53°F
weather icon Clear

Anti-circumcision comic hero called anti-Semitic

SAN DIEGO-- His fists clenched and muscles rippling beneath a tight blue suit, the yellow-caped character appears poised to take on evil-doers.

But as his name suggests, "Foreskin Man" is not a typical comic-book superhero, and neither is his choice of adversaries: doctors who practice circumcision and Orthodox Jews who support the religious ritual.

San Diego activist Matthew Hess says he conceived the Internet comic series last year as a way to boost his budding national effort to outlaw circumcision -- an effort that has led to a measure on San Francisco's ballot in November that would make it illegal to perform a circumcision on a boy under 18.

Recently, though, the comic series has drawn criticism from those who deride Hess' imagery as anti-Semitic and liken it to 1930s Nazi propaganda.

MOST READ
Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
THE LATEST
What travelers can expect as Southwest Airlines introduces assigned seats

Southwest Airlines passengers made their final boarding-time scrambles for seats on Monday as the carrier prepared to end the open-seating system that distinguished it from other airlines for more than a half‑century.

 
Videos of deadly Minneapolis shooting contradict government statements

Leaders of law enforcement organizations expressed alarm Sunday over the latest deadly shooting by federal officers in Minneapolis while use-of-force experts criticized the Trump administration’s justification of the killing, saying bystander footage contradicted its narrative of what prompted it.

MORE STORIES