Pro-foreskin movement coming to Saskatoon
He thinks of himself as the “Johnny Appleseed of the foreskin,” and he’s coming to Saskatoon.
Some activists in the city have taken to social media, but until now no one has organized a public event on the topic in Saskatchewan, Glen Callender said.
His group, Foreskin Pride, will march in the Saskatoon Pride parade on Saturday, and intends to protest in front of a circumcision clinic on Monday.
“Part of what I’m trying to do, as one of the more seasoned activists in the movement in Canada, is come to communities where the support is only really online, they don’t have the experience of doing street protests.”
Callender said he first became aware of circumcision when he was about eight years old, was “horrified” by the thought, and became active in the genital autonomy movement in 2010.
That’s when Callender started the Canadian Fore- skin Awareness Project, which calls itself “Canada’s best-known and feistiest pro-foreskin advocacy group.”
He’s opposed to male circumcision, which he says severs nerve endings and limits a life of sexual pleasure.
“WE WELCOME THEM TO SHARE THEIR GROUP AND OPINIONS WITH THE PEOPLE OF SASKATOON.”
DANNY PAPADATOS
They advocate for the right of boys, girls and intersex children to grow up with intact genitals and make their own decision whether to be circumcised.
Three out of 10 Canadian boys are circumcised, a significant drop from past decades, he said.
He started Foreskin Pride in 2012, as a subgroup of the gay pride movement. His group mirrors the core principles of pride — human rights, sexual freedom and sexual self-determination, he said.
“Canadian men will not have real sexual freedom as long as other people have arbitrary editing rights over our genitalia when we’re too young to defend ourselves.”
The groups started in Victoria and Vancouver in 2012, then spread to nine cities in 2013, and plan to hit at least 17 cities this year in Canada and the U.S.
On June 29, contingents will take part in Pride parades in Toronto, Manhattan, Chicago and San Francisco.
“It’s certainly catching on, because people do understand genital mutilation of children is a serious human rights issue,” Callender said.
Pride celebrates all groups and organizations, and that “carries over to allowing everybody to have their freedom of speech, and have their thoughts and beliefs be heard,” said Danny Papadatos, chair of Saskatoon Pride.
“We welcome them to share their group and opinions with the people of Saskatoon.”