Bay Area Intactivists

The Bay Area Intactivists table turned out to be a hit among Bay Area Birth Justice Fair attendees last Saturday in Oakland. In keeping with the fair's focus on maternal and infant mortality, the intactivist table featured the names of children who had died as a result of circumcision. The half dozen intactivists who were outfitted in shirts proclaiming the human right to genital integrity were hard to miss as they circulated throughout the fair which was held at the Uhuru House.

Last summer San Francisco intactivists made international headlines when they introduced the San Francisco Male Genital Mutilation Bill, a ballot initiative to safeguard sexual and religious freedom by protecting boys from non-consensual circumcision. In a move to stall this effort, California state Senator Mark Leno co-authored AB 768, a bill which forbids any city or county in California from "[restricting] the practice of male circumcision, or the exercise of a parent's authority to have a child circumcised." His cutting crusade is beginning to attract a backlash from human rights advocates who view the Senator's actions as an attack on men's genital autonomy.

On Wednesday, March 21, 2012 authors Daniel Halperin and Craig Timberg arrived at Book Passage in Corte Madera as part of a promotional tour for their new book Tinderbox. But instead of encountering praise and autograph requests, they were met with protesters from the group Bay Area Intactivists who condemned the authors for using Tinderbox to extol male circumcision.

On Saturday, January 21, the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California held a Pro-Choice Brunch at the United Methodist Church in Santa Cruz to commemorate the struggle for women's right to reproductive freedom. In response to the ACLU's recent attack on men's right to decide the fate of their own genitals, Bay Area Intactivists held a Rally for Gender Equality outside the United Methodist Church during the course of the ACLU brunch.

"If the rights of society's most vulnerable members are denied, everybody's rights are imperiled."
—American Civil Liberties Union

Senator Mark Leno, Senator Leland Yee, Assemblymember Tom Ammiano, and Supervisor John Avalos all worked to deny equal protection to genital integrity and sexual freedom for men through their opposition of the San Francisco Male Genital Mutilation Bill.

In honor of International Human Rights Day, twelve members of Bay Area Intactivists participated in an #OccupySF march in San Francisco on Saturday, December 10 to raise awareness of the human right to genital integrity. The march began in Justin Herman Plaza and traveled along Market Street to Union Square where several speeches took place. After marchers returned to Justin Herman Plaza, more speakers were heard including Bay Area Intactivists member Lloyd Schofield who spoke about protecting and defending the right to genital integrity for men.

On Sunday, December 4, seven members of Bay Area Intactivists gathered in front of Or Shalom synagogue in San Francisco to hold a candlelight vigil in remembrance of the male, female, and intersex children who have lost their lives to non-therapeutic genital surgery. The vigil was organized in response to a male circumcision panel discussion that took place inside the synagogue on the same evening. Intactivists were met with a variety of responses from those passing by as well as those attending the panel discussion.

Over the past two months, filmmaker Eliyahu Ungar-Sargon has been on the road traveling to cities across North America to screen his documentary Cut: Slicing Through the Myths of Circumcision. With 30 stops across the continent, the "Cut Tour" not only gave many people the chance to see this powerful film, it also gave local communities the opportunity to have a serious discussion and think critically, perhaps for the first time, about the controversial subject of male infant circumcision.

On Tuesday, August 23, the California Senate Judiciary Committee held a public hearing for AB 768, a bill co-authored by Assemblyman Mike Gatto and Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, that would prohibit local municipalities from creating legislation that places restrictions on male circumcision. The hearing was attended by approximately fifteen people in opposition, including several members of Bay Area Intactivists, some of whom held a public demonstration alongside the Capitol prior to the hearing.