Parents' Rights Coalition
 |
|
| Founded | May 8, 1995 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Brian Camenker |
| Type | Nonprofit 501(c)(4) |
| 04-3271722 (EIN) | |
| Focus | Oppose LGBT rights in law and policy |
| Location | |
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Key people
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Brian Camenker, President |
|
Revenue
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$137,953 (2010) |
| Website | massresistance |
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Formerly called
|
Parents' Rights Coalition Article 8 Alliance |
MassResistance is a Waltham, Massachusetts-based group that promotes socially conservative positions on issues relating to homosexuality, abortion, anti-bullying, gun control, the transgender community and same-sex marriage. It was founded by Brian Camenker in 1995 as the Parents' Rights Coalition, and in 2003 it changed its name to Article 8 Alliance. It adopted its current name, MassResistance, in 2006.
MassResistance's activism takes several forms, including promoting its views via its website, blog, email, lobbying, and voters' guides.
The group has been critical of former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney for maintaining moderate positions on LGBT rights during his term as governor. The Southern Poverty Law Center has designated MassResistance an anti-gay hate group, in part for its claim that suicide prevention programs aimed at gay youth were "put together by homosexual activists to normalize homosexuality".
Brian Camenker, a conservative activist in Massachusetts, founded Parents' Rights Coalition in 1995. The name was changed to Article 8 Alliance in 2003 and then to its current name, MassResistance, in 2006. The organization is based in Waltham, Massachusetts. Camenker, a resident of Newton, Massachusetts, has also participated in local politics and was the president of the Newton Taxpayers Association.
Camenker's vocal opposition to "the homosexual agenda" began in 1992, when his neighbor showed him a teaching guide that contained what he characterized as "disgusting descriptions of gay sex". Camenker was one of several parents who expressed concern to the Newton school committee about a pamphlet provided to teachers for use as background material at Newton's Day Junior High School. The pamphlet listed graphic tips on subjects including safe sex for lesbians. A short while later, Camenker founded a conservative organization, Newton Citizens for Public Education (NCPE), which opposed a controversial ninth-grade sex education program in Newton. Camenker was accused by state Board of Education chairman, Martin Kaplan, of having ties with Christian right organizations. Following a vote by the Board of Education which recommended support groups for LGBT students, Camenker expressed concern about harassment of gay students, but stated that direction being taken would "cause more acrimony rather than less". He added, "People should view gays as friends, as Americans, rather than as someone who's different than them".
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Wikipedia