My name is Peter. In August 2010 my then 6 week old little boy was subjected to circumcision. He was circumcised for no medical reason, without his consent and without my consent as his father.
It is obviously too late to alter the outcome for my son; his circumcision is permanent as is my lack of consent to it. I am determined to have some good come from my son's physical loss and the wanton, state sanctioned violation of his most basic rights. I have two goals:
1. To do what I can to change the way society views non-medically indicated infant male circumcision and
2. To ABSOLUTELY alter the inane consent rules that currently make legal the act of infant circumcision - rules that only require the consent of one parent to authorise a non-medically indicated circumcision; rules that are so hopelessly lax, appallingly inadequate and insultingly inappropriate that they can barely be called "rules".
Despite every credible western medical authority, including our own RACP, agreeing that there is NO MEDICAL NEED to circumcise healthy infant boys, Australian governments defend the act with a passion, venom and intransigence that is bewildering. Bewildering, that is, until you learn how much political influence the Jewish and Muslim lobbies, normally the most unlikely of bedfellows, exert on government. Standing up against infant male circumcision would mean standing up to these two powerful, zealous and obsessive lobbies.
In Australia today between 12% and 15% of parents take it upon themselves to have their healthy baby boys circumcised. Of those, a sizeable number would likely have listened to the lies and misinformation spread by the pro-circumcision lobby. Even so, this simple statistic paints the picture of a population that is overwhelmingly opposed to the practice of infant male circumcision and yet, with a little dribble of fear-ridden saliva coming out of the corner of their mouths, politicians and bureaucrats continue to pander to the minority. No other public policy would survive with such an overwhelming lack of community approval.
For governments to legally allow little boys, including my son, to suffer genital mutilation is astonishing enough. To condone, endorse and DEFEND it happening to an infant without the most informed and unequivocal consent of BOTH parents is SO wrong that it defies logic to any reasonable person.
You can find out how this sad and stupid situation took place by reading the letters below. (Although perfectly accurate, both these letters now seem quite naive. Nearly two years on, I'm much more hardened and realistic ....)
How INCREDIBLY EASY it is to have an infant male circumcised without medical need? Here.
Would you like to see just the most recent letters? Press here.
If you'd like to see all correspondence sent and received, press here (it's worth a look, you'll be stunned)
Last updated - 25th October 2014. If you visit occasionally, remember to refresh your browser to see updates.
Quote from one of my thousands of supporters: "What is it about interfering with the genitals of little boys for no medical reason that parents, governments and doctors see as such a sacrosanct and inalienable right?"