Lesbian Sues Pro-Family Activists for Exposing Truth About Pro-Homosexual Event

by Jim Brown and Jenni Parker
April 7, 2006

(AgapePress) - - A lesbian who was fired for her role in the notorious "Fistgate" conference at Tufts University has brought a civil suit against two Massachusetts pro-family activists who attended the 2000 conference and then proceeded to expose what went on at the pro-homosexual event.

The statewide conference that took place March 25 of that year was actually called "Teach-Out," and was sponsored by the Massachusetts Department of Education, the Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth, and the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. The event's scandalous nickname comes from one of the many sexually explicit topics discussed at the conference before audiences that included children and teens.

Several presenters tried to foster "open discussion" by familiarizing their listeners with graphic details about homosexual sex and sexuality. At one point in the conference, "fisting" was discussed by one Teach-Out presenter, who described the practice as "an experience of letting somebody into your body that you want to be that close and intimate with ... [and] to put you into an exploratory mode."

Many concerned parents learned about "Fistgate" and its sexually graphic content through the efforts of Massachusetts pro-family activists Brian Camenker and Scott Whiteman, who attended the "Teach-Out" specifically to bear witness to and gather evidence of what went on there. That is why the two men are now facing legal action, along with the Parents Rights Coalition, which is also named in the civil suit.

Former state employee Margot Abels alleges Camenker and Whiteman violated her free-speech rights by tape-recording two workshops in which she instructed children as young as 12 years of age in how to engage in homosexual sex acts.

Abels claims the men broke an obscure Massachusetts wiretapping law that was designed to fight organized crime. In her lawsuit, she argues that the audiotape and her subsequent firing have both caused her emotional distress. But Camenker, who heads the pro-family group Article 8 Alliance, believes she is just resurrecting a dormant lawsuit in an effort to punish him and Whiteman for blowing the lid off "Fistgate."

"The statute says that you can be charged with a crime and punished and sent to jail and fined," the pro-family activist points out. However, he notes, "Nobody ever charged us with a crime; nobody every fined us. None of this every happened. I think they knew they couldn't pull this off as a real crime, so they're trying to use the civil suit approach."

And Camenker believes the plaintiff's attorneys are eager to attack. "They are really out to go after us," he contends. "The lawyer has already said to me, point blank, 'What are your assets; do you own a house?' She said that they're going to do their best to get as much money out of us as they can."

But beyond that, the Article 8 spokesman asserts, "The homosexual movement wants to punish anyone who exposes their activities with kids."

Nevertheless, the pro-family advocate says he means to put up a fight and even intends to play the tape recording of the Teach-Out presentation at trial. "And we're certainly going to let the court know," he adds, "that if we committed a crime, [we weren't informed of it.] How come we weren't charged with anything?"

Attorney Steve Crampton, chief counsel of the American Family Association Center for Law & Policy is representing Camenker in the case. A judge has set a July 10 trial date for the lesbian activist's lawsuit against Camenker, Whiteman, and the Parents Rights Coalition.