For Immediate Release: 5/6/2022
(CHICAGO) – The Bloodstained Men & Their Friends have something to say: Everyone has a right to their own body.
The Bloodstained Men will share this message on the streets of the Midwest during their 20-day protest tour. The human rights protest – and its attention-grabbing aesthetic featuring bloodstained men – will kick off in Chicago on Monday, May 9 with a protest at the intersection of Michigan Avenue and Randolph Street from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. Please see the full protest schedule.
Chicagoans will be peacefully educated by activists including victims of genital cutting. The public will be reminded that babies whose genitals are mutilated as infants grow up to be men who are speaking out about what was done to their penis before they could defend themselves. Passersby will be faced with the basic, undeniable human rights argument against the routine genital cutting of children: the foreskin is a healthy, valuable body part that belongs solely and entirely to the child. It is unnecessary, cruel, damaging, and ethically unacceptable to remove a healthy body part from a person who is incapable of consent.
The leader of the Bloodstained Men, Brother K, says, “The Midwest has the highest rate of male genital mutilation in the western world. Our 2022 protest tour is part of the larger campaign to reduce the extraordinarily high rate of harm caused by this custom in the Midwest.” Estimates place this rate around 80%.
The intactivist message is gaining traction in the mainstream media. Recently Tosh.0 featured an extended interview with Bloodstained Men & Their Friend‘s Founder and Co-director Brother K, reaching millions worldwide with the irrefutable argument for bodily autonomy. Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang aligned himself with the intactivist message. The Bloodstained Men have received diverse, significant media coverage of their highly visible protests, having been featured on public radio, the evening news, and just about everything in between. The Bloodstained Men have a prolific and educational social media presence including millions of shares and comments. The horror of infant circumcision really gets people talking.
Bloodstained Men & Their Friends is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to giving victims of genital cutting a voice and to educating Americans about the harms of infant circumcision and the importance of the foreskin. Our bloodstained suit serves as an arresting visual reminder that circumcision affects its victims for life. When a baby boy is circumcised, so is the man he will become.
All are welcome at our peaceful protests. The full tour schedule can be found on our website or at facebook.com/
For more information please attend a protest or contact press secretary Carole Anne Babyak at cababyak@bloodstainedmen.