Q-Seattle Events: Tacky Tourist Clubs

UK Gay News is a website that has -- along with its wonderfully inclusive daily summery of gay-related news stories -- done more than any other to recount the frightening flowering of often-violent homophobia that has accompanied the re-emergence of religious institutions in the countries of the former Soviet bloc.

This week, their focus turned slightly to the west as Eastern European homophobes prepare to meet with some of their American fellow-travelers in Lynnwood.

UK Gay News combines a summary of the week's developments here with one of those lessons in Latvian politics that has become so oddly relevant in the Pacific Northwest.

The Russian-language preacher, Alexey Ledyaev, who is scheduled to be here for the weekend conference, runs his radio ministry -- called New Generation Church -- from Latvia's capital city Riga. Ledyaev is closely allied with a right-wing party that is part of a coalition that controls the government there.

While the quasi-governmental body that runs Lynnwood's convention center still insists that booking a radical hate group at the facility was the proper thing to do, European officials haven't been so willing to tolerate the intolerance that characterizes the group that will be here.

According to the UK Gay News story, Euro human rights officials recently refused invite one of Ledyaev's political cronies to a meeting even though the Latvian politician -- Janis Smits -- holds the official ministry position that makes him responsible for human rights issues in the country.

This week, Andreas Gross, rapporteur of the Judicial and Human Rights Committee of the Council of Europe?s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), was in Latvia and invited the Latvian Parliamentary Social Affairs and Human Rights Committee to lunch.

Well, not quite all of the committee. Excluded was chairperson Janis Smits, whose homophobic outbursts are legendary. ...

Janis Smits is no stranger to "anti-gay" demonstrations in Latvia. While he is not known to have been seen wearing one of the "No Pederasts" t-shirts, he has been seen ? even photographed ? with placards containing the "No Pederasts" symbol at anti-gay pride rallies.

The Council of Europe group that's more familiar with what Ledyaev, Smits, and their cohorts are doing in Europe judged Smits unworthy of contributing to a discussion about human rights.

The folks in Lynnwood might have been -- as some of them are now claiming -- confused about the group's name and about its purpose, but Hutcherson's involvement with the conference should have allowed them to figure it all out if only they'd done a bit of research.

: post mirrored from seaQwa.com

Labels: bigotry, events, ken hutcherson, latvia, scott lively, state:WA, watchmen

According to figures posted on the Lynnwood Convention Center's website, organizers of the hate-group conference scheduled for the center over the weekend expect 700 people to attend the event.

They'll be sharing the center with "Cruise Center's Annual Cruise Show" expected to attract about 200 people with "free admission." But they all will likely be swamped by the 2000 people expected over the weekend to attend the "Digital Photo Expo."

At least we can expect that there will be plenty of photos if anything of note happens at the center.

Labels: ken hutcherson, scott lively

The violently anti-gay group 'Watchmen on the Walls' will hold a conference this week in Lynnwood, reports the blog BoxTurtle Bulletin. What the organizers are calling a "human rights" conference starts Friday and runs through the weekend at the Lynnwood Convention Center [get directions, just in case... well, you know].

The Watchmen organization was founded by a group of homophobic extremists that includes Redmond's pastor Ken Hutcherson, Oregon activist Scott Lively, and Pastor Alexei Ledyaev of Riga, Latvia. The three of them will address the conference along with Bothell preacher and political-activist Joseph Fuiten and fringe-right Sacramento radio host Vlad Kusakin who also edits a Russian-language newspaper in Seattle, according to Casey Sanchez's superb report on the Watchmen.

The Watchmen claim credit for several demonstrations that have turned violent toward gay people, including protests against gay gathering in Riga, Latvia, and Kiev, Ukraine. Gay activists in Sacramento blame the summer death of a young man there at least partly on the spirit of intolerance that had been generated in that city by Kusakin and local preachers at Slavic churches.

BoxTurtle's Jim Burroway discovered a transcript of a speech Scott Lively had given at an earlier Watchmen conference in which Lively offers this preposterously inaccurate tale of the Sacramento death:

...[W]e've come to a place in the United States where the homosexuals have achieved very high power. And they?ve begun to punish... They?ve begun to cause the political powers to punish anyone who says that homosexuality is wrong.

There was a situation in Sacramento a few weeks ago in a public park. There was a group of homosexuals and they were very drunk and one of the homosexual men was taking off his pants. And there were children in the park. And a Russian man went over to these homosexuals and he was rebuking them and there started a fight. And the Russian man punched the homosexual. ...

Now the Russian man has been accused of murder and the FBI is seeking him. And all of the powers in Sacramento have been accusing all of the Russian community of being murderers. And the goal is to silence everyone who speaks against homosexuality. And this is a very dangerous situation because we don?t want homosexuals to be killed. We want them to be saved. Amen?

Could have fooled us, Scott.

But this is one of the man who will be in Lynwood next weekend to talk at a "human rights" conference.

BoxTurtle offers this Google translation of the Lynnwood conference announcement.

Related items we'd missed:

• David Schmader posted a scary summary on Slog of the Watchmen sent him by BoxTurtle's Jim Burroway here, along with links to prior Slog coverage of the conference.
• Pam Spaulding today offers a summary of the conference at Pandagon.
• She points to a post about the conference at Orcinus:

The Watchmen movement's strategy for combating the "disease" of homosexuality calls for aggressive confrontation. "We church leaders need to stop being such, for lack of a better word, sissies when it comes to social and political issues," Lively argues in a widely-circulated tract called Masculine Christianity. "For every motherly, feminine ministry of the church such as a Crisis Pregnancy Center or ex-gay support group we need a battle-hardened, take-it-to-the-enemy masculine ministry like [the anti-abortion group] Operation Rescue."

Lively identifies "the enemy" as not only homosexuals, but also what he terms "homosexualists," a category that includes anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, who "actively promotes homosexuality as morally and socially equivalent to heterosexuality as a basis for social policy."

And one more: A Salon blog, "Bartholomew's Notes on Religion" has a review of the Lively/Latvia nexus that we've detailed here with some choice new links and quotations.

Oh, and had I not been a bit too busy of late with the nerdish underpinnings of "our" new blog site, I would surely have noticed this post by Postman that links to the Slog posts about the conference.

Labels: ken hutcherson, latvia, religion, scott lively

AlterNet offers a great report today by Casey Sanchez of Intelligence Report. The extensive report begins and ends with the tragic death of a Sacramento man. In between, Sanchez ties together the international anti-gay evangelical cabal spearheaded by Lativia-based preacher Alexey Ledyaev. It's a movement -- centered in the US in Sacramento -- from which Redmond pastor Ken Hutcherson and Oregon anti-gay activist Scott Lively draw considerable support.

In addition to Lively and Robertson, Ledyaev has cultivated the support of Rev. Ken Hutcherson, the African-American founder of Antioch Bible Church, a Seattle-area megachurch. ...

One of Ledyaev's nephews saw Hutcherson speak in Seattle at a March 2006 debate on gay rights and arranged a meeting with the Latvian pastor. By the end of the year, Hutcherson, Ledyaev and Lively had teamed up with Vlad Kusakin, the editor of The Speaker, to form an international alliance to oppose what Hutcherson characterizes as "the homosexual movement saying they're a minority and that they need their equal rights."

We've mentioned Ledyaev before in posts about Hutcherson's Lativian nexus, but the Sanchez's article offers a wealth of new details, including this odd detail:

At 56, Ledyaev is still youth-oriented enough to promote his vision of global theocracy through elaborate, large-scale Christian rock operas that Ledyaev writes, directs and stars in, and which are replete with lasers, smoke machines, and spandex-clad actors in ghoulish makeup. One of the rock operas, which young Russian-speaking anti-gay activists promote on video-sharing websites, features a hero character wearing a tuxedo battling men in black tights armed with tiki torches. Over heavy-metal guitar riffs, a military-like chorus sings of "victory over the gays."

More significantly, however, the article gives details of the theological underpinnings of the pastor's homophobia:

The New Generation theology Ledyaev preaches borrows heavily from R.J. Rushdoony, the late founding thinker of Christian Reconstruction. Pastor Ledyaev's 2002 book, New World Order, calls for evangelical Christians around the world to influence the wealthy and powerful in their home countries to implement biblical law in order to stave off a supposed alliance of gays and Muslims hell-bent on destroying Christianity. ...

They took the name Watchmen on the Walls from the Old Testament book of Nehemiah, in which the "watchmen" guard the reconstruction of a ruined Jerusalem. The cities they guard over today, say the contemporary Watchmen, are being destroyed by homosexuality. ...

During the past year, the Watchmen have met twice in the United States, first in Sacramento, then in Bellevue, Wash. They gathered to strategize against same-sex marriage and build a political organization to fight "gay-straight alliances" in public schools and push for the boycott of textbooks that mention homosexuality in any context other than total condemnation.

