"You're using the wrong pronoun. Use 'she'". The dialogue between Jacques Costa and Catarina Miranda, in the latest edition of 'Big Brother', went viral. The contestant Jacques, who has since left the show, revealed to be a non-binary person, which generated some confusion about the subject, both in the 'most watched house in the country', and outside it.

At the beginning of March, Salvador Sobral assumed to be intersexual, sharing that he was receiving doses of testosterone. Do you know the term intersexuality and what it means to be non-binary? One has nothing to do with the other, although they are often confused.

The Lifestyle ao Minuto spoke with Daniela Filipe Bento, from the ILGA Association, to clarify the issue and understand the differences.

"Non-binary is often confused with the fact that a person can be intersex, but we are talking about two different things. The first refers to gender identity and the second to physical characteristics that a certain person has".

Daniela Filipe Bento also referred to the fact that the subjects are brought up by public figures and addressed in television programs, which can help combat stigma.

How can we define intersexuality?

Intersex people are people who have sexual characteristics, primary and secondary characters, gonads, hormones, which are of both sexes: female and male. These characteristics may or may not be visible. The combination of sexual characteristics that can characterize an intersex person is quite varied and it is important to note that in many cases they do not represent a health risk.

A non-binary person is a person whose identity is defined by not being exclusively male, nor exclusively femaleIs it something that can occur at any stage of life?

Sexual characteristics are determined at birth, and develop throughout life, but a person cannot become an intersex person over time. They can, however, discover that they are an intersex person at different stages of their life. It is common during puberty or, for example, when they want to have children and cannot.

Leia Também: 'BB'. Contestant wants to be treated as 'she'. What does it mean to be non-binary? (Portuguese version)

Is there any difference between the term hermaphrodite, or is it more correct to say intersex?

The correct term to use is intersex person. The word hermaphrodite, which refers to the ability to produce both gametes, is extremely stigmatizing and should never be used to refer to people.

And how can we define someone as non-binary?

A non-binary person is a person whose identity is defined by not being exclusively male, nor exclusively female. That is, a non-binary person can identify with both genders, none, or partially with some of them. 

Some examples include gender fluid people, whose gender flows between various genders, agender people who do not identify with any gender or even genderqueer people whose gender identity falls outside the pattern of the female/male normativity. A simple way to understand this concept, although in an overly simplified way, is to think that the male/female binomial is two extremes of a segment and non-binary people are located between these poles.

Is it something that fits into the traditional concepts of masculine or feminine?

Due to their identity nature, non-binary people do not fit into traditional concepts of feminine or masculine. They can undoubtedly express themselves within the socially constructed standards that define femininity or masculinity, but gender expression, which is related to the exterior and how the person represents themselves to the world, is not the same as gender identity.

Can it be easily confused with other terms, for example, with intersexuality?

Non-binary is often confused with the fact that a person can be intersex, but we are talking about two different things. The first refers to gender identity and the second to physical characteristics that a certain person has.

Salvador Sobral revealed to be intersex and that he was receiving doses of testosterone. Is this a common procedure in these cases?

It is common for intersex people to undergo surgeries and hormone replacement therapy. It is important to say that, often, these surgeries and therapies are imposed on them by the medical community or even by the people responsible for them, if they are minors, against their personal will, with the sole purpose of normalizing their bodies.

Can there be a need for this type of health care?

Knowing that there are cases in which these interventions are necessary, it is also, unfortunately, very frequent that intersex people are forced to undergo these procedures when there is no such need, since their intersexuality does not represent a danger to their health. That is why one of the greatest struggles of intersex people is the right to their personal and bodily autonomy.

Are there people who do not know they are intersex?

The set of sexual characteristics that a human being has is immense and there are several ways to combine these characteristics. In many cases, there is no visual characteristic that identifies a person as intersex unless they undergo certain procedures, such as performing a karyotype test. In this sense, there are people who can live a lifetime without knowing that they are.

What are the differences between intersex, transgender and queer people?

When we refer to intersex people we are referring to people who have a certain set of feminine and masculine sexual characteristics. When we refer to trans people, we refer to people whose identity does not correspond to the identity attributed at birth and queer people when we talk about non-normative sexual identities and/or orientations.

The fact that non-binary identities are not legally recognized does not allow for the construction of any public policy measures Can the entry of non-binary people into television shows, such as Jacques Costa in 'Big Brother', bring the discussion, make the subject clearer and more clarified for most people?

Yes, as long as the subject is explored in the correct way, without instrumentalizing people and without stigmatizing them even more. It is the media's responsibility to convey a correct and clear message to the people who are the target audience of these programs. Mainly, giving political agency so that people can talk about what they think is important to talk about and not have their own life story explored.

In 'Big Brother', Jacques Costa wanted to be treated as 'she'. Is using the correct pronoun a first step towards validating someone's identity?

It is a way of validating someone's identity, whatever their identity or whatever the pronoun they identify with. 

Is there still any stigma regarding non-binary people?

At this moment it is still a yes. It starts with the fact that non-binary identities are not legally recognized, which does not allow for the construction of any public policy measures that target non-binary people. On the other hand, the great invisibility and lack of knowledge brings many difficulties in the daily life of non-binary people.

And the same happens with intersexuality, along with some lack of knowledge?

Intersex people are still quite invisible and intersexuality is not yet fully understood, even by the scientific community. Since we are talking about issues of a biological nature, the bodies of these people are often the target of normalization processes against their will. It is therefore