What happened: As the threat of widespread conflict in the Middle East continues to escalate, the U.S. State Department on Thursday released a statement celebrating "Intersex Awareness Day."
What they're saying: "Today in celebration and recognition of Intersex Awareness Day, we affirm the United States' commitment to promoting and protecting the human rights of Intersex persons globally," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller wrote. "We applaud all activists, organizations and governments working to raise visibility and awareness and protect Intersex persons' rights to bodily integrity and to ensure equal protection and recognition before the law."
What it means: The term intersex refers to individuals who are "born with sex characteristics ... that do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies," according to the United Nations.
Why it matters: The Biden administration continues to downplay the alarming incidents of anti-Semitism in the United States, often involving students at so-called prestigious colleges and universities.
• On Wednesday, pro-Hamas protesters at Cooper Union in Manhattan pounded on the doors of the school library, where several Jewish students were locked inside, shouting "Free Palestine." The Jewish students were reportedly told they could "hide in the attic."
• The Biden administration has a history of celebrating obscure LGBTQIA2S+ holidays in the midst of an international crisis. In October 2021, several weeks after Biden's disastrous military withdrawal from Afghanistan, the State Department was widely mocked for a social media post on "International Pronouns Day."
• Earlier this year, the State Department offered free counseling to individuals who felt "triggered" or traumatized after a "pronoun glitch" in the department-wide email system resulted in a number of employees being "misgendered."
Crucial context: According to a 2009 CNN report, there are an "unusually high" number of intersex individuals living in Gaza, where the "socially-conservative society" does not treat them with the respect they deserve. One doctor attributed the condition's relatively high frequency in Gaza to in-breeding.
• "If you want to go to the root of the problem, this problem runs in families in the genes," Dr. Jehad Abudaia told CNN. "They want to get married to cousins ... they don't go to another family. This is a problem."