The group has also convened outside America. In the summer of 2006, the Watchmen and their supporters gathered in Riga, Latvia, to "protect the city from a homosexual invasion." Gay rights activists in Europe counter that it's gays who need protection from the Latvian capital, not the other way around. ...

The Watchmen portray the battle against gay rights as nothing less than a biblical clash of civilizations. "The homosexual sexual ethic" and "family-based society" are at war, Lively proclaimed in his letter to The Washington Times. "One must prevail at the expense of the other."

That sort of militant rhetoric is standard among Watchmen followers on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Speaking to his American counterparts in a Watchmen video, a Latvian anti-gay activist intones: "Your generation beat the Nazis, and our country beat the Communists. Together we will defeat the homosexuals!"

Unfortunately, it's an article well worth reading around here because we have two of the movement's leaders in our backyard.

[8:20am. Updated lede.]

Labels: activism, ken hutcherson, latvia, religion, scott lively

One of two suspects in the hate-crime death of a Sacramento man entered a plea today of not guilty.

Aleksandr Shevchenko, 21, faces a single felony count of intimidating and interfering with a person's rights, a charge that falls under the state's hate crimes statutes.

Shevchenko, with close-cropped brown hair and wearing a white shirt and black pants, shook his head and said "not guilty" when Judge Jaime Rene Roman read the charge against him.

Shevchenko is one of two men charged in the alleged hate-crime killing of Satender Singh in a confrontation at a Sacramento area park on July 1. The other man charged in the case, Andrey Vusik, fled to Russia and is being sought by the FBI on a fugitive warrant. Schevchenko, 22, turned himself into the sheriff's department on Aug. 6 and is free, pending trial, after posting part of a $25,000 bond.

Vusik allegedly punched Singh on July 1 after a day-long series of verbal confrontations between a group of Russian speaking people and a group that included Singh, a Fijian immigrant.

Singh, 26, fell backward, striking his head and rupturing a critical part of his brain stem. He died four days later.

Friends with Singh that day have said the "Russian-speaking" group hurled anti-gay epithets and racial taunts before Singh was punched.

Relatives of both suspects have insisted Singh's death was not intentional. Vusik's wife said her husband acted in self-defense.

The suspects' families have maintained that members of Singh's group were dancing provocatively, using foul language and drinking heavily that Sunday at the park. [SacBee]

Members of evangelical Russian-language churches in Sacramento have long staged protests at virtually every gay-related event scheduled in the capital city. Singh's friends have said that he might have been singled out because he was dancing with both women and men at a lakeside celebration of Singh's recent job promotion. [See previous post.]

Marcos Breton, a columnist for the Bee, last week appealed for calm in what has become a contentious issue in Sacramento.

Because now is the time for moderate voices to step forward. Now is the time for the rhetoric in the Singh case to be dialed down.

In that spirit, it should be stated that the suspect in this case is from Sacramento's Slavic community -- but the entire Slavic community is not suspect.

It should be stated that there were escalating tensions between some Slavic Christians and Sacramento's gay community before Singh was killed -- but the entire Slavic Christian community is not on trial. And neither is the Christian faith. Any suggestions to the contrary are simply inaccurate, a reflection of the fear and anger that have risen as justice has been delayed.

However, we shouldn't forget that long before Singh was killed, leaders in Sacramento's gay community had expressed fears about incendiary language used by some Slavic Christians in anti-gay protests around town -- fears that violence would follow.

When Singh was killed, they believe, those worst fears were realized.

Again -- we don't know if the words of some Slavic Christians created an atmosphere that led to violence.

In interviews with The Bee, members of Vusik's family said they are not affiliated with any anti-gay groups.

"We just got in the confrontation between the churches and the gay community," Vusik's wife, Tatyana, said in a recent interview. "What happened was a tragic accident and had nothing to do with gays."

An article in the Sacramento LGBT bi-weekly magazine, Outword, [issue available only in pdf format] reports that LGBT activists in Sacramento had been calling for greater police protection at gay events long before Singh's death.

"Our goal starting two years ago has been to seek safety for the gay community at our events," said Dr. David Lawson, one of the activists who attended meetings with the county sheriff and district attorney.

"While we have succeeded in increasing the awareness and presence of law enforcement at our events, we have had less success in opening a dialogue between the Queer and Slavic communities," Lawson said.

Labels: crime, gay news, ken hutcherson, news bites

Anti-gay American crusaders, including Redmond's Ken Hutcherson and Oregon's Scott Lively have celebrated the anti-gay energy brought to their movements by evangelical churches for Russian-speaking emigres from former Soviet republics.

A recent assault in Sacramento shows the danger of that "energy" when misdirected.

The death in Sacramento early this month of Satender Singh, a 26-year old immigrant from Fiji, has riled tensions there between the city's large Slavic immigrant population and the LGBT folk against whom some of the Slavs have demonstrated.

The Sacramento Bee has detailed the still-unsolved July 1 hate crime and reactions to it.

Singh was picnicking near Lake Natoma with a small group of Fijian and Indian friends when the attack occurred, according to two people with him that day. The Bee is not identifying the friends because they fear retribution.

Singh was at the park that Sunday to celebrate a promotion he had earned at his call center job, according to the friends, and the group was drinking and dancing to Indian music. Singh was the only one without a date, and was hugging and dancing with other men.

In the hours preceding the attack, a group described as Russian-speaking hurled explicit gay slurs and racial remarks at Singh and his party, according to witnesses and sheriff's officials. When Singh and his friends tried to leave around 8 p.m., they were confronted by the Slavic group and a fight ensued, the witnesses said.

Singh was punched -- once -- in the face. He fell backward and cracked his head, rupturing a part of the brain stem that controls most of life's functions. He died four days later.

A 911 call to the sheriff's office from Wolfgang Chargin warned them that tension was brewing at the park between the two groups.

The Russian-speaking group seemed especially offended by Singh, 26, who was dancing with both men and women, Chargin said.

At one point, Singh's party went into the water and one of the men in the other group walked over and spit on their blankets, Chargin said. The man then went to the lake's edge and shouted something at them that they seemed to find especially shocking, Chargin said.

After watching several verbal exchanges between the two groups, Chargin called 911. He stressed that Singh's group was never aggressive but they were confronted several times.

The county sheriff said his officers responded to the call, but could not locate the groups.


The crime and the reaction to it highlight a social tension that has been developing in Sacramento and other communities for years where evangelical Christian Slavic immigrants have staged aggressive anti-gay protests.

In death, [Singh] has emerged as a symbol of wounds that have festered for some time between Sacramento's gay community and members of the Slavic evangelical community, a thousands-strong group that has become a vocal force denouncing gay rights. It is that rhetoric, some contend, that fueled the attack on Singh earlier this month at Lake Natoma.

"This homicide sort of brings to light what has been feared," said Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, who attended a vigil for Singh last week. "It's tragic evidence of a larger point." [SacBee]

Although Sacramento police have characterized the case as a "high priority," they haven't yet identified Singh's attackers. One commenter to a SacBee story on the crime speculates, "They will not find the Russians who did this, they are a tight lipped community and we have no Russian speaking Officers. Sad, but true."

Another attempts to correct him, but comes to a similar conclusion: "1.we DO have Russian peace officers, my brother is one of them! and I also have 2 friends on the police force who are Russian! 2.We are NOT a tight lipped community-most of us have been here less than 10 years, and are not familiar enough with the laws to step in, when officers truly need our input they come in with an explanation and we are glad to help. Back in Russia, if you helped solve a crime, the criminals will turn around and commit another crime-this time against you-the witness, so excuse us for being hesitant, we are still getting used to the protection we have here. "

According to the Bee, about a third of Sacramento's 100,000 Russian-speaking residents are members of evangelical churches who claim to follow a "literal interpretation" of the Bible and who emphasize the anti-gay messages they find there. In Sacramento, they've staged protests at area schools, at the state Capitol, and at just about any public event staged for LGBT people.

Those leading the anti-gay protests -- many of whom fled religious persecution in the former Soviet Union -- maintain they're exercising their newfound freedom of speech to spread the message that homosexuality is a sin.

"What's going on is very complicated," Feldman said this week. "It's almost a social war starting in Sacramento."

Steinberg, who last year rode as a dignitary in the city's annual gay pride parade, said he has been struck by the magnitude of vitriol emanating from the evangelical protests.

"Some of the epithets, some of the signs are not only disrespectful of the gay and lesbian community, but they are disrespectful of the entire community," he said. "The words are vile ... and words may give people the implicit license to take the next step and hurt people. ...

Florin Ciuriuc, a former executive director of the Slavic Community Center of Sacramento, said he was disturbed but not surprised to hear of the attack at Lake Natoma.

Ciuriuc said he was among those leading anti-gay protests a few years back but that he stopped participating as the movement became more menacing.

