A parent who secretly audio-taped a workshop in which teen-agers were given graphic instruction in homosexual sex acts by Massachusetts state employees is being sued by a workshop presenter who was fired after the recording was made public.
Margot Abels, a seven-year employee of the state's education department, worked as an HIV/AIDS program coordinator and was one of the three state-employee panel members conducting the workshop. Abels claims her civil rights were violated by the parent who made the recording and by Education Commissioner David Driscoll, who subsequently fired her.
Previously reported by WorldNetDaily, the workshop was held at Tufts University on Saturday, March 25, and was titled, "What They Didn't Tell You About Queer Sex and Sexuality in Health Class: Workshop for Youth Only, Ages 14-21." The teen workshop was one of many held at the day-long event, which also included sessions training teachers how to inject positive homosexual themes into public school materials -- down to the elementary school level.
Teachers who attended the conference, which was sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, received state development credits for their participation. The Massachusetts Department of Education has historically provided funding to GLSEN through the state's "Safe Schools Program."
Scott Whiteman, a parent and executive director of the Massachusetts-based Parents Rights Coalition, also attended the conference and secretly recorded the teen sex workshop. Whiteman and PRC's president Brian Camenker distributed the recording, which they peppered with their own commentary, until a gag order drafted by lawyers at Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders and signed by a superior court judge forced the group to stop.
The original language of the order precluded media reports of the recording, prompting involvement by the Fox News Channel. The network filed a "Motion to Intervene," claiming the gag order was "unconstitutional prior restraint." Judge Allan van Gestel said an exemption for the media would effectively defeat the purpose of the gag order. Even so, he was compelled to alter the order to allow media use of the recording. Whiteman, the Parents Rights Coalition "and any persons in active concert or participation therewith" are still bound by the order, which was granted on the grounds that the recording was made illegally. "Interception" of communication without notification of participating parties is prohibited.
Massachusetts News, an Internet publication that first broke the story of the conference, has continued to distribute the audio recording in light of the amended gag order. A lawyer and the news outlet's publisher, Ed Pawlick, said Abels' lawsuit is an intimidation tactic.
"The reason they're doing this is to harass … people. They don't have any valid claim that I can see," Pawlick told WorldNetDaily. "But any lawsuit has to be taken seriously," he added. Pawlick noted legal costs for Whiteman's and Camenker's defense could reach $200,000 -- enough to silence PRC's operation and bankrupt the men.
Abels says after the negative publicity generated by Whiteman and Camenker, she received threats and abusive calls. Several days after the negative publicity began, Driscoll fired Abels.
Now suing Driscoll and PRC, Abels says her civil rights were violated, including her right to free speech. She is also suing Whiteman and Camenker individually for violations of Massachusetts' anti-wiretapping law. In her lawsuit, Abels seeks reinstatement to her job, damages for lost wages and damages for emotional distress.
"The actions of Massachusetts conservative groups and of my former colleagues at the Department of Education are unconscionable. Losing the staff of the AIDS program and dismantling award-winning, nationally-recognized and proven-effective programming will continue to have a tragic impact on the young people we were hired to serve," Abels said on Nov. 27, the day she filed suit.
Abels' attorney, Betsy Ehrenberg, added, “The Department of Education under Commissioner Driscoll shamefully caved in to orchestrated pressure and heinous threats directed against Ms. Abels, at the expense of her constitutional rights. In effect, the state managed to reward Whiteman and Camenker for breaking the law by giving them what they wanted – an end to the employment of dedicated workers like my client, and the erosion of well-respected, life-saving sexuality education programs in the Commonwealth.”
"These actions send a clear message that the Department does not support sexuality and HIV-prevention education, especially when that education targets groups at increased risk, like gay, lesbian and bisexual youth," Ehrenberg added. "This also tells school-based educators across the state to think twice when answering students' questions and teaching long-established lessons about sexuality and prevention, something that the vast majority of parents in our country support."
During the March 25 event,
Abels reportedly praised the homosexual practice of "fisting," and told her young audience that the practice -- widely condemned by the medical establishment as dangerous -- often gets a bad rap. She described it as "an experience of letting somebody into your body that you want to be that close and intimate with."
Whiteman and Camenker are represented by Chester Darling, known for his historic defense of the South Boston Allied War Veterans Council in their fight to prevent homosexuals from marching in the veterans' annual St. Patrick's Day parade. Darling says his clients have not yet been served, and he did not wish to comment on the case.
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