Last year Glen Callender created Foreskin Pride, a celebration and positive public affirmation of the intact male penis. Foreskin Pride held several public demonstrations/protests over the Pride Weekend culminating in a marching contingent in Vancouver's Pride Parade. Glen marched nude, well partially nude as he wore his iconic "I ♥ My Foreskin" shirt while his manhood swung freely for all to see. He was accompanied by human rights activists carrying signs in support of children's rights to genital integrity, protesting the sex crime of forced circumcision of children.

Historically participants in Gay Pride marches have pushed the envelope in efforts to sexually liberate society and undo the sexual repression of church and state. Nudity has generally been accepted, particularly women marching top free to protest a ridiculous and sexist double standard. Over the years more nudity has appeared (and been tolerated) though some persnickety individuals have written letters to various gay publications to express their annoyance at having seen nude human bodies.

Something repressive is now happening. After successful Foreskin Pride marches in this year's Toronto, Chicago, New York and San Francisco Pride Parades the Vancouver Pride society has refused the Foreskin Pride contingent's application.

What we are seeing is an attempt to silence the voice of sexual liberation. Some officious prick has taken it upon himself to rid the Pride Parade of this disturbing entry. Too provocative? Too much cock? Too truthful?

This is curious in Vancouver, a city that celebrates nudity at its world famous Wreck Beach every day, and officially hosts a public nude bike ride every summer.

The tenets of Gay Liberation are about sexual liberation, autonomy and freedom for all, not a commercial advertising opportunity for banks and corporations.

Glen's letter (Who's Afraid of Foreskin Pride?) details the suspicious dealings of the Vancouver Pride Society. You will be hearing a great deal more about this in the coming weeks.

Who's Afraid of FORESKIN PRIDE?

July 11, 2013

To the VPS Board and staff, Vancouver LGBT community and news media:

I am Glen Callender, founder of the Canadian Foreskin Awareness Project (CAN-FAP) and FORESKIN PRIDE. I have been presenting foreskin-related performances, parade contingents and events at Vancouver Pride (not to mention many other Prides throughout Canada and the USA) since 2010, and until this week my dealings with the Vancouver Pride Society have been perfectly amicable. Suffice to say, things have abruptly changed.

I am writing this letter because I am thoroughly disgusted with the extremely questionable circumstances surrounding the decision of unnamed VPS officers to ban the FORESKIN PRIDE contingent from this year’s Pride parade. I believe an open letter is necessary as internal resolution is not possible: Pride General Manager Ray Lam has informed me that there is no mechanism available to dispute the VPS’s underhanded censure, even though there are several major issues implicated in this action that seriously call into question the VPS’s organizational competence and ethics, as well as the personal integrity of VPS officers.

I will discuss several troubling issues, but the main issue is that un-named VPS individuals have banned the FORESKIN PRIDE contingent from the parade to punish me for my full-frontal nudity in the Pride parade last year, yet refuse to acknowledge that said nudity was discussed and cleared with VPS board member Tim Kraucanis 11 days before parade day. I believe this is an exercise in censorship and trumped-up character assassination undertaken by certain officials of the VPS. The following is what I know so far.