"I saw that people were hungry for violence, for blood; different ideas where we have to be aggressive, where we have to scream," he said. "I don't want people from my community killing each other or other people because they are getting aggressive."

Viktor Chernyetsky, administrator of Bethany Slavic Missionary Church, strongly disagreed with Ciuriuc's assessment. Chernyetsky said Slavic leaders teach homosexuality is a sin, but do not support physical violence. [SacBee]"

There's no indication in the Bee stories that Singh actually was gay. It's clear, however, that his attackers -- who probably weren't all that familiar with the traditions of Bollywood -- perceived him to be so. And that appears -- judging by their reported actions -- to be why they attacked him and his friends.

"Why has Mr. Singh's death galvanized this community?" asked Georgette Imura of the Council of Asian Pacific Islanders Together for Advocacy. "He was targeted because of his ethnicity and his perceived sexual orientation ... and possibly, his racial background. It's touched us on so many different levels."

In Sacramento, LGBT groups have joined with support groups for Asian/Pacific Islanders to stage several well-attended vigils for Singh. In memorial shortly after Singh's death, hundreds gathered to honor a young man that most had never met. The Sacramento gay magazine, Outword, offers this highlight: [magazine in PDF format]

The laugh was infectious, and brought smiles to all those who heard it as it was played from a cell phone and amplified so that all at the memorial service and rally could hear it. It was not meant for that, however, it was simply a phone call to a good friend, a shared laugh and now a treasured memory.

The phone call and the laugh were from Satendar Singh and it was played at a memorial service in his honor before a crowd of over 300 people, most of whom had never met him, nor knew him, but gathered to remember his life that was taken in a senseless and tragic murder and possible hate crime.

The service was held at 8 p.m. in the Peace Garden at the State Capitol on Friday, July 6 and was organized by the Capital Unity Council and members of Sacramento's gay and religious communities.

Singh, a recent immigrant from Fiji, was called "The Lucky One" by his family because he had won a lottery for a visa and the chance to come to the U.S. His luck ran out on Sunday, July 1...

Singh was remembered again yesterday when those attending a long-planned a "West Coast Diversity Summit" in Sacramento turned it into another vigil to the young man's memory. For the first time in weeks, a minister from one of the evangelical Slavic churches spoke out about the attack.

There was no mistaking the fundamental differences between Bishop Nikolay Gelis and most of his audience Saturday at the first West Coast Diversity Summit.

His Russian words reverberating throughout Trinity Cathedral Hall in midtown Sacramento, Gelis preached with the help of a translator that he believes "normal families" are men and women who produce children, building strong communities for the betterment of a nation.

In the audience sat about 50 gay and lesbian activists and allies, undoubtedly with different definitions of family and societal betterment.

But in the end came common ground.

"We do not support any form of hate or persecution," boomed Gelis, a leader at a local Pentecostal Slavic church.

Advocating that everyone "love each other and have peace," Gelis received thunderous applause and the only standing ovation of the afternoon summit.

Good words, of course, and -- no doubt -- welcome in Sacramento where folks have to deal with daily tension built from simmering threats of violence. But Gelis's American anti-gay allies in churches -- including Hutcherson -- have been speaking out against a hate-crimes bill in Congress that would make the very kinds of distinction between speech and violent action that Gelis was making. As long as the preachers insist on a supposed "right" to incite violence, it's difficult to put much faith in those kinds of words.

Labels: crime, gay news, hate crime, ken hutcherson, religion

Redmond pastor Ken Hutcherson has, without much fanfare, dropped efforts to get an initiative on the November ballot that would have rolled back anti-discrimination rules adopted by the 2006 legislature. The rules bar discrimination in jobs, housing, and contracts based on sexual orientation or transgender status.

The Seattle Times has the most detailed explanation we've seen, but even that paper's story -- in a digest of news items -- doesn't say all that much:

Hutcherson would have needed signatures from at least 224,800 registered voters by July 6 to place an initiative on the November ballot.

He said Thursday he discontinued his efforts early in the spring after Joe Fuiten, senior pastor of Cedar Park Assembly of God, asked him to instead unite in opposing a domestic-partnership bill for gay and lesbian couples. That measure ended up passing the Legislature in April.

Fuiten confirmed he asked Hutcherson to drop the initiative, saying "I didn't think we should run it. The time wasn't right. The climate wasn't right."

Whether or not it's related, Fuiten is now involved in starting a new organation called Washington Family Policy Council.

Lynnwood businessman, conservative political donor, and Christian activist Larry Sundquist is spearheading the formation of the group with help from Fuiten and several national conservative Christian activists, including Tony Perkins and James Dobson.

Sundquist told The Herald, "We don't want to position ourselves as a right-wing Christian organization.... We want to be credible and not be marginalized. And we want to be credible without thumping on our Bibles and quoting scripture."

Uh huh. We guess backing a pro-discrimination measure would not be one of the best ways to get that message across.

The Herald offers these details of the new group:

To get started, Sundquist enlisted to the Board of Directors the savvy veteran of political brawling Pastor Joe Fuiten of Bothell. Fuiten tangled a lot this year with lawmakers as president of Positive Christian Agenda; he will merge that group into the policy council.

Larry Stickney of Arlington has been hired as executive director. Stickney, who is chief aide to Snohomish County Councilman John Koster, will leave his county job next month.

Stickney knows the challenge will be great. Democrats in the Legislature pushed bills granting domestic partnerships for same-sex couples and overhauling sex education in public schools.

He looks to recalibrate the voice of Christian conservatives in time to make a difference when lawmakers arrive for next session.

"We're not ashamed to say we are going to promote the Judeo-Christian worldview," he said.

"And we're not going to be shy about it."

It's odd, however, that they've chosen a name that's almost identical to an official state agency, the "Washington State Family Policy Council" whose mission is far less restrictive.

Labels: I-963, initiative, ken hutcherson

We haven't heard much from Redmond pastor Ken Hutcherson lately about his discrimination initiative, I-963. If passed, Hutcherson's initiative would wipe out a law passed by the 2005 legislature that amends the state's civil rights laws to bar discrimination in housing, employment, and insurance because of sexual orientation or transgender status.

Despite the lack of publicity, the measure is being given a good chance in an analysis by Olympian reporter Brad Shannon of initiatives that have been introduced for possible placement on the November, 2008 ballot.

Hutcherson hasn't raised the kind of money usually required to qualify any initiative for the ballot, but an alliance of churches might still help him get his measure on the ballot, according to the report.

"Unless they are raising six figures, it's really hard to get things on the ballot.... It costs usually hundreds of thousands of dollars ... to get on the ballot," said Todd Donovan, a Western Washington University professor of political science who has authored books on the initiative process.

One potential exception is I-963, which seeks to repeal gay-rights provisions adopted by lawmakers in 2006. That law already survived Eyman?s referendum signature drive last year.

But this year's effort is led by Ken Hutcherson, the former professional football player who now serves as senior pastor at Antioch Bible Church in Kirkland; Hutcherson opposes same-sex marriage and civil rights protections for gays.

Donovan said other states have seen low-cost ballot measures succeed around the issue of gay marriage or gay rights.

"A lot of those were low-cost campaigns where they got a lot of signatures through churches," he said.

It's not mentioned in the Olympian article, but Hutcherson's recent activism on behalf of anti-gay groups in the Baltic republic of Latvia (see our posts) has probably helped to cement his alliance with some Russian-speaking churches in this area. His partner on the Latvia trips was anti-gay activist Scott Lively from Oregon. Russian-speaking immigrants in Oregon organized loud protests in Salem when the Oregon legislature considered a similar anti-discrimination measure earlier this year. The bill passed in Oregon.

Labels: I-963, initiative, ken hutcherson, latvia, politics, Washington

With a huge police presence protecting them from counter-demonstrators, LGBTQ folk and their supporters celebrated Gay Pride in Riga, Latvia with a march through a city park.

UK Gay News reports

Around 1,200 people marched around the Vermanes Gardens at lunchtime as Riga staged, after two previous attempts, its Gay Pride.

But it was not like most Prides around the world. Today was more of a walk around the park with tight security. The main thing, as everyone agreed, was that it happened and it was peaceful.

As often happens with these things, the reported numbers of participants varies widely. AP counts a significantly lower number:

The gay rights activists, numbering about 400, paraded around a fenced-in park in downtown Riga on a sunny day, while a crowd of some 100 protesters shouted homophobic taunts from surrounding streets.

But whatever the number, the peaceful nature of the demonstration was a first for Eastern Europe. A participant from Belarus told UK Gay News

"While I had the feeling that we were in a zoo, it was better than nothing," he said. "I hope that today will have a lot of media coverage in Latvia to show people that such an event can be staged peacefully.

"The police were fantastic and everyone worked so hard to make the event go without problems.

Unlike previous years when they were accused of standing and watching violence, Riga police were out in force this year to keep anti-gay demonstrators away from Pride celebrants. UK Gay News photo

"Most of the people watching the parade through the railings were supportive," he felt. "Many were waiving at us."

