Bay Area Intactivists

On August, 27, 2012, the American Academy of Pediatrics updated its Circumcision Policy Statement to claim that there are health benefits that are sufficient to justify performing male circumcision on healthy infants.

Upon learning of the passing of writer Gore Vidal, members of Bay Area Intactivists organized a memorial to honor him for expressing his condemnation of circumcision in his writings. On August 3, a placard with the following two excerpts from Vidal's book Myra Breckinridge was mounted at the corner of Castro Street and 18th Street in San Francisco.

Overjoyed by the German court ruling that the non-therapeutic circumcision of male minors constitutes a violation of the fundamental right to bodily integrity, members of Bay Area Intactivists held two rallies of support at the San Francisco German Consulate General in July. The intactivists were all smiles as they waved German flags and held messages of gratitude in front of the consulate gate.

Members of the human rights group Bay Area Intactivists returned to the Berkeley Marina to staff a booth during the annual 4th of July celebration hosted there. Despite a few snide remarks made towards the volunteers, the intactivists received mostly positive reactions as they distributed leaflets, bracelets, and stickers for free to festival attendees. Several individuals expressed deep gratitude for the group's commitment to end genital mutilation.

Yet another re-election fundraiser for California Senator Mark Leno was marked by the presence of protesters outraged by his opposition to the San Francisco Male Genital Mutilation Bill and his endorsement of AB 768, the California law which prohibits any city from restricting circumcision to consenting adults. A half dozen members of Bay Area Intactivists held signs at the entrance to One Ferry Plaza Restaurant where the fundraiser took place at the end of June.

For those attending San Francisco's LGBT Pride celebration this year, it was hard to miss the numerous messages citing infant circumcision as unnecessary, risky, harmful, and unethical.

Members of Bay Area Intactivists received another warm welcome during the staffing of their booth at the San Francisco Birth & Baby Fair which was held on June 23 in San Mateo. This baby fair is one of several in the San Francisco Bay area that is attended by members of Bay Area Intactivists in order to raise awareness of the damage caused by circumcision and the proper care for intact children. The next baby fair to feature a Bay Area Intactivists booth will be the Birth & Family Fair in Palo Alto on Saturday, September 15.

On June 23, Gary Virginia and Donna Sachet hosted their annual Pride Brunch to honor San Francisco LGBT Pride Parade Grand Marshals as part of a fundraising effort for the Positive Resource Center. Those attending the brunch at the Hotel Whitcomb were met by a half-dozen human rights activists from the group Bay Area Intactivists. The protesters were armed with signs condemning the ACLU of Northern California, one of the parade Grand Marshals, for its recent defense of non-therapeutic, infant circumcision.