National Coalition for Men

The National Coalition for Men (NCFM), formerly the National Coalition of Free Men, is a

The Nassau County Chapter was formed in early 1980. In February 1981 the Nassau County, New York chapter began its own newsletter called Transitions. By October 1981 the chapter had been responsible for inspiring and forming other groups in Suffolk County, New York and New Milford, Connecticut.^{[citation needed]}

On Saturday, October 24, 1981 the Nassau County chapter produced its first conference. It was funded by Adelphi University and was called "Freeing Men From The Macho Mold: Options For Men In The 1980s." The conference was followed up the next day by Free Men's first convention, which was attended by representatives from various groups. Transitions became the national newsletter.^{[citation needed]}

Out of the convention was born the "Coalition." Tom Williamson and Naomi Penner organized the convention, organized the national body and are credited with founding the "Coalition." Tom Williamson was elected president and Naomi Penner was elected vice president.^{[citation needed]}

Incorporation proceedings were begun and the coalition became official in December 1981. The incorporation was amended in 1982 to further clarify objectives. The original intent was for the governing body to be called, "Free Men." However, after the organization was informed that someone else in New York owned that name the organization considered such words as "Union" and "Association" before settling on "Coalition." The governing body was formally incorporated as "The Coalition of Free Men, Inc."^{[citation needed]}

As of 2006, the National Coalition of Free Men had five chapters from California to New York. In the spring of 2008, the organization changed its name to the National Coalition for Men.^[5]

NCFM championed the case of William Hetherington until his parole in 2009.^[6]

The NCFM supported a Republican version of the Violence Against Women Act in 2012. The organization argued that the bill written by Senate Democrats excluded heterosexual men and would empower "false accusers at the expense of true victims",^[7][8][9] and encouraged women present in the country without legal documents to make false accusations of abuse in order to stay in the country.^[10] The liberal Center for American Progress has criticized the NCFM for its stance on the issue,^[11] as did the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The NCFM has engaged in controversial behavior such as publicly outing alleged sexual assault victims whose cases were dismissed due to lack of evidence and labelling these women as "false accusers".^[12]

In July 2020, NCFM's vice president and main attorney in several lawsuits, Marc Angelucci, was murdered at his home.^[13]

In 2005 the NCFM filed a lawsuit against the state of California for funding domestic violence shelters for women only.^[14] In 2008 the Court of Appeal ruled in their favor and held that the exclusion of male victims violates men's rights to equal protection and "carries with it the baggage of sexual stereotypes", because "men experience significant levels of domestic violence as victims" ^[15]

The NCFM filed a lawsuit,