Officials from several fellow European Union countries travelled to Latvia to take part in the celebration.

Volker Beck, the member of the German Bundestag who was in Moscow last weekend for the city's troubled Gay Pride, declared to participants that "this is the first real gay parade in Riga."

"A wonderful day -- the fist legal Pride n Riga," he told an enthusiastic audience. "May there be many more." [#]

Despite earlier rumors that American homophobes like local preacher/activist Ken Hutcherson and his Oregon brother-in-bigotry Scott Lively might have attended, it's not clear yet whether either of them were in the groups that were kept far from the Pride celebrants.

Update: User 'lettlander' offers this great YouTube video with views from both sides of the fence.

Labels: gay pride, ken hutcherson, latvia

According to UK Gay News, Redmond preacher Ken Hutcherson is expected to join Oregon anti-gay activist Scott Lively this weekend in Latvia as anti-gay protesters seek to distrupt gay pride observances in Riga, capitol of the Baltic republic of Latvia.

Scott Lively, the American author of The Pink Swastika, is reported to be already in Riga.

"He has asked if he can attend the conference on family models in Latvia and Europe," a spokesperson for Mozaika, the organisers of Riga Friendship Days and Gay Pride, said last night.

There are rumours here that the American preacher and former NFL linebacker Ken Hutcherson, who heads the Antioch Bible Church in Seattle, will also be in Riga this weekend.

Both Lively and Hutcherson were in Riga earlier this year following in invitation from the New Generation Church. It was on this visit that Hutcherson said that he was an "envoy of the White House," which was subsequently strongly denied by the White House.

After violence last weekend at a gay rights observance in Moscow, the situation in Riga is being watched closely by European human rights groups.

After banning the gay pride march for two years, Riga officials allowed it to go on this year. A regional court in Latvia ruled earlier this year that the city's refusal to grant a parade permit to the gay group Mozaika violated the law.

The anti-gay group that has invited Lively and Hutcherson to join them isn't so happy about seeing other foriegners in Riga this weekend.

Foreign guests, please don?t come to Latvia for Riga Friendship Days and Gay Pride. That is the message from the 'No Pride' group, who have not headed their own plea.

They say on their website: "Foreign Guests please don't come. It's our problem. Not yours!"

A high-ranking Swedish official said earlier that he would travel to Latvia for "Riga Friendship Days".

Tobias Billström, the minister for migration and asylum policy at the Ministry of Justice will be taking part in the parade at Vermanes Park in downtown Riga ? and is due to make a speech following the event. ...

"For us it is important that it is not only words, but also action," Jonas Hansson, president of the international affairs committee of RFSL ? the Swedish Federation For Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Rights ? told UK Gay News this morning.

He pointed out that the Minister of European Affairs was at last weekend?s Pride in Warsaw, where the Embassy also gave a reception.

"These are examples of how to show the Swedish government?s support to the LGBT work in these countries and a good start of what the politicians can do," he continued, adding that RFSL would continue to pressure government.

Update: The Guardian has a great summary, titled Crucible of Hate, of the fight for rights in Latvia and throughout Eastern Europe.

Latvia is typical among eastern European countries where, increasingly, being gay is seen as an act of political aggression. Rights to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly are denied on vague grounds of "promoting homosexuality" or posing a risk to security. Homophobia has become a touchstone issue for politicians seeking to divert attention from economic frustration. Homosexuality may be decriminalised in these countries, but only on condition that it stays out of sight.

Labels: gay pride, ken hutcherson, latvia

The Roman Catholic archbishop of Riga, Cardinal Janis Pujats, Latvia has issued a public letter asking his countrymen to take to the streets to oppose any attempt by gay and lesbian folks in the Baltic country to march. Riga Pride and Friendship Days is scheduled to start in less than four weeks.

"If there are 1,000 sexually crazy people acting foolishly in the square of Pride, then the people's march in Riga should have at least 40,000 or 50,000," Pujats wrote.

"That is a conflict situation. It would be better, therefore, if the provocative demonstration were to occur in a location that is closed and limited some way -- a garden or square. Security services will decide on this, but that is not a long-term solution." [UK Gay News]

PinkNews reminds its readers what happened last year when gay pride organizers tried to hold a meeting in a "closed and limited way":

A group of around 50 activists instead held a service of tolerance at a local Anglican church.

Hundreds of neo-Nazi skinheads, ultra-nationalists and members of the Orthodox church besieged the church, pelting the activists with excrement.

It was reported that local police stood and watched as events unfolded and declined to intervene.

In his open letter, which was published by a Latvian newspaper, the Cardinal calls as a "total corruption in the sexual arena," and an "unnatural form of prostitution" and calls on the government to protect "the values of the traditional family against the licentiousness of homosexuals."

Redmond's Pastor Ken Hutcherson met with Pujats and other religious and government leaders during a visit to Riga earlier this year. This reminder -- again from PinkNews [#]:

Last month Christian groups in Latvia welcomed fundamentalist US preachers and to the country and talked tactics about opposing gay rights.

A meeting organised by Janis Vanags, Archbishop of the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church, was attended by Cardinal Pujats and representatives of the Orthodox, Penecostals and other Christian groups.

They were addressed by Kenneth Hutcherson, who runs a 'super-church' in Seattle and is a vehement opponent of gay rights.He told the Latvians that homosexuality was spreading rapidly, and that the "gay lobby" had increasing political influence across the world.

"We need to do everything to ensure that even in the European Union it does not lose its principles. "It is a holy right of any nation to decide in what society to live," he told the assembled crowd, which included senior members of parliament.

US envoy to visit Poland's homophobes

Hutcherson claimed to be a special envoy of the White House during his visits to stoke up homophobia in Latvia. The White House later denied his claim.

They'll have no such cover when a credentialed State Dept. official visits a convention of homophobes in Poland later this month.

The World Congress of Families is expected to draw more than 2,500 people from dozens of countries to Warsaw's Palace of Culture and Science from Friday through Sunday.

The chief organizer is a Rockford, Ill.-based conservative think tank, the Howard Center. Co-sponsors include more than 20 other U.S. groups allied in opposition to abortion, same-sex marriage and other policies they blame for weakening traditional families in Western Europe. ...

Scheduled speakers include a Vatican representative, Monsignor Grzegorz Kaszak of the Pontifical Polish Institute of Rome, and Ellen Sauerbrey, assistant U.S. secretary of state for population, refugees and migration.

Questioning Sauerbrey's involvement, 19 European Parliament members said in an open letter that her attendance would signal approval for "extremist and intolerant views held by some participants."

Hutcherson hasn't yet told his "Prayer Warriors" if he'll be attending, but a different Seattle group will be there.

Co-sponsors of the congress include the American Family Association, Concerned Women For America, the Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, the Heritage Foundation and the Seattle-based Discovery Institute, which promotes the "intelligent design" concept of the universe's origins.

Labels: ken hutcherson, latvia, religion, witch hunts

One of three announced candidates for the open post of Snohomish County Sheriff is bringing in Redmond's anti-gay activist preacher Ken Hutcherson for what is billed as a campaign fundraiser and "prayer rally."

Tom Greene a current bureau chief in the county's police force is running against Democratic state Rep. John Lovick and sheriff's Lt. Robert Beidler for the post which must be vacated by incumbent Sheriff Rick Bart who can't run again because of term limits.

Although they couldn't quite figure out where or what Snohomish County is, UK Gay News found it odd that someone running for sheriff would bring in as a campaign speaker the preacher who is reportedly being investigated for misrepresenting himself during his recent foriegn trips to Latvia.

With the White House denying that Hutcherson had been given any special status for his trip to Latvia, and Hutcherson claiming that he has "video proof" (though he is refusing to produce this), it is a certain case of "oh no we didn't" and "oh yes they did".

So, in true British pantomime tradition, perhaps there should also be the "behind you" message sent out to the Bureau Chief of the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office who is now campaigning for election as sheriff.

It's not clear from Greene's campaign site why he's invited Hutcherson to become involved in a Snohomish race for sheriff. But then, there are often code words used for these kinds of things. Maybe that makes it notoble that Greene touts as one of his "core values", "Live by the Boy Scout Law and Oath".

Labels: ken hutcherson, politics, Washington

Bellevue's Sheriff Dave (aka Congressman Dave Reichert (R-8)) joined 24 other Republicans and 212 Democrats (including all of Washington's D Congressmen) to pass a federal hate crimes bill this week that would expand an existing statute to include acts of violence explicitly motivated by the victim's perceived gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

The bill, dubbed "Matthew Shepard Act", would increase possible penalties, provide federal assistance to local jurisdictions under special conditions, and expand the conditions under which federal authorities could prosecute a bias-motivated crime under any of the categories which also include race, religion, sex, national origin.

