OUTINCT2019

For many people in the LGBTQ+ community, Pride
is a moment in our lives where we can forget the
outside world and be ourselves, without fear of
discrimination or retaliation. Although we come
from many different walks of life, we’re united in
the belief that equality is not a special right, rather
it is a human right that should be granted to all.
We seek to live free of the boxes that our own
society has placed us in, and have the freedom
to love who we choose, and to determine our
own sexual experiences.
I came out 20 years ago, while
growing up in a suburb of Hartford. I
was initially met with name-calling,
bullying, and some fear for my
own personal safety. Although
Pride as we know it today didn’t
exist locally then, I eventually
found support in the company
of understanding friends and
family. It was during this time
that I met my first boyfriend,
which opened up a multitude of
questions about my own sexual
freedom.
You see, I soon discovered that my
boyfriend had a foreskin and I did not. When I began
to research what I was missing, I learned that foreskin
is not ‘just skin.’ I discovered that circumcision
destroys a complex structure which includes the highly
innervated ridged band and frenulum, and compromises
approximately 15 square inches of highly specialized
mobile skin in the adult male. It was a painful realization
to learn that functional and pleasurable tissue was
taken from my body when I was powerless to object.
While it appeared that my sexual revolution may
have ended before it ever began, I soon learned about
the concept of foreskin restoration. I discovered that
although it’s not currently possible to regain all that is
lost to circumcision, with some time and patience, a
man can restore much of the form and function of the
foreskin. Today, hundreds of thousands of men living
with varying degrees of circumcision damage are
choosing to reclaim their bodily autonomy through
restoration.
Whether you have your own children or
not, we should all be advocates for keeping
children intact regardless of their sex, and
allowing them the right to determine
how their own genitals should look and
function when they are old enough to
consent. It is impossible to advocate
for the sexual freedom of adults while
simultaneously advocating for cutting
off intimate, erogenous, functional
tissue from the genitals of a child.
Thousands of people, many from
within the LGBTQ+ community, are
publicly standing for the rights of innocent
babies and the adults they will become. I
encourage you to connect with us, and help spread
the word that equality begins at birth!
The author is Director of Intact Connecticut, a local not-for-profit
educational effort to raise awareness of genital autonomy, intact care,
foreskin restoration, and the dangers of circumcision. Learn more at
Facebook.com/IntactCT and IntactNetwork.org
LGBTQ+ GUIDE OF CT | 7