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'''Brother K''' ({{LifeData|birth=1947-10-22|birthplace=Miami, California{{USSC|birthcountry=USACA}}|birthname=Kenneth David Hopkins}}) is an American [[Intactivists|intactivist]] who engages since 1975 to outlaw the medically not indicated [[circumcision]] of boys. He officially changed his name in 1986. He organized the [[Bloodstained Men]].

[[Brother K]] was born in Miami in 1947 and grew up in New Orleans. He studied journalism at the {{UNI|University of Illinois|UIC}}, where he earned his degree in 1969. He protested against [[circumcision]] at the California State Capital in 1980, a protest that the Associated Press and other media reported locally and across the nation. In 1986 he changed his name to Brother K in California Superior Court, an act of protest against his circumcision at birth. He formed [[Bloodstained Men]] in 2012 and has protested in cities from coast to coast.<ref>{{REFweb

When I first started lobbying against [[circumcision ]] in California in 1975, I became accustomed to the odd looks & condescension from some people; others, if not most, wholeheartedly endorsed my approach, and encouraged me to speak out more vigorously. In 1980 I completed my manuscript, "The Circumcision Instinct," an attempt to shed light on this ancient & strange custom. That same year I became convinced that direct action in the streets would be necessary to force the issue into the public consciousness (and conscience), so my friend, [[Carole Babyak]], and I formed [[CARV|Citizens Against Ritual Violence]] (CARV), a protest group dedicated to exposing the deceit & misinformation behind the [[circumcision]] campaign in the [[United States]].

We were pleased to receive many letters from a widespread community across the [[United States]], but perhaps most significant for the movement, we were gratified that Dr. [[Dean Edell]], [[Marilyn Milos]], [[Rosemary Romberg]], [[Jeffrey Wood|Jeff Wood]], and [[John A. Erickson|John Erickson]] (to name only a few) took a deep interest in our activities, and communicated their firm support in their correspondence with us.

My personal journey took on urgency in 1985, when I realized that I would always be [[circumcised ]] unless I [[uncircumcised]] myself. Many men have other ways of accomplishing that task; in my case, I viewed circumcision as a spiritual mark on my body - — the curse of an angry & ancient God - — and I saw no way to uncircumcise myself except to renounce the birthname that was associated with that deity. I changed my name to Brother K, keeping a vestigial remnant of my birth name for some reason, which later became clear to me - — K stands for Kind.