Anticircumcision Leader on Scandal

The effort to ban circumcision in two California cities may be sunk by the discovery of comic books with anti-Semitic overtones that were created by one of the people leading the charge against the practice.

Called Foreskin Man, the graphic novel series features knife-wielding, bloodthirsty Jews. The books were created by Matthew Hess, the president of MGM (male genital mutilation) Bill, a San Diego group pushing for a ban on the practice. Residents of Santa Monica, Calif., may vote to make the practice illegal, and San Francisco voters will weigh in on the issue in November. Lloyd Schofield, a gay San Franciscan, is the main proponent of the S.F. Male Circumcision Initiative and is mainly responsible for getting the issue on the ballot in the City by the Bay. Schofield released the following statement to The Advocate on the comic book, which incited the ire of Jewish groups:

"It's my understanding that both comic books are written from the viewpoint of a frightened infant or child on the receiving end of the knife, no matter where it's coming from, medical or religious. Hence the comic book format of greatly exaggerated characters, the Doctor and the Mohel. If you have been viewing our website or Facebook page you will have noticed that they have never been posted or referenced there. And we have no intention to do so, as I believe they can be easily misinterpreted and do not encourage the dialogue that we wish to foster."