Anti-Circumcision Group Protests In Toms River

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Motorists on Route 37 on Sunday were met with protesters dressed in white with prominently placed patches of red over their genital area, protesting the practice of circumcising infant boys.

The protest staged by the group Bloodstained Men and Their Friends was one of a string scheduled over the next three weeks in the northeast, according to the group's website. The Toms River protest, the third in the series, was held on the sidewalk near the Route 166 intersection.

Most people who passed the protest saw it as a curiosity.

The organization opposes infant circumcision, which they argue is needless genital cutting that causes babies pain. Calling themselves "intactivists," the group protests in white painters overalls marked with red crotches as a tribute to Jonathon Conte, who used them to first protest against circumcision at the October 2012 American Academy of Pediatrics convention.

"The bloodstain is the most powerful symbol I have ever seen for a protest movement in modern day America," the group's founder, known as "Brother K," says on the website. "Its power derives from its exact representation of the wound that lies under the clothing. We're revealing it to the world, an intimate violation of another human being's body."

The group seeks an end to circumcision, saying it exists only for cultural and religious reasons.

The American Academy of Pediatrics in 2012 said a comprehensive study found "the health benefits of newborn male circumcision outweigh the risks, but the benefits are not great enough to recommend universal newborn circumcision. The ... final decision should still be left to parents to make in the context of their religious, ethical and cultural beliefs."

See video the group posted of its protest below:

Photo by Hayley Beth, published with permission