he was at university.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pride at Westminster: 20-year anniversary <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anick is looking forward to the 20-year celebration of student pride coming back to Westminster in February as he now works for National Student Pride. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s gone full circle,\u201d he says, \u201cand the student movement is so important for the queer community in general. We are slowly getting out of the people who grew up under Section 28 and people who were told not to learn about their sexuality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m really looking forward to meeting up with people doing research, or just starting out at university and not knowing who they are right now and one day figuring that out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being proud<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

University is a transformative time, making it hard to know what your career will hold. For Anick, the reason for going was to \u201copen as many doors as I could and not feel restricted by any paths.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think my younger self at University would probably feel quite vindicated that I was doing the right thing by going with the flow and carving out the right space that I needed for myself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI consider Westminster the home and birthplace of my activism. I feel like I would be proud of myself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

This Pride Month, we\u2019ve been asking alumni in the Q+ community how Westminster supported them in becoming who they are today. Keep a look out for more stories this week. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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