GALDEF Executive Director Tim Hammond and Advisory Council member T.T. Perry (also a member of Portland’s Genital Autonomy Collective/GAC), assisted Intact Global with staffing their booth on October 23 and 24 at the 27th annual conference of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities in Portland, Oregon.

Eric Clopper, Justin Bonyai and Deborah Eshagian represented Intact Global (IGI) and distributed IGI materials to the more than 1,000 bioethicists who attended the conference from the USA, Canada, Europe, Asia and Africa. In speaking with booth visitors we shared with them the successful Hadachek v. State of Oregon court hearing, as well as the Journal of Medical Ethics publication of an interview with former American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Circumcision Task Force physicians Douglas Diekema and Andrew Freedman, both of whom cast doubt on the veracity and credibility of their 2012 policy statement. Both events fortuitously coincided with conference.

For its part, GALDEF prepared a special bioethics page on its website and a QR-coded flyer for distribution to attendees that they could scan and download numerous published articles addressing the bioethics of nontherapeutic, nonconsensual genital cutting of children.

Also available were GALDEF’s “Bodily Autonomy” info cards, our “Different Bodies. Same Rights.” cards, and GAC’s “Not a Boy? Not a Girl? Not a Problem!” ‘zine.

Visitors to the Intact Global booth at the American Society for Bioethics + Humanities annual conference.

While most other exhibitors offered candy at their booths, Hammond and Bonyai added a bit of thought-provoking humor to the booth by providing healthier options: bananas and individual condom packages bearing the message “Condoms Protect. Cutting Harms.”  Some booth visitors immediately understood the double entendre of the bananas, while others needed an explanation that media discussions of circumcision often feature a banana with part of the peel cut off, as well as the fact that circumcision advocates frequently claim circumcision prevents HIV and other STIs. GALDEF will duplicate the condom messaging at its booth at the upcoming Palm Springs Pride event.

With few exceptions, almost every bioethicist who visited the booth, including a number of Jewish, Muslim and international academics, agreed wholeheartedly with protecting all children from forced nontherapeutic genital cutting, regardless of sex.

T.T. Perry, Oscar (Portland’s famous “No Drama Llama”), and Tim Hammond smile for the camera at the American Society for Bioethics + Humanities annual conference.