Q-Seattle Events: Tacky Tourist Clubs

An eastern European republic might seem like a strange place to lobby for a state ballot initiative in Washington, but Redmond's Pastor Ken Hutcherson has found an eager audience (and, presumably, donors) for his anti-gay message in local churches that cater to immigrants from former Soviet republics.

The Redmond pastor has built on that local support by appealing to the homeland churches of those immigrants. Earlier this month, he traveled for a second time in a few months to the Latvia to attend a meeting there of church officials attracted to his anti-gay message.

Hutcherson's message rings true to right-wing immigrants from the Russian-speaking Slavic republics of northeastern Europe according to a radio host and newspaper who spoke at a Kent church.

"I consider myself more American than those who were born in this country who are destroying it," said Wade Kusak, host of a Russian-language radio show in Sacramento and publisher of newspapers there and in Seattle.

It's no coincidence, he said, that states with growing evangelical Slavic communities are the most liberal, full of people "trying to destroy our families."

That's why God "made an injection" of Slavic evangelicals. "In those places where the disease is progressing, God made a divine penicillin."

Shapovalov [the pastor of a Kent church] said Kusak has spoken to his congregants on how to conduct themselves at political demonstrations.

In Kusak's home base of Sacramento, which has the nation's largest conservative evangelical Slavic community, church members have picketed gay-pride events and packed legislative meetings, often far outnumbering other protesters, according to the Los Angeles Times.

UK Gay News provides a translation of a Russian-language report on Hutcherson's trip from the the Latvian website NewGeneration.lv.

The Latvian site reports, "The US guests did not need introduction -- their human rights and anti-gay movement activities [are] widely widely known in Latvia."

Hutcherson was in the Latvian capitol of Riga this month to attend a conference organized by Janis Vanags, Archbishop of the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church. According to UK Gay News, representatives of "all main denominations of Latvia" attended the conference along with Hutcherson and several prominent Latvian politicians.

"It is a huge honour for me to be in such a company," NewGeneration reported Mr. Hutcherson as telling the conference.

"I will try to be useful in resolving the problems which we all care about. Homosexual pressure is experienced today by many countries. Where the danger was not identified timely and the destructing forces of homosexuality were not evaluated timely, we see how homosexuality is spreading widely and becoming legal," Hutcherson said.

It's not clear if it's related directly to the conference, but shortly afterwards, an anti-gay activist group in Latvia that calls itself "No Pride" sent a letter to British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The open letter asks that Blair stop muzzle London's mayor who has expressed supported gay activists in Latvia.

No Pride writes

Each nation's citizens have a right to choice a way their country develops and it is unacceptable that civil servants of the United Kingdom interfere with the Latvia's internal affairs. We consider unacceptable London Mayor Ken Livingstone's alongside organisation ILGA Europe actions supporting and escalating the conflict in the Latvian society between traditional values and supporters of homosexuals' rights, by stating their support for Riga Pride 2007.

The language of the letter echos the speech that Hutcherson gave to the discrimination conference:

"There many countries on the world today where same-sex marriages are legalised," Hutcherson warned the conference, "where same-sex adoption in possible, where education of a new generation is based on sexual diversity and family transformation. We need to talk today about the fact that the people simple overlook how homosexuality step by step forcefully taking space."

The Stranger's Slog has printed dispatches (here and here) from the preacher who says he was a hit on local TV stations, but maybe not so much with the US Embassy:

It went extermely [sic] well with American embassy?they aren't very happy right now, because I had to lay it out, they are not representing American values well.

It also went well with the Parliament, the Ministry of Interior, and Minister of Integration.

Labels: I-963, initiative, ken hutcherson