Let me throw a very surprising statistic at you: as many as 17 in a thousand babies will be born inter-sex. To put that into perspective; Nottingham city has a population of around 305,000 meaning that up to 5185 people in just the city of Nottingham will have one of the 70 variants of inter-sexuality. This also equates to 8,370 in Edinburgh and 13,8959 in London.

Such a prominent number begs the question why are the British public so unaware of inter-sex? More importantly, I want to explore why inter-sex people feel so reluctant to ‘come out’? Why should it be an issue when we are in a society where we accept gays and transsexuals? Or is that actually so very far from the truth?

Being born inter-sex is as natural as the female menstruation or child-birth – you were born neither strictly male nor female – so why is it more wide-known and (arguably) accepted to be a transsexual when you change from the gender you were born as?

Remember when homosexuality was illegal?  You probably think I am talking hundreds or even thousands of years ago? No. Homosexuality was legalised in 1967. Meaning our Grandparents probably would take the opinion that is wrong, unnatural and immoral. Oh but how far we have come since then! Or have we? Yes the law says it is legal and acceptable to be gay but does society and the views of the public still suggest we are in the 1950s? After all, opinions and traditions have this funny ol’ way of being passed down through the generations.

Let me use the example of X factor’s Rylan Clarke and let me point out that a fair majority of the comments about him found on You-tube videos and online news stories, degrade him due to this sexual orientation. These comments which include notions such as ‘he should go grab his handbag and storm off the little puff’ and that ‘he is a poor excuse of a human being’ are notably from young men. Obviously worth mentioning that people may dislike him because he is not as talented as other contestants, but I refuse to accept that argument – if there was very vibrant, sexy , energetic female who was a talented dancer/performer but lacked in vocal skills – there would not be the same manifestation of abuse. Does the problem lie with the fact he is overtly homosexuality and does not hide ‘the stereotypical homosexual tendencies’?

Without going too far into the reasoning behind the hostility of homosexuals – does the idea threaten the alphas males of this world? Let’s face it, homosexuality was legalised only 40 years ago – laws can change but that doesn’t mean society is going to change just as easily.

Another comparison to make also regarding X factor is the fact that two female contestants are also gay – but there are no threats or comments regarding their sexual orientation in their cases. Don’t believe me? Search for yourself.

Avoiding a ‘black and white’-or even crude turn of language – it would seem that lesbianism does not intimidate straight women, as the thought process I would imagine would be: ‘if they like girls – they might find me attractive. I would be flattered. If they like girls it means they will not be interested in men so there will be more men for me…’

Homosexuality within males may intimidate heterosexual men because men by their very nature hunt for their partners – they select them so there is a slightly more upfront or forward approach to men finding their partners. In some circumstances, it is associated with denial.

There are laws in place to ensure equality for transsexuals and they can in fact legally change sex, they can obtain a new birth certificate. This does not mean, however, even if people do not admit it, that society accepts these relatively new concepts. But why? What is the alternative? We all live in denial and become sensationally depressed? This is 2013.

It is simply just sad to become aware that these people by not fault of their own are suffering in silence, just because society is stuck in the dark ages unable to accept any differences.

Maybe somebody who is inter-sex needs to stand up and say ‘Hey, look at me, I’m inter-sex – it’s normal and natural and I’m a human being and you shouldn’t judge me’ because there are so many people who would happily turn around and say ‘Go on mate! You tell em!’