GALDEF held its first public education and outreach event on Sunday, June 11^th at Los Angeles Pride. Tim Hammond drove from Palm Springs to L.A. to staff the booth and was assisted by attorneys Eric Clopper and Brad Kane of the Kane Law Firm, as well as attorney Justine Block. The vast majority of LGBTQIA+ visitors to our booth were unaware that the federal government and some states have laws protecting those born with a vulva from “female genital mutilation” but leave those born with a penis or intersex characteristics totally unprotected from medically unnecessary genital cutting. Many of those who spoke with us agreed that lack of such equal protection should be remedied in order to protect all children’s bodily integrity and genital autonomy, regardless of sex or gender.

GALDEF distributed its educational brochure titled “Circumcision and the LGBTI Community” – which asks the question “Who should decide how much of a child’s genitals they get to keep?” – and explains how children’s genital autonomy intersects with issues affecting the LGBTQIA+ community. We also distributed our 4×6 postcards that ask the question “Bodily Autonomy: Which children deserve the right to remain whole…Girls? Boys? Intersex?”  Founder Tim Hammond also made special efforts to promote the Charity Charge Cashback Rewards Mastercard, which supporters can apply for and then contribute to GALDEF throughout the entire year with their normal spending patterns.

The big draw to our booth was an eye-catching display of over seven dozen rainbow-colored Pride flowers, each handmade by activist Glen Powell. The flowers were available by donation, which helped us to raise about $200. Attached to each flower was a thank you card bearing GALDEF’s name, logo, website and QR code, as well as the phrase “Let equal rights blossom. Foreskin is fantastic!”

Filmmaker Eliyahu Ungar-Sargon was on hand to document GALDEF’s presence. He also interviewed attorneys Eric and Brad, and then interviewed Eric and Tim discussing our mutual desire for future collaboration on cases involving impact litigation. Visit GALDEF’s YouTube channel to view the video interviews.

Every person we came in contact with said they learned something new about our custom of non-therapeutic newborn penile circumcision, and many were very generous with their donations.

GALDEF is committed to raising the funds necessary to launch impact litigation and we can only do this with your help. Please donate generously at this time by visiting our Ways to Give page, and if you haven’t already done so, please consider applying for the Charity Charge Cashback Rewards Mastercard.

L to R: Attorney Brad Kane, Founder Tim Hammond, Advisory Councilmember Justine Block, Kane Law Associate Eric Clopper, filmmaker Eliyahu Ungar-Sargon.