In a statement released upon passage of the bill, Seattle Congressman Jim McDermott (D-7) said,

Every day somewhere in this country, an innocent person is victimized or traumatized because of their race, religion or sexual preference; that is wrong and intolerable and I will not stand by while civil rights are beaten back or shouted down. This legislation would provide local law enforcement with resources they need and don?t have to vigorously pursue and prevent hate crimes.

Reichert and the other Republicans who voted for the bill have been targeted by right-wing lobby groups and bloggers because of the vote. They're urging supporters to flood Riechert and the other Republicans with letters and emails. (Those who live in Reichert's district and support his vote should contact him as well.)

Even before the final vote in the House, the White House issued a statement saying that Bush would be advised to veto the hate crimes measure if it reaches his desk. The statement was issued after a heavy lobbying push by opponents of the measure.

A major right-wing talking point used by those who opposed the measure is that the bill -- which explicitly covers only overt acts of violence -- somehow creates a class of "thought crimes." An example:

Make no mistake about it, the Democrat[ic] House is trying to make thought a crime. ...

This is an insidious bit of legislation meant to create special laws to legitimize homosexuality and make a crime anyone attempting to advocate for a Christian worldview. This bill makes activism against the homosexual agenda, among other things, subject to prosecution as a "hate crime" because the definition of "hate crime" is being expanded to include sexual orientation.

Gay blogger Chris Crain -- who was himself once a victim of a gay-bashing assault -- patiently explained in several posts prior to the vote that the law would not criminalize thought.

Not only does the Shepard specifically limit itself to "violent offenses," the bill contains a special provision to prevent evidence of the person's views or affiliations being used as evidence of biased intent:

Evidence of expression or associations of the defendant may not be introduced as substantive evidence at trial, unless the evidence specifically relates to that offense.

Unlike McDermott, Reichert didn't release a statement explaining his vote, so we can only guess what might be behind it. The vote might simply reflect the changing politics of his district.

Reichert represents a once rock-solid Republican district that has started to tilt away from the party as the GOP has been pulled father to the right by so-called "social conservatives." He faced a tough reelection challenge in 2006 from Democrat Darcy Berner who is expected to run against him again in 2008.

But we suspect there's more. According to Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the gay lobbyist group that has made the bill a primary element of its agenda, the measure was backed by "the National Sheriffs Association, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, 26 state attorneys general and the National District Attorneys Association." Reichert's long career as a beat cop in the King County Sheriff's Department, detective, and sheriff might actually have helped him understand this law better than some of his GOP colleagues and have helped him to see beyond the misleading talking points of the right-wing opponents of the law.

In a slide show on its legislative lobbying agenda for the 109th Congress, the sheriff's association stated

The National Sheriffs? Association remains concerned about the continuing rise in crimes committed against individuals because of bigotry. While the crime itself is perpetrated against one individual or group, the effect is felt throughout the entire community and Nation. If hate crimes persist, members of the targeted group will continue to live in fear and no American should have to live in fear of violent attack because of their ethnicity, religion or belief.

The law that was passed by the House last week would, in specified instances, give local cops more federal help in the often expensive investigation of hate crimes. The cops and prosecutors who investigate the crimes understand that long-established category of "hate crime" does not criminalize thought. It does, however, give them more resources to lock up those who commit overt acts of violence. As an ex-cop, Reichert is in a better position than many in Congress to understand that evidence of motive is one of the factors considered by investigators in any kind of assualt case and becomes a factor in making a distinction between, say, manslaughter and capital murder. Courts have shown themselves capable of making fine distinctions when considering evidence of bias as a complicating factor in an assault case.

One of Reichert's constituents, Redmond's anti-gay activist preacher Ken Hutcherson, joined with several other black pastors to lobby against the bill in the weeks before its passage. Because of a series of inexplicable snafus along the way -- like a lost cell phone that prevented a scheduled appearance on Rush Limbaugh's show -- Hutcherson didn't get much of the publicity he prays for during his lobbying visit to the capitol, but the other pastors who tried to paint the bill as an anti-pastor measure did get some fawning coverage.

The handful of black pastors joined with white evengelical leader Lou Sheldon and others to brand the measure as an "anti-free speech and anti-religion bill." The ever-wacky Sheldon also dubbed it the "Pro-Homosexual/Drag Queen Bill."

If passed and signed into law, it will be used to establish a legal framework to investigate, persecute and prosecute pastors, businessmen and others whose actions are based upon and reflect the truths found in the Bible. So-called ?hate speech? could become the target of zealous pro-homosexual federal prosecutors ? which could include a pastor?s sermon against homosexual behaviors!

The blogger Republic of T, explained at length and with chilling examples why the preachers were wrong.

Nothing in there about preaching. But, essentially, those black ministers and their white evangelical counterparts want to leave bias-crimes based on gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity in a post-1964 state. ... There's nothing in either piece of legislation that would cause a minister to be dragged from the pulpit for anti-gay preaching, and anyone who says otherwise is either deluded or engaged in deliberate deceit.

The ministers and the rest who oppose the bill, and will likely cheer the president?s veto don?t have anything more to fear than the Ku Klux Klan, White Aryan Resistance, or any other hate group. They're still free to spout their hatred; as free as they ever were. There are consequences, as W.A.R and Tom Metzger found out in 1988, if their words include incitement to violence against a particular group, and those words lead to actions by those who received them. But, that's about it.

Residents of Reichert's district should thank him for seeing beyond the obfuscations offered for the past month by opponents of this bill.

Labels: ken hutcherson, politics, Washington

Crosscut, David Brewster's new online newspaper for the Northwest run largely by Seattle Weekly alumni, has -- and this is remarkable -- used the word "gay" in a headline today, "Young gay-rights opponents get vocal in Oregon". That's news in itself, but more interesting is the story under the headline.

Those young gay-rights opponents were mostly from Russian-language (Russophone) churches in Oregon. They provide a link that helps explain the reasons for the recent visits to Riga, Latvia by Redmond's Ken Hutcherson and Oregon haulocaust revisionist Scott Lively. [See our previous posts on the visit and Latvia.]

The Oregonian reported on the Russophone anti-gay rally:

Twice in the past two weeks, hundreds of Russian-speaking Christians from Portland and Salem flocked to the state Capitol to protest efforts to bolster gay rights. They arrived by the busload, jamming hearing rooms, singing hymns under the rotunda and providing testimony.

The protests were organized in only a few days by Russian-speakers calling themselves The Voice of Oregon Youth. They pulled it off by using laptops, e-mail and phone calls to the tight network of Russian and Ukrainian churches in the area. Legislators estimated about 1,000 people showed up for a public hearing April 9, with 662 signing up to testify.

"We just went for it, no stopping," said Anna Zaichenko, 19, of Salem, a rally organizer. "I saw how passionate a lot of people became."

In February, months before the protests in Salem, Lively celebrated the activism of the Russophone youth, according to Willamette Week:

In front of about 30 people gathered recently in a Salem church sanctuary to celebrate the reunion of the Oregon Citizens Alliance, Scott Lively found cause for optimism about the rebirth of the anti-gay group.

Lively's reason to believe the OCA could return from dormancy to its glory days of the early 1990s, when it claimed to have more than 3,400 members and earned national notice for getting anti-gay measures on the state ballot, are immigrants from the former Soviet Union who haven't yet been indoctrinated by American culture.

[WWeek traced OCA history in 1998.]

While they were in Latvia, Lively and Hutcherson were guests of Alexei Ledyaev, a Russophone preacher in Riga. Lively showed a video at the February OCA-revival meeting that featured Ledyaev, according to Willamette Week:

The 45-minute video, which repeatedly refers to homosexuals as "terrorists," shows how conservative Latvians successfully stopped gays from marching [*] in their capital, Riga. (European news reports show anti-gay demonstrators throwing feces on the gays.)

The video also features Alexei Ledyaev -- a Kazakhstan-born Baptist pastor and leader of the New Generation Church, whose satellite broadcasts claim an audience of more than 200 million people -- leading large crowds in chants of "In the name of Jesus Christ, we curse the name of homosexuality!"

As OCA members cheered the video and chanted, "Amen," I tried not to laugh out loud at the one-sided images, which portrayed gay men as leather-clad deviants, whipping and licking one another in public.

Lively told the OCA-revival crowd in February, "There is a fairly sizable Russian population in Portland who is not poisoned to the OCA. That's a good place to start. They weren't poisoned by the sexual revolution."

Hutcherson had already started to draw Russophone churches in the Seattle area into his orbit, appealing for their help with his pro-discrimination Initiative 963.

Crosscut links to an LA Times story that focuses on the large and largely anti-gay Russophone emigre population in Sacramento.

Many credit the Slavic Christian immigrant community with filling a void left by the traditional American church and providing reinforcements in the ongoing culture wars over what should define family, acceptable sexual relationships and marriage.

