"The prepuce ... may actually provide a physical or immunological barrier against infection. That theory is born out by a new study from the U.S. Army ... [which] found that circumcised males were 1.65 times as likely to have the most common sexually transmitted disease there is, Chlamydia." (Dean Edell, MD, San Francisco Chronicle, June 17, 1987)

"Several new studies have shown that circumcised males are at higher risk for developing genital warts, gonorrhea, syphilis, non-gonococcal urethritis, and HIV infection." (Robert S. Van Howe, MD, Letter to the American Academy of Pediatrics, Nov. 17, 1995)

"Other venereal diseases that do not cause ulcers but often cause inflammation, such as gonorrhea and chlamydia, also appear to increase the risk of AIDS infection." ("Host of factors help spread virus," New York Times Service, The Globe and Mail, Toronto, Sept. 17, 1990) [Source unconfirmed]

"[M]ale circumcision is widespread in sub-Sahara Africa and is performed in many of the areas where AIDS has been identified. As with the investigation of any postulated risk factor for AIDS, well controlled epidemiologic studies should also address the issue of male circumcision." (Letter from Jack A. DeHovitz, MD [Assistant Medical Director, Spellman AIDS Program, St. Clare's Hospital, NY], New York State Journal of Medicine, August 1986)

"[T]he data also show a somewhat higher incidence of genital warts, nongonococcal urethritis, and scabies in the circumcised men ... examination of large numbers of healthy [circumcised] men in both military and civilian circumstances discloses a very substantial incidence of persistent suture holes, microsinuses, skin tabs and bridging, and irregular scarring--all subject to abrasion and the accumulation of moist debris." (Letter from John G. Swadey, MD, The New England Journal of Medicine, June 11, 1987)

"It is equally plausible that the AIDS virus enters the active male partner, involved in vaginal or anal sex, through the fragile columnal cells lining the urethra. Circumcision removes the protection normally provided by the foreskin, thus predisposing the [circumcised] penis to meatal ulceration and subsequent meatal stenosis ... One could extrapolate his [Dr. Fink's] hypothesis to suggest that the absence of circumcision [i.e., the presence of a foreskin] may actually protect against transmission of AIDS by protecting the urethral mucosa." (Letter from Robert W. Enzenauer, MD, The New England Journal of Medicine, June 11, 1987)

"[B]y the end of the second week [after circumcision] about 75% of my sensitivity was gone ... my glans ... [now] requires greater pressure to achieve orgasm ... Concerning anal sex, I was never big on it ... now I seek it constantly; it is, in a way, a longing for the protective sheath I have lost--along with its moisture and warmth." ("Circumcision: Prime Cut," by George Desantis, QQ Magazine, March/April 1976)

"Some circumcised gay men also seek out intact lovers for docking, placing penises end-to-end so that the foreskin of the intact penis can be shared with the bare glans of the circumcised one ... Docking ... would seem to be a high risk activity, especially if done to orgasm." (Circumcision: What It Does, by Billy Ray Boyd, Taterhill Press, San Francisco, 1990)

"[S]ince both circumcision and condoms reduce sexual sensitivity ... routine circumcision may have helped set this country up for the AIDS epidemic by increasing the natural resistance to using condoms ... by depriving men of full sexual sensation, they [circumcisers] might actually be encouraging the very forms of sexual relating that are most risky -- unprotected anal and vaginal intercourse." (Circumcision: What It Does, by Billy Ray Boyd, Taterhill Press, San Francisco, 1990)

"The only reason I'm gay is that I was circumcised when I was a baby. I feel deprived. It's only with an uncircumcised man that I can have a foreskin." (" Feelings Too Violent to Describe -- Some Statements About Circumcision by Circumcised Men," Making America Safe for Foreskins, by John A. Erickson) [Circumcision didn't "protect" the man who made this statement from AIDS. He died February 24, 1990, in New Orleans -- of AIDS.]

"With intravaginal containment of the normal penis, the male's mobile sheath is placed within the woman's vaginal sheath. It is impossible to imagine a better mechanical arrangement for non-abrasive stimulation of the male and female genitalia than this slick sheath within a sheath. Circumcision destroys this one sheath within a sheath ... I would hazard a guess, that dyspareunia [painful intercourse] is more common in the women whose husband is circumcised ... one would be foolish to discount the circumcised male's immobile penile skin sheath as an ancillary item contributing to vaginal, abrasive discomfort ... The male with a penis already moderately obtunded by circumcision may be less apt to use a condom, which he feels may further decrease his genital sensitivity ... because most American males lack a facile prepuce, the period of foreplay and dalliance may be abbreviated in the rush to the intra-vaginal method of penile stimulation. Both these factors conceivably could be of significance in increasing the rate of venereal disease, including AIDS." (Say No to Circumcision! 40 Compelling Reasons Why You Should Respect His Birthright and Leave Your Son Whole [manuscript], by Thomas A. Ritter, MD, Hourglass Book Publishing, 1992)

"We can also wonder whether circumcision, so frequent in the United States, is not a factor which, since it brings about the erosion of the ano-rectal mucous during sodomy, would contribute to the transmission of the H.I.V. virus -- since we know that tegumentary breaks are the favored points of entry for this virus." (Medical Treatment of Congenital Phimosis in the Adolescent, by Doctor Michel Beauge Quimper, Faculty of Medicine, St. Antoine University, Paris, 1990-1991. Privately printed.)

"Intercourse with a circumcised man and intercourse with an uncircumcised man are two entirely different experiences. I can always tell from the feeling alone whether or not a man is circumcised. Circumcised men take longer to ejaculate. They have to work at it." (From a conversation with a prostitute)

"That little operation [the circumcision of her boyfriend] completely destroyed our life together ... sex became very painful for me. Twice I had to see a doctor due to minor infections from chafing. Our beautiful sexual togetherness became a nightmare of staying creams, lubricants, and frustrations." (Letter from Carolyn LaRoc, Playgirl, Feb. 1975)

"[T]he AIDS virus is transmitted ... during a sexual encounter violent enough to open a blood channel, either through mucous membranes or broken skin." ("AIDS," by John Langone, Discover, Dec. 1985)

"I fucked her raw." (U.S. locker room expression)