Jane Goto is a marvelous speaker! She has talked about intersex issues in
several of my courses. Each time she has managed to get students to participate easily and to ask questions about a topic that many consider sensitive. By presenting her own story, Jane makes the issues directly relevant to students and breaks through stereotypes that might have existed. In addition, she is knowledgeable about biological, medical, and social aspects of intersex
conditions and experiences and thereby able to go beyond a personal account to a discussion of a variety of intersex conditions, the medical and social responses they receive, and ways to improve the lives of intersex individuals and their families. I cannot recommend her highly enough.
Susanne Bohmer
Department of Sociology
Edmonds Community College Lois McDermott, Ph.D. Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychology University of Washington Donald Leach-Ph.D. Faculty respect and learn from Jane Goto. She has spoken multiple times over the past four years to undergraduate students in my Pathophysiology class for Nursing majors and has also spoken in the Graduate Advanced Pathophysiology class I teach to nurse practitioners. She blends a variety of medium to hold the attention of her audience and I have received countless affirmations of her efforts from students and faculty alike. She is a rare gem, and I am grateful to know her. Maria Pettinato, RN, PhD Assistant Professor Seattle University
I want to thank Jane Goto for her continued dedication in educating undergraduates about intersex conditions using your own life story. I appreciate the time you have donated to come to my class, Human Sexuality, at UW, over these past several years. You do a wonderful job of putting a human face on AIS and reinforcing the factual material that students are learning in the class. You are an engaging presenter and are a very important addition to the panel on the Development of Anatomic Sex and Gender. I hope that you will continue to offer this service to students.
I had the pleasure of presenting alongside Ms. Nollman to members of the National Institute of Corrections Large Jail Network meeting in Denver, Colorado. The group is comprised of Sheriffs and administrators of jails housing over 1000 inmates. Ms. Nollman was instrumental in conveying to the participants the issues surrounding Intersex persons, including the perceptions and misconceptions that many people hold. Her educational approach helped enlighten these jail administrators concerning the need for policy development that protects the individual’s safety and maintains their dignity should they become incarcerated. The use of personal experience brought a sense of authenticity to her presentation. Afterward, many participants commented positively about their increased awareness. I look forward to future opportunities to work together with Ms. Nollman to raise awareness about these issues.
Vice President of the American Jail Association
Dear Ms. Davis Nollman:
Thank you very much for your presentation on Intersex. It was extremely valuable and filled with important information. As you know we are the only freestanding low cost sexually transmitted disease clinic for the City and County of San Francisco Department of Public Health. We serve patients who live, work and visit San Francisco, seeing 100 plus patients a day. Of the 35 staff who have direct patient contact only a handful of us were familiar with the term Intersex; a few staff were using the older term hermaphrodite.
Particularly moving was the way that you chronicled your personal story outlining the way that the medical community was unresponsive to your needs a relatively short time ago. The specific examples of what happened to you will help myself and my staff to deliver more sensitive care to someone who is from the Intersex community. I was very impressed with your openness, honesty and candor so that we could learn about a subject that not many people know about. As we have turnover in staff I hope that you will available for another presentation.
Sincerely and with much gratitide,
Deborah J. Williams, RN BSN PHN
Nurse Manager
STD Prevention and Control-SF City Clinic