"Russian Christians bring a fresh faith and uncorrupted family values to this country. They are a shining model for the rest of us in terms of faith, family, work ethic, patriotism and community," said Randy Thomasson, president of the Campaign for Children and Families.

Gay civil rights activists, meanwhile, accuse the demonstrators of hateful and aggressive tactics that they say sometimes lean dangerously toward violence.

There are plenty of preachers and other discrimination activists out there who hope to tie their own agendas to the energy of the young emigres. Hutcherson and Lively helped endear themselves by making sure that discrimination is a two-way street through their visits to Latvia.

* [A Latvian court recently ruled that it was illegal for the Riga city council to deny a parade permit in 2006 to the organizers of a gay pride event.]

Labels: I-963, ken hutcherson, latvia, oregon, politics, religion, Washington

Ken Hutcherson appears to have become peeved with The Stranger's Eli Sanders who had the temerity to question the White House credentials that the Redmond preacher claimed to hold during his visits to Latvia.

Review: A spokesperson for the White House office that Hutcherson claimed to represent told Sanders that the office "did not give Hutcherson the title" he used during his trip to speak with right-wing politicians and religious leaders in the Baltic republic.

Hutcherson claimed to have a video tape that would "prove" his claim that he had been given "a commission by the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives as a Special Envoy." Hutcherson told Sanders that the commission had come from Jay Hein, the director of the White House Office of Faith-Based Initiatives. The preacher said he'd show the video tape to Sanders.

He's now changed his mind about that, according to Sanders:

Hutcherson has been a hard man to get in touch with. However, I finally managed to reach him on his cell phone yesterday.

When we spoke, Hutcherson reversed course and said he had the video, but would not be showing it to me.

"Oh yeah, I have it," he told me. But, he added: "My relationship with the White House is much more important than my relationship with you."

Hutcherson said he believes that if he produces the video, it will be used to embarrass the White House.

"I'm not going to give you information so you can go and attack the White House," he told me. "Either way you win."

It sounds to us like Hutcherson has gotten some coaching here. We have yet another example of an all-too-familiar White House response: "We have the proof, but we're not going to show it to you."

Labels: ken hutcherson, latvia

Northwest Progressive Institute has the segment that included Hutcherson. CNN has the full transcript of the April 7 edition of Anderson Cooper's evening news show.

Hutcherson appeared in a brief segment of a larger report entitled "What Is a Christian?: Sex and Salvation." Hutcherson's segment appears to have been an edited tape of a discussion they taped on March 29, among 360 host Anderson Cooper, Redmond's anti-gay pastor Ken Hutcherson and Dallas pro-gay pastor Joe Hudson of Cathedral of Hope.

After the segment was taped, Hutcherson sent a missive to his "Prayer Warrior" email group asking to "Please pray for Rev. Hudson, that the Holy Spirit will enlighten her to believe what the Bible says regarding homosexuality being a sin."

COOPER: Reverend Hudson, do you believe the Bible says homosexuality is sin?
HUDSON: I believe there are passages in scripture that point to that. But I understand scripture and the bible in a very different way than I think that Reverend Hutcherson does. I look at scripture as a sacred text. The Bible as a sacred and sacramental text. But I also look at it as a text that points to a history and a culture and a very different kind of people that lived then, as do we now.

and

COOPER: Reverend Hudson, the gays and lesbians in your congregation, I imagine some of them have been in other congregations and felt that they were no longer welcome and found a place at your house of worship. What have they been through? For many, this is an academic discussion. It's an academic debate. For people in your congregation this, is very real. And this has real pain and real costs. What are the stories that your congregation tells you?
HUDSON: Well, we hear from people every day, and every week, from people not only in the Dallas-Ft.Worth Metroplex, but people all over the world, who have been rejected by their churches. Who have left the church of Jesus Christ, who want to be in a relationship with God. Who want to have a healthy, strong relationship with a God who loves them. And yet, have been turned away from church after church. And have come to our congregation and been affirmed. Have come close to God. Have through the reading and the study of scripture, come close to god. Have transformed their lives into lives of service and servant hood. Making a difference in the lives of others. And living very Christian, disciplined lives.

That tolerant view was, of course, rejected by Hutcherson who insisted that believers cannot be both gay and Christian.

COOPER: Reverend Hutcherson, do you believe that someone who is gay, happy about it, living a life and has a partner, do you believe they're going to hell?
HUTCHERSON: I think if they have not accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, that's the key to get into heaven. Not whether or not you are a homosexual or not a homosexual. Whether you're white or whether you're black. The Bible says if haven't accepted Jesus Christ you are a condemned. He is the only way. That is where I stand, bro and I don't even think twice about it.

While Hutcherson's Antioch Bible Church which holds its Sunday services in a high school gym in Redmond, is often described as a "mega-church," Hudson's Dallas Cathedral of Hope certainly qualifies for that designation with its 3500-member congregation. Although it hasn't yet been built, the church is still raising funds to build a 2000-person mega-sanctuary that was one of the last designs completed by noted (and gay) architect Phillip Johnson before he died.

A dictionary entry on the proposed sancuary describes it as:

Monumental, unconventional, and ever-changing, the proposed building will be a symbol of strength, hope, and unity. As Herbert Muschamp observed in reaction to the design, "It ministers not only, or even primarily, to the needs of gay people for self-acceptance. It ministers to society's need for self-acceptance; for the wisdom to perceive that gay men and lesbians are integral to society, not alien from it."

Hudson's church joined United Churches of Christ this year, instantly becoming that denomination's largest member congregation.

A recent feature on the church by Reuters reporter Ed Stoddard recounted its history and mission:

Founded in 1970 by a dozen gays and lesbians who gathered in a home and decided they wanted a safe and tolerant place to worship, the Cathedral of Hope has grown into a large and affluent institution centered in a cavernous building that can seat up to 900. ...

Hudson estimates that over 90% of the church's 3,500 members are gay, lesbian, or transgender. On a recent Sunday during Lent?a period of prayer and penance in the weeks before Easter -- gay couples and singles streamed in for morning services. The big pickup trucks and sports utility vehicles gave the parking lot a Texan flavor, and most were on the expensive side -- highlighting the fact that being openly gay remains a mostly white-collar phenomenon in America.

The church offered liturgical worship with an Episcopal flavor complete with Communion. It also provides contemporary and Spanish-language services.

But that Sunday there was no discussion of homosexuality from the pulpit. One pastor spoke of South African archbishop and Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu and the importance of forgiveness. Hudson's sermon focused on humanity's propensity to wander.

Members of the congregation said that while the church was a place of spiritual comfort for gays, its focus was on ministering to the wider community, especially the poor.

"We don't talk much about gay stuff here," said Coy James, who has been attending the church for almost 30 years. "We give over $1 million each year in aid and services to the poorest of the poor, and we have adopted elementary schools in low-income areas and helped them with tutoring and other things," he said after the service.

It sounds to us like Hudson and her congregation are getting by just fine without the intercession of Hutcherson's "Prayer Warriors"

Labels: ken hutcherson, religion, TV

No, no... Not that way.

The interview taped last week that prompted Ken Hutcherson to ask his "Prayer Warriors" to pray for the minister who appeared with him will -- according to the latest missive from the Redmond pastor -- appear tonight on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360.

Hutcherson gives this preview to his warriors:

Tune in tonight at 7:00 pm PST when CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 presents a feature show on the topic of homosexuality, the ex-gay movement and faith. The show will highlight Focus on the Family's Love Won Out conference and will feature interviews with Exodus President Alan Chambers and Dr. Ken "Hutch" Hutcherson, featured speaker at this year's Exodus conference and Senior Pastor of the Antioch Bible Church in Seattle, Washington.

CNN, for its part, teases the segment with this:

Are Christians obsessed with sex? Some say the church is interfering in private lives, others say sex is something to be explored as part of one's walk with Christ. A "360" special report: "What is a Christian," tonight, 10 ET

Hutcherson asks his warriors to "pray that they play what I taped, and it will come across accurately!"

Labels: ken hutcherson, TV

Viktors Birze, an anti-gay activist and right-wing politician in Latvia, will be prosecuted by Latvian authorities for violence that was aimed at the people who tried to hold a gay pride observation last year in the capitol city of Riga.

The Riga regional prosecutor's office said that Birze and one of his supporters, Valdis Rosans, will be prosecuted for hooliganism in a group, causing bodily injuries and damage of property, and showing resistance to law enforcement authorities.

Under the Latvian Penal Law, such crimes carry a sentence of up to seven years in jail.

On July 22 2006, anti-gay activists calling themselves the "No Pride" movement attacked members of Latvian and foreign gay and lesbian organizations at several venues of the gay pride festival in Riga. They threw tomatoes, eggs and excrements at participants of the gay festival.

During two recent trips to Latvia Redmond's Pastor Ken Hutcherson met with some of the activists involved in the "No Pride" counter-demonstrations last year. It's not clear if he met with Birze or Rosans.

