Circumcision and the Suicide Death of Kevin Cagle
by Intaction
March 31, 2015
Another young man with his whole life ahead of him decided to tragically end his life. The psychological and emotional harm from circumcision led to anguish, despair, and depression. This emotional trauma can lead to circumcision suicide.
Kevin Cagle was unable to comprehend why parents and doctors decided to needlessly cut and mutilate his genitals as an infant. Anger and grief turned into despair and depression. Kevin said to a friend, ” I hate my body. I don’t feel whole. Thanks to my parents for that.” Kevin Cagle’s circumcision ultimately led to his suicide.
Kevin was a Leachville Arkansas native but moved to San Francisco, California.
Kevin went on to say, “I’m thoroughly disgusted we live in a world where cosmetic procedures can be performed on infants.” Kevin went on to thank friends for being kind, wishing them the best in life. Kevin asked friends to be happy for him now, presumably because ending his life is what he wanted so as to be finally in peace.
Final Messages about Life, Circumcision, Suicide to a Friend
Kevin asked a good friend to post his final remarks on Facebook. Afterwards, on March 31 2015, Kevin Cagle made the ultimate decision to end his life. He was just 20 years old.
In his final text message to friend Pat-Z Orozco :
Kevin: Today I’m choosing to end my life. Why? Circumcision. I hate my body. I don’t feel whole. Thanks to my parents for that. I’m thoroughly disgusted that we live in a world where cosmetic procedures can be performed on infants. Thanks to everyone who was kind to me; I wish them the best. Please post that to FB for me as I cannot. Try to be happy for me.
Love you Pat-Z!”
Pat-Z: This made no sense to me, but I’m sure you had more reasons. Love you, too, Kev.
Emotional Harm of Circumcision Causes Suicide in Other Young Men
The suicide of Jonathon Conte, 34, also from San Francisco, in May 2016 followed the death of Cagle. Conte was an avid anti-circumcision intactivist.
Some mental health experts feel that circumcised males are physically, emotionally, mentally and socially harmed by the act, and this can lead to depression and horrible consequences. According to StopMaleSuicide.com (circumcision and suicide), when men face problems they can neither fix, nor cope with, their risk of suicide rises.
We are saddened over the despair of those who turn to suicide to find relief from the anguish of genital cutting. Intaction offers a means to constructively heal the wounds and personal pain caused by circumcision by helping those affected with a way to contribute towards ending this practice. Unfortunately Kevin Cagle did not reach out to anyone about how circumcision was causing his depression and suicidal thoughts.
Some studies report that traumatic and/or painful procedures in the perinatal period seem to cause a greater propensity to suicide. The effect is noticeably greater in males. Jacobsen and Bygdeman (1998)
From Kevin’s Obituary
Kevin Lloyd Cagle, age 20, of Leachville, died Tuesday March 31, 2015 in San Francisco, California. Born in Paragould, he was a lifelong Leachville resident and had attended Buffalo Island Central Schools and Arkansas Northeastern College in Blytheville.
He was formerly employed as a stockman at Walmart in Paragould. He loved to cook, and was an avid reader and video game enthusiast.
Survivors include his parents, Lloyd Wayne and Tina Louanne Eubanks of Leachville, his brother, Heath of Paragould, and his sister, Heather Davis, of Greenbriar, Arkansas.
He also leaves his maternal grandmother, Nina King, of Leachville, and his paternal grandmother, Beulah, of Blytheville.
Funeral service was held on April 6, 2015 at the Howard Funeral Service Chapel in Leachville. Burial followed in Leachville Cemetery. The family received visitors that Monday at the funeral home.
As we previously stated the obituary does not mention circumcision suicide.
In Memoriam
Kevin Lloyd Cagle February 28, 1995 – March 31, 2015
“May your spirit live on in those that fight against genital cutting”
Poor poor guy,hope he is resting in peace now,when will this genital cutting madness end
Wow, I hadn’t heard of this suicide and I live in San Francisco! As a gay man who knows a thing or two about FORESKINS, ’cause I’m lucky to have mine, I find that after all we know about the physical and emotional after effects of circumcision, this practice still continues unabated. Several years ago I met a guy who was circumcised and we became friends before we slept together. When he found out I was UNCUT, his demeanor changed. I recall him acting jealous of my FORESKIN and suggested I’d get ‘cut’. You can imagine what i told him he could do if he didn’t like me the way I am. In the long run, he turned out to be a jerk and I told him to “jump in the lake” as i’d never get ‘cut’. When he was an infant and couldn’t consent, he was cut, this was his way of manifesting his anger, As someone who goes to a gay gym here in San Francisco, I notice that although most of the guys here are ‘cut’, i’m starting to see a few INTACT ones. One guy even commented to me in the locker room “how lucky” i was. I didn’t know him and wondered what he meant. Evidently he checked me out in the shower as I always peel back the ‘SKIN as part of my normal bathing routine. Then he got bold and said i was lucky to be UNCUT. then dropped his towel and showed me his circumcision. That bastard doctor really butchered this guy. I didn’t think much of this but said i’ve a buddy who’s stretching his partial FORESKIN with somewhat good results. I gave him my phone number and said I’d some websites for him to check out for information on this. Hopefully the anti circumcision movement keeps moving forward and soon medical insurance won’t cover routine and for the most part unnecessary circumcisions!
I too hadn’t heard of Kevin’s suicide either, until just 2 weeks ago. 4 days ago (SF) Bay Area Intactivists had 3 altars at Garfield Square Park in the Mission District for Dia de los Muertos.In memoriam we celebrated In Memory of the Sexually Mutilated Child (Those Who Have Died, Have Wished They Had Died); Jonathon Conte; Kevin Cagle. I would say during the course of the day, viewing of altars 4-11pm, on average there was at any time 3-5 celebrants seeing Kevin’s picture and reading his suicide note. We purposely placed Kevin’s altar separate from Jonathon’s and all altars to draw singular attention. This was close to the foot of the candle lit steps leading up to Jonathon with his bike trailer alongside In Memory of the Sexually Mutilated Child as viewed through the eye. May All RIP.
I hope you have signed up for BAI’s Event Announcement List http://www.bayareaintactivists.org/lists
Frank
415-606-5205
https://www.facebook.com/frank.mcginness.7/notes
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Sadly, men like Kevin and Jonathan are not alone. Ron Goldman, Phd wrote an excellent book “Circumcision: The Hidden Trauma” that’s very informative and thought-provoking. https://circumcision.org/circumcision-the-hidden-trauma/
There is an emerging vanguard of men who are raising their voices to document the long-term adverse physical, sexual and emotional harm of unwanted genital cutting in childhood. Two published surveys include:
Preliminary Poll of Men Circumcised in Infancy or Childhood (1999)
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1046/j.1464-410x.1999.0830s1085.x
Long-term adverse outcomes from neonatal circumcision reported in a survey of 1,008 men:
an overview of health and human rights implications
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13642987.2016.1260007