Memorial Garden

Emi Koyama was a community activist, intersectional thinker, theorist, and pillar of the intersex movement in the United States. She worked across movements providing critical resources, insight, and wisdom as well as technical assistance. She founded Aileen’s, which provides outreach, peer support and resources to women working and living along the Pacific Coast Highway. Emi fiercely advocated for queer, trans and intersex communities, disabled folk, sex workers, homeless women, and other communities pushed to the margins of our society. Her legacy will live forever in the minds and hearts of everyone she touched.

Scout Schultz was an intersex nonbinary student activist who attended Georgia Tech. Scout was born in Rockville, Maryland, and during their teenage years moved to Lilburn, Georgia with their family. They majored in engineering and were president of the Georgia Tech Pride Alliance. During a mental health crisis Scout was murdered by the Georgia Tech police. According to their friends, Scout was described as passionate, opinionated, creative and committed to justice. They were a visionary with dreams of ending intersex genital mutilation in Georgia. They said in 2015: “I think it would be possible for the city of Atlanta to pass an ordinance restricting hospital practice within the city, which the Mayor could sign. Even one major US city outlawing the practice could be a big step and encourage laws in other cities, states, or even nationally.”

Described as vibrant and full of life, Amy touched the lives of everyone in her orbit. She was raised in Iowa and attended Iowa City West High School. After high school, she went to Kirkwood Community College for two years and eventually finished at Wartburg College. While at Wartburg she was inspired by social work and pursued her master's degree in social work at St. Louis University. She would be the first person in her family with a college degree.

In middle school, Amy was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease which is a cancer of the lymph system. By the time she entered college, she would have already dealt with two bouts of cancer. Despite being a cancer survivor and told that she had Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (CAIS) and would not be able to have children, she was determined to be of service to others and get the support that she needed. She eventually found the AIS-DSD Support Group and attended her first conference in 2013. She would then become a board member and support other people who were coming to terms with their intersex variation. She shared her life with her husband, Leo, and volunteered with the Camp Heart Connection Oncology Camp which provides a summer camp experience for young children with cancer under the age of 18. She chronicled her coming to terms with being intersex, cancer and dating/marriage as an intersex woman through her blog, Midwest Orchid. She passed away in her home surrounded by loved ones in November 2016.

Amy wrote in July of 2016: "There is still much progress to be done in the awareness and rights of the intersex community. But I have made enough progress to let you all know that I was born Intersex and I am OK with it. Because I was born intersex, I have become part of a wonderful and loving community who supports me. I have made an impact to the intersex community by being on the AIS-DSD board. I got to travel to new cities and make new friends. The benefits have started to outweigh the negatives at this point. I am done letting secrecy and shame hold any space in my thought process and replace it with positive thoughts, love and compassion."

Chi Mei Tam was an intersex person living with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH). They immigrated from Hong Kong as a child and were raised in Oakland where they attended Oakland Tech and UC Berkeley. After Oakland, they moved to Roseburg, Oregon where they founded the Umpqua Valley Rainbow Collective which is an LGBTI+ organization “providing support, resources and education.” Eventually in 2023, they moved to Portland where they sold real estate. They had a love of food and community. Chi Mei’s favorite color was violet. They were described as an incredibly smart and kind person who was discerning, direct and authentic. Chi Mei was loved by their co-workers and community. They are survived by their dog Daisy and two cats, Bootsy and Kissy.

Max Beck was an intersex activist, husband, and father. Along with Morgan Holmes, Max protested the American Academy of Pediatrics Conference in 1996. Max was motivated towards activism because of the silence, secrecy and shame he endured as a young person. Born with XY/XO chromosomes, he was subject to forced surgeries to make his intersex body align with his female gender assignment at birth. Body dysphoria and secrecy surrounding Max's birth contributed to bouts of depression throughout his life. He found solace in his relationship with his wife, Tamara, his children, and reclaiming his body through hormones and medical procedures. Max passed away from mũllerian cancer, leaving behind his family, community, and a legacy of activism that reclaimed sovereignty for intersex people.

“I was born a tiny, helpless almost-boy, but the way my world responded to me is what made and makes me intersexed.” 

Logan Smith is an African American man who had an intersex variation and was of trans experience. Logan was born with cloacal extrophy: undeveloped genitalia and a bladder external to the body. Because of his intersex variation, Logan was assigned female at birth and subject to invasive medical interventions. At 15, he wanted to be recognized as male and underwent additional surgeries to align his body with his gender identity. He was raised in Hoffman Estates, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. When his family moved in, African Americans comprised less than 4% of the mostly white, affluent suburb. Racial profiling by the police was rampant. Logan’s brother, Brian Smith, was stopped and maced by Officer Gregory Polous. Logan came to the aid of his brother and was subsequently brutalized and arrested by Polous and other officers called to the Smith household. There was no reason for the traffic stop or arrest. The force used in Logan's arrest ruptured the surgical scars in his abdomen. While in police detention he complained of abdominal pain. When his mother posted bail, she demanded that Logan be transferred to the hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. Logan Smith was 23 years old at the time of his passing. His death is a testament to state-sanctioned violence by the police and medical establishment.

Maddie Joan Blaustein was a voice actress, comic book writer, editor and foundational member of Second Life, an online space popular among trans and intersex people. Among her many roles and accolades, Maddie is most widely known as the voice of the characters Meowth (Pokémon) and Solomon Moto (Yu-Gi-Oh). She was born in Long Island, New York and raised in a Jewish household. Her identities as intersex, Jewish, and transgender were always central to her humor and movement through the world. She passed in 2008 from an untreated stomach virus. Maddie Joan is remembered for her brilliance, creativity, and dynamic personality.

James Marvin Dykes, aka Jim, referred to himself as Jim “Thyrd,” being the third intersex man in his community, after Jim Ambrose and Jim Lake. He was en route to an intersex support group conference in Phoenix when he passed away in his car while stopped at a gas station. Jim was a cherished member of the intersex community and served as a board member of the AIS-DSD Support Group, now interConnect. Many still remember his warmth and presence.

His obituary reads: “James enjoyed car rides in his Mustang, he was a lover of Star Wars, Star Trek, and Dr. Who. He was a hard worker and a loving father. He enjoyed fishing, biking and camping. James was employed at American Sale for 32 years as a spa tech. He was a generous, forgiving and thoughtful man. He was a builder and a Mr. Fix-it for everyone. He was kind hearted, and in life he never met a stranger. He was a devoted family man, and one of his passions in life was helping others and children with special needs.”