Mauro Cabral Grinspan,[1] also known as Mauro Cabral, is an Argentinian intersex and trans activist, who serves as the Senior Officer for Gender Justice and Equity at the Global Philanthropy Project. Before that, he was the Executive Director of GATE. His work - as a signatory of the Yogyakarta Principles[2] - focuses on the reform of medical protocols and law reform. In July 2015, Cabral received the inaugural Bob Hepple Equality Award.[3]
Mauro Cabral Grinspan was assigned female at birth, but now lives as male. He has described how his intersex body was discovered to be different or "incomplete" in his teens; after two surgeries he had to undergo several years of invasive procedures.[4] He has said in an interview that the surgery makes him feel that he needed surgery before he could be loved.[5]
Cabral Grinspan argues homophobia is a driving force behind the common urge to "normalize" intersex children into traditional male or female categories, and proposes surgeries for intersex persons send a message to children that their bodies have to be changed to be acceptable. Additionally, Cabral Grinspan suggests a need for broader cultural acceptance of intersex without treating these people as though they suffer from a medical disorder.[6]
Mauro Cabral Grinspan has been involved in activism on trans and intersex issues since at least 2005. From 2005 to 2007 he was in charge of coordinating the Trans and Intersex Area at the IGLHRC Latin American Office.[7] He then worked for three years at MULABI, Latin American Space for Sexualities and Rights, becoming Executive Director in 2009. Cabral became a co-director of GATE in January 2010[7][8] and also co-chairs the International Trans* Reference Group at the Global Forum on MSM and HIV/AIDS. Cabral is a member of the Latin American Consortium on Intersex Issues, and of the International Advisory Board at the Human Rights Watch LGBT Program.[citation needed]
Cabral Grinspan participated in actions that led to the approval of a ground-breaking law on gender identity by the Argentinian Senate in April 2012. The law makes it possible to change sex designation without undergoing surgical or clinical treatment, or judicial approval.[9][10]
Cabral Grinspan has co-ordinated work on reform of the World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases, in particular a critique and alternative proposals in relation to "Gender Incongruence of Childhood".[11] He is a contributor to the World Health Organization report "Sexual health, human rights and the law".[12]
In 2006 Cabral participated in the production of the Yogyakarta Principles on the Application of Human Rights Legislation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity,[15] and was one of the initial 29 signatories.[2] He is also a drafting committee member and signatory of the Yogyakarta Principles plus 10, on the application of international human rights law in relation to sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics.[16]
In March 2013, Mauro Cabral, together with Natasha JiménezofMULABI, Paula Sandrine Marchado and Pidgeon Pagonis testified to the Inter-American Commission on Human RightsonSituation of Human Rights of Intersex Persons in the Americas. The first hearing on intersex human rights before the Commission, each shared their personal experiences and presented broader issues, such as "normalization" surgery on the genitals of intersex infants.[20][21]
Cabral has contributed to numerous documents including the Yogyakarta Principles, the World Health Organization report "Sexual health, human rights and the law",[12] and the Open Society Foundations report "Licence to Be Yourself".[23]
In July 2015, Cabral was a co-recipient of the inaugural Bob Hepple Equality Award, alongside Pragna Patel of Southall Black Sisters.[24] The award is named for Bob Hepple, the former lawyer of Nelson Mandela.[3] The Oxford Human Rights Hub comments, "Cabral was crucial in the process leading to the enactment of Argentina's Gender Identity Law in 2012, a law which has been extensively cited in court decisions on gender identity cases, including the Indian Supreme Court, and which has inspired legislation reform in countries including Malta, the Netherlands and Sweden."[24]
