For the first time in 20 years of journalism, I was compelled to ask an interview subject about his penis. Did he have the procedure done himself?
"This is not about me personally. I don't want to talk about my penis, frankly," he said.
I don't usually want to talk about interview subjects' penises either. But this is a germane issue concerning the backer of a drive to get a circumcision ban on the ballot, don't you think?
"I'm sure everybody thinks this is germane and their business, but I want the focus to be the issue, and not me. People say, 'Oh, he's uncircumcised and he wants everyone else that way,'" he said.
Hmm. No, I hadn't thought of that. What do you mean?
"They must think he's uncircumcised, and it's so ugly. And it's only because he has an ugly penis that he wants to do this. But I'm not embarrassed. I'm not ashamed," he said.
I wasn't aware some people thought uncircumcised penises were ugly.
"Oh yes, in the U.S. there's a stigma, and it's against intact men," he explained. "Just look at blogs. It seems like people only feel comfortable with what they're used to, and I do feel there is way that intact men are stigmatized. I think it's unfortunate people should be stigmatized one way or another."
I hadn't read blogs that said uncircumcised penises were ugly. Is this common?
"It's very much so. It's social pressure. It's understandable, if everybody is one sway, and somebody is a little different, that person is singled out," he said.
Schofield said prejudice against uncircumcised men is so acceptable that Hollywood celebrities espouse it.