Birze heads a small ultra-right nationalist party called National Force Union. Most of those Hutcherson met with during his visit are associated with a different party, LPP (First Party of Latvia). During one of the meetings, however, Alexei Ledyaev, the Riga pastor who served as Hutcherson's host, emphasized the need for anti-gay groups in Latvia to join forces:

He said the efforts by different religious and nonprofit organizations should be unified. There is a need of mass educational work explaining people the danger they are facing.

[Update:] Gay.com UK offers its report on the prosecution under the headline "Anti-gay yob faces Latvian court". Now we have a better idea of what a "yob" is.

Birze told Agence France-Presse at last year's gay pride event, "Homosexuals are dirty sinners. They are immoral people, and they don't have a place in normal society."

Labels: ken hutcherson, latvia

Ken Hutcherson is telling his "Prayer Warriors" that he will be on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 this evening. (It airs from 7pm to 9pm locally.)

It is a part of their Christianity Specials that they are currently producing. The one that I have been asked to be on will be a round table discussion with a Rev. Jo Gayle Hudson out of Dallas TX. We will be discussing Christianity and Sexuality. This will touch on the broad issues tied to homosexuality and faith: sanctity of marriage, tolerance, reparative therapy, and why it has often been a divisive issue among Christians.

Eli Sanders asks, "Will Anderson ask about Latvia?"

Don't count on it. That would be news, after all, but there's room for hope.

[Update:] Turns out that Hutcherson taped a segment along with another minister, Rev. Hudson, for the news show today, but it won't be shown until sometime next week.

Hutcherson asks his "prayer warriors" to "Please pray for Rev. Hudson, that the Holy Spirit will enlighten her to believe what the Bible says regarding homosexuality being a sin." Uh huh. There's that holy ghost causing confusion once again.

Labels: ken hutcherson, latvia

Latvian blogger Peteris Cedrins has added an extensive comment to an earlier post here in which we touched on religion in Latvia. Peteris confirms our suspicion that statements like Hutcherson's that "Latvia is a Christian nation" are more aspirational than factual. Given the interference of our local preacher in Latvian politics, Cedrins' comment deserves to be brought up here to the top.

[We apologize that the Blogger software that we use in the background for this blog can't handle the diacritical marks that are used on most Latvian names, including Cedrins'.]

by Peteris Cedrins

Detailed information on religion in Europe is available as a .pdf file from Eurobarometer. The chart there shows that 37% of respondents in Latvia choose "I believe there is a God" (in a multiple choice that included "I believe there is some sort of spirit or life force," 49%) -- that makes Latvia less religious than the UK (god -- 38%), and the UK is not considered especially religious. The least religious country in Europe is our northern neighbor, Estonia (God -- 16%). Mostly Catholic Lithuania -- 49%, Poland 80% (in that case we are probably seeing the effects of the Soviet occupation...).

The numbers among our neighbors point to our betweenness, as so often, and I do wish Eurobarometer would detail ethnicity/citizenship/region. Historically, Latvia was primarily Lutheran except for the eastern province of Latgallia, which was long a part of Poland and then Russia proper (i.e., not part of the Baltic Provinces which included Estonia and most of Latvia). Today, depending upon which numbers one believes, Lutherans, Catholics, and Orthodox are about equal (there's also a thriving minority of Old Believers, but the historically important Jewish minority was all but annihilated during the Nazi phase of the occupation).

Latvian nationalism was quite strongly anti-clerical, for the most part, from its inception in the 19th C -- the pastors were seen as agents of the hated Baltic German nobility. The Moravian Brethren, however, were instrumental in spreading literacy (by comparison to the rest of the Russian Empire and even to the West, it was very high here early on, in part due to home schooling) and ideas of equality. Then came socialism, exceedingly popular here in the late 19th and early 20th C, and obviously opposed to religion.

The Soviet occupation saw a shift -- religion was a means of resistance. The hierarchy is now fiercely conservative, however. Under the Soviets, the Lutherans ordained women. They no longer do that, and Archbishop Vanags has associated the Church with the Missouri Synod (which even complained about the women previously ordained...). The Catholic Cardinal Pujats, appointed in pectore by John Paul II, has contributed homophobic material to a small and venomously radical grouping led by Aivars Garda (Garda is a follower of Roerich's theosophical school, curiously enough -- though the Roerich Society has disassociated itself from him).

In Estonia, the Russian minority is reportedly more religious than the rather atheistic ethnic Estonians are. I believe that's true here, too, though I haven't any data to prove it.

It is hard to gauge how much religion in Latvia is merely formal. There is, however, not a little resentment towards the churches -- Archbishop Vanags' refusal to participate in ecumenical Independence Day services until various questions about the return of Church property were settled and until he was listened to re abortion (he wasn't) was widely remarked. The Government's use of large amounts of taxpayer money for the Pope's visit was not well received by many. Catholic dealings in Aglona, where they reclaimed a boarding school, caused a furore, and the "return" of Saint Peter's Church in our capital, despite the fact that the Lutherans haven't the money to support the major churches they do have, did not bring them much affection.

Hard, too, to measure the depth of the veneer -- the major holiday in this country is the summer solstice. This was the last part of Europe to be Chrisitianized -- Palanga, now in Lithuania, had a continuous female priesthood until the late 19th C, and paganism persisted in the less accessible parts of Latgallia into the 1930s. Latvian culture is rooted in the dainas, hundreds of thousands of folk songs.

The Soviet occupation saw a shift -- religion was a means of resistance. The hierarchy is now fiercely conservative, however. Under the Soviets, the Lutherans ordained women. They no longer do that, and Archbishop Vanags has associated the Church with the Missouri Synod (which even complained about the women previously ordained...). The Catholic Cardinal Pujats, appointed in pectore by John Paul II, has contributed homophobic material to a small and venomously radical grouping led by Aivars Garda (Garda is a follower of Roerich's theosophical school, curiously enough -- though the Roerich Society has disassociated itself from him).In Estonia, the Russian minority is reportedly more religious than the rather atheistic ethnic Estonians are. I believe that's true here, too, though I haven't any data to prove it.

It is hard to gauge how much religion in Latvia is merely formal. There is, however, not a little resentment towards the churches -- Archbishop Vanags' refusal to participate in ecumenical Independence Day services until various questions about the return of Church property were settled and until he was listened to re abortion (he wasn't) was widely remarked. The Government's use of large amounts of taxpayer money for the Pope's visit was not well received by many. Catholic dealings in Aglona, where they reclaimed a boarding school, caused a furore, and the "return" of Saint Peter's Church in our capital, despite the fact that the Lutherans haven't the money to support the major churches they do have, did not bring them much affection.

Hard, too, to measure the depth of the veneer -- the major holiday in this country is the summer solstice. This was the last part of Europe to be Chrisitianized -- Palanga, now in Lithuania, had a continuous female priesthood until the late 19th C, and paganism persisted in the less accessible parts of Latgallia into the 1930s. Latvian culture is rooted in the dainas, hundreds of thousands of folk songs.

Hard to measure what's Soviet, or totalitarian -- my wife's former atheism teacher, who tried to get her thrown out of school for sneering in Marxism class, became the head of the Department of Religious Affairs and denied a visa to the Dalai Lama. He easily morphed from orthodox Communism to hardcore Catholicism. Many others enjoyed such a metamorphosis.

Finally, here's a very interesting take on religious stats -- note where Latvia falls in Carlos' estimation...

As you suggested, the USA is far more "Christian" than Latvia is -- up there with Malta, the most religious country in Europe.

[Update: As me mentions in a comment below, Peteris has added much more about this "burgeoning bilateral trade in excrement" in a new post on his blog. The post is especially informative about how LPP -- the Latvian party with which Hutcherson and his American partner in bigotry, Scott Lively, have aligned themselves -- uses homophobia to empower its broader political goals. Unfortunately, those tactics also copy and echo too much in recent US politics.]

Labels: ken hutcherson, latvia, religion

A story running on the German news service Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) about Ken Hutcherson's recent visits to Latvia suggests that the visits and the flap over Hutcherson's disputed White House credentials might spill over to local politics in the Baltic republic.

After summarizing the dispute, the report concludes

The affair now has the potential to embarrass Latvia both domestically and internationally.

One of the four parties in Latvia's ruling coalition is closely linked with the New Generation church and has made its opposition to the pro-gay movement a key part of its agenda. Both Smits and Kastens are among its members.

The fact that both held meetings with a man whose representative status has been denied by the organization which allegedly sent him could well lead to awkward questions from domestic critics.

And Latvia has been criticized internationally for its attitude to gay rights after parliament last year attempted to block EU laws outlawing discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation in the workplace - an attempt which Smits initiated.

The news that a leading American opponent of gay rights has not only met with high officials, but has proposed opening a branch of his organization in an EU state for the first time, is likely to draw condemnation from gay-rights groups.

As he has with Slog's Eli Sander and the Seattle Times's David Postman, Hutcherson again responded defensively when DPA asked him about his claim during the trip to have been a White House envoy.

White House officials contacted by Deutsche Presse-Agentur denied that Hutcherson had any link with the office.

Hutcherson "was not appointed 'special envoy' by OFBCI," said White House spokeswoman Alyssa McClenning.

He has no official status or links with the body which would legitimately allow him to claim to represent the White House on a foreign visit, she added.

Hutcherson responded angrily to the comment, saying that he "did not appreciate being called a flat liar" and that the White House press office were unaware of his role.

"I never asked for a title: I asked for the power, the clout... The people in the press office don't know what's been going on in the upper office," he said.

The DPA story gives more detail about how Hutcherson used his claimed credentials during the trip:

While in the country he met with senior officials, including the minister for integration and the head of the parliamentary human-rights committee -- both of whom believed him to be linked with OFBCI.

"Yes, he is working as this organization's envoy," said the head of Latvia's parliamentary human-rights committee, Janis Smits.

"He said he was a representative of the office. The ministry of integration should be open to all, so I generally trust people and don't ask them if they have their credentials," added Integration Minister Oskars Kastens. Hutcherson was carrying a file bearing the US coat of arms, he said.

Hutcherson again claimed that the official imprimatur for his trips came from the White House Office of Faith-Based Initiatives. Smits and Katstens are both members of the "religious party," LPP, mentioned here in yesterday's post.

Kenneth Hutcherson, the founder and leader of the conservative Antioch Bible Church near Seattle, says that he came to Latvia with the knowledge and support of Jay Hein, director of the White House's Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI).

"Jay says we have a partnership and we're going to work together again... I told him, 'There are things I want to do in Latvia, but I can do them a lot faster with your backing,'" Hutcherson told Deutsche Presse-Agentur

[Update:] Under the headline "Anti-gay Christian's White House scam," Britain's Pink News website picks up on the story with its own summary of the DPA report.

[Update 2:] And the news section of Gay.com UK offers its summary of the issue, and concludes

As a member of the EU, it's increasingly unacceptable that Lativia boasts a large, violent, organisation whose sole purpose is preventing pride marches from occurring in Riga.

The article by the site's primary news writer, "Stewart Who?" notes about Hutcherson's visit to Riga

The fact that he had the ears of Janis Smits, chairperson of the Latvian Parliamentary Human Rights Committee was particularly galling for Mozaika, Latvia's LGBT pressure group. Despite invitations, Smits failed to attend any of the events organised by Mozaika the week before.

Labels: ken hutcherson, latvia, politics

Does Pastor and discrimination-activist Ken Hutcherson see in Latvia the possibility of creating the kind of church-based (or Christianist as Andrew Sullivan calls it) government that he and his allies would like to see in the US? It seems possible. But the US Embassy, the State Department, and Latvia's President and friend-of-GWB Vaira Vike-Freiberga -- along with most people in Latvia -- may be standing in the way of his dream.

David Postman has more on Hutcherson's complaints about what the preacher regards as inappropriate support from the US Embassy in Riga for the Latvian gay rights group Mozaika.

Postman couldn't confirm Hutcherson's claims that the embassy helped to fund the gay group, but finds evidence that the embassy has helped the group which was formed in 2006 after a violence-tinged gay pride march was organized in Riga in 2005.

The Embassy has helped organize events with Mozaika to promote tolerance of lesbians and gays -- as has the embassies of the UK and Sweden -- and the ambassador and Embassy staff have worked to protect gay rights activists when violent anti-gay protests broke out in Riga last year.

The United States has documented anti-gay activities in Latvia. A report on Latvia's 2006 human rights record was released March 6 by the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. It confirms what gay activists say, that Latvia has seen "societal violence and occasional government discrimination against homosexuals."

Postman gives a good summary of the State Department report, and finds even more supporting documentation. It appears to confirm, in more bureaucratic language, the problems reported in prior posts here that gay rights activists have run into in Latvia.

Hutcherson went to Latvia to align himself with religious/political activists in that country and to agitate against the US Embassy's support of Mozaika. From Postman:

He says that supporting Mozaika goes against American values as well as against the wishes of a majority of the Latvian people. In a speech in Riga earlier this month Hutcherson is reported to have said:

Latvia is a Christian country ... and we need to do everything to ensure that even in the European Union it does not loose its principles. It is a holy right of any nation to decide (in) what society to live.

Hutcherson's assertion that "Latvia is a Christian country" is something that is partly factual since 80% of Latvians claim to be Christians, according to reports, but also deeply aspirational. It's also every bit as political as such a statement would be if made about the US. From our long-distance view filtered only through various web sources, the political nature of the assertion appears to be paramount in Latvia.

It appears to us from our extraordinarily limited view that Hutcherson and his American partner for the trips to Latvia, Scott Lively, see in that small country a chance to remake a secular democracy into the kind of Christianist nation that they would like to see in the US. Homophobia appears to be stoked by some politicians in Latvia in the same way that anti-marriage-equality initiatives have been used in the US to increase the vote for right-wing politicians.

To a group of University of Michigan sociologists who have collected data for a long-running study of world-wide values, Latvia did not appear to be a deeply religious society. Based on data from their surveys, the researchers ranked 76 countries according to the relative "Importance of religion" in the society. China came in dead last, Nigeria was at the top of the list. The US is rated at a relatively high #20, but Latvia placed in the bottom third of the list at #55, just below Finland and above Slovenia and New Zealand. (The list was published as part of a non-related series on religion by Detroit Free Press. I haven't been able to find backup material for the list, but it can serve as a slight counter-balance to the general statements made by Hutcherson and politicians trying to make their point.)

As in most post-Communist countries, religious institutions in Latvia have had to reestablish themselves and redefine their positions within the society after more than a generation of suppression while the country was part of the Soviet Union. It appears that some churches and church leaders have turned to politics to do that.

In coalition with a nationalist party, a small party representing religious interests won 10 seats in the Saeima, Latvia's parliament, during last fall's election. From Latvians Online:

Finally, one other new party gained representation, the First Party of Latvia (Latvijas Pirma partija). Latvian elections always throw up at least one curiosity and this is it. Dubbed the "religious party" and having on its list some prominent clergy, it also has a number of other decidedly less spiritual politicians, including some familiar managerial and bureaucratic faces from previous parties no longer represented in the Saeima. They may be hardest to predict of all.

As in Italy and most Eastern European countries [and, interestingly, in America's Iraq], Latvians vote for a party list rather than for a particular candidate. Seats in the Saeima are then apportioned according to the party's vote percentage. The religious party, LPP, gained enough seats to be included in the center-right coalition that governs Latvia and re-elected its prime minister to a first-ever second term.

In a comment to an earlier post here, Latvian blogger Peteris Cedrins points out that the religious party wasn't particularly successful with their Christianist message:

[D]espite pouring money into a slick campaign and LPP exploiting "family values" whenever it could, the combined list received only 8.58% of the vote in October's parliamentary elections. "Family values" don't translate into too many votes, apparently -- which is part of why the party is now focusing upon the Russophone vote.

[graph added in addendum]

Despite the votes, however, in a controversial move, the ruling coalition appointed one of the more homophobic members of the LPP to a significant parliamentary post:

And in a move of extreme cynicism, the coalition appointed once-head LPP guru Janis Smits to chair of the Saeima Human Rights and Social Affairs Committee. Smits, a Lutheran prelate, was notable in 2006 for his extreme homophobia and sustained attack on the Riga Pride march, and his otherwise overtly authoritarian stance on every social issue. So bad had his reputation become that he was not elected in his own right to the Saeima (his own party supporters crossed out his name in droves), but came into the Saeima with a so-called "soft mandate," replacing another LPP member who was appointed a cabinet minister.

From that post, Smits could help enforce the kind of homophobia that has marred Riga's Pride events for the past two years.

From its now-limited position within the ruling coalition, LPP -- the religious party -- is maneuvering to gain more power, partly by aligning itself with pro-Russian and anti-Western party.

Meanwhile, for LPP and its ambitious leader Slesers an amalgamation would provide an opportunity to become the largest party in the Saeima. The politicians of Saskanas centrs (and of course PCTVL) are unreservedly hostile to Latvians from abroad playing any part in Latvian affairs. Unless the coalition in its present or expanded form trips up on its own ambitions -- a not impossible course of events -- we may all be in for a tough four years.

As in most parliamentary democracies, Latvia's president -- the head of state -- has little political power, but Vaira Vike-Freiberga, the president who will finish her second and final term in July, has her power and influence judiciously to promote healing in the still-new republic. She has been credited with steering the country through the shoals of ethnic/regional rivalries and historical animosities to become a generally vibrant and more-or-less tolerant European democracy.

The parliament will choose Vike-Freiberga's successor in a few months. Hutcherson and his associates