Fistgate
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Fistgate was a local controversy in Massachusetts in 2000 related to sex education teaching by public employees at state endorsed LGBT educational meetings. The dispute involved issues of free speech, privacy and proper conduct in education.
The controversy arose after a conference including some high school and pre-high school students on March 25, 2000. In a session about health and sexually transmitted diseases, a student asked a question about fisting and was provided an explanation by an employee of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
The nameFistgate was coined by the publisher of the now-defunct Massachusetts News, Ed Pawlik and an anti-gay activist group called MassResistance, now regarded by some as an "Active U.S. Hate Group".[1][2][3][4]
Scott Wiseman, a parent present at the meeting, made a recording, and asked Middlesex County District Attorney Martha Coakley to investigate the explanation of sexual activities to minors by state employees. He and members of the above groups alleged that conference attendees discussed how sexual education teachers can circumvent their administration and provide instruction on homosexual acts into the curriculum.[citation needed] The incident gained wider attention when Jeanine Graf, a talk-show host on station WTKK broadcast the tapes on her talk-show.
In the wake of the incident, three state education department employees were fired. They claimed that their dismissal was unjust, because the words ascribed to them had been taken out of context; they said their main goal was to discuss sexually transmitted diseases, and the controversial material was only a small part of their total speech at the conference.[5]
One of the dismissed employees, Margot Abels, sued Massachusetts. The court ordered her reinstatement on the basis of evidence that her supervisors knew beforehand of the planned content of the meeting -- and consequently had fired her for actions they had initially approved. [6] Another one of the state employees, Julie Netherland, brought suit against the parents, alleging that the recording violated the state anti-wiretaping law . In a hearing in the summer of 2001, Wiseman's lawyer, Chester Darling, argued that the practices being advocated at the meeting were unsafe, and such advocacy was a form of child-abuse, justifying breaking the anti-wiretaping law .[7]
Those involved in publicizing the scandal were later sued by gay rights groups.
The event was sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN).[clarification needed]
After the Fistgate incident was revealed, a judge issued a gag order against the tape of the meeting. Some people, including Nat Hentoff argued that this gag order violated the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, since the recording was of a public meeting. [citation needed] Since mid-2009, the tapes have been available to the public.
Notes
- ^ "Active U.S. Hate Groups". Retrieved 2008-10-30.
- ^ "MassResistance declared a hate group". Retrieved 2008-12-01.
- ^ "Waltham's Mass Resistance labeled as a hate group". Retrieved 2009-02-27.
- ^ "MassResistance Declared "Hate Group" by Extremist Pro-Homosexual "Southern Poverty Law Center"; Several Other Pro-Family Groups Around the Country Also Named". 2009-03-02. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
- ^ "EBSCOhost Connection: Was GLSEN 'fistgate' controversy a contrivance?". Connection.ebscohost.com. Retrieved 2009-11-09.
- ^ Mass News article on Abels getting her job back
- ^ report on early proceedings in the Netherland case