Ruth Baldacchino

Ruth Baldacchino (born 1979) is an LGBT and intersex activist, former Co-Secretary General of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA World),[1] and Senior Program Officer for the first intersex human rights fund.[1]

Ruth Baldacchino
BornDecember 1979
Malta
NationalityMaltese
OccupationFormer ILGA Co-Secretary General; Senior Program Officer - Intersex Human Rights Find at Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice
Known forLGBT rights

Education

Baldacchino holds an M.A. in Women's Studies from University College Dublin and a B.A. (Honours) in Sociology from University of Malta. They lecture Queer Studies and Sociology at the University of Malta.[1]

Activism and career

Baldacchino has previously served on the boards of the Malta Gay Rights Movement,[2] IGLYO and ILGA-Europe and also serves as senior program officer for the first intersex human rights fund.[1] They are a visiting lecturer at the University of Malta.[3] Between 2014 and 2019, they served as co-secretary general of ILGA World.[4] Since 2015 they have worked as program officer for the first intersex human rights fund, at the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice.[1]

Prior to joining Astraea, Baldacchino worked at the Ministry for Civil Liberties in Malta on human rights and social integration, participating in the process of developing and passing a groundbreaking Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sex Characteristics Act.[1][5]

Baldacchino has a non-binary gender identity,[1] and describes the Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sex Characteristics Act as providing "freedom to an individual to develop, establish and express their gender, rather than having the State or the medical professionals deciding that. In other words, ... to be allowed to determine what identity fits ... best and how ... to embody that identity."[6]

Baldacchino has also closely engaged with intersex activists, particularly through the co-facilitation and coordination of ILGA's International Intersex Forums.[7]

Baldacchino contributed to a 2015 national education policy on Trans, Gender Variant and Intersex Students in Schools.[1][8]

See also

References
  1. "Introducing the Intersex Fund team at Astraea!". Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice. June 16, 2015. Archived from the original on July 3, 2015. Retrieved July 2, 2015.
  2. Calleja, Claudia (March 29, 2012). "Milkshake seeks to dismantle taboos". Times of Malta. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
  3. University of Malta (February 4, 2015). "Visiting Staff". University of Malta. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
  4. "Press Release – ILGA Annual Report on State-Sponsored Homophobia". SOGI News.com. RFSL. May 14, 2015. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
  5. Lavers, Michael (April 1, 2015). "Maltese lawmakers approve 'cutting-edge' gender identity bill". Washington Blade. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
  6. Akpınar, Ömer (April 3, 2015). "Malta: "I am allowed to determine what identity fits me best"". Kaos GL. Archived from the original on June 25, 2019. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
  7. Hay, Mark (April 7, 2015), What Will Malta’s New Intersex Law Mean for the Rest of the World?, Vice
  8. Ministry for Education and Employment, Malta (June 2015), Trans, Gender Variant and Intersex Students in Schools: Policy (PDF), Ministry for Education and Employment, Malta
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