Bay Area Intactivists

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.

On Thursday, July 28, nearly twenty intactivists from the bay area and beyond arrived at the Civic Center Courthouse in San Francisco for the San Francisco Male Genital Mutilation Bill court hearing. Some attended the hearing while the rest stood outside of the courthouse holding signs, giving interviews and speaking with members of the community who happened to be passing by the demonstration.

On Thursday, July 21, Assemblyman Mike Gatto and Assemblywoman Fiona Ma held a press conference in San Francisco to promote Assembly Bill 768 which aims to prevent local government from protecting boys from non-therapeutic, genital surgery. The proposed legislation is aimed squarely at striking down efforts such as the San Francisco Male Genital Mutilation Bill. Several members of Bay Area Intactivists were present to protest AB 768 and to demand the human right to genital integrity for all children.

Bay Area Intactivists joined the many families celebrating the 4th of July at the Berkeley Marina yesterday to spread awareness of the human right to genital integrity. As always, we couldn't have done it without the support of our amazing, intactivist volunteers. A special thanks to all of the wonderful parents who stopped by our booth to let us know that they kept their babies whole. Intact is definitely in!

Thanks to everyone who helped to make our presence at San Francisco Pride an outstanding success this year. Through our parade contingent and booth we were able to reach thousands of people with our message that all children deserve the right to genital integrity and that circumcision is unnecessary, painful, risky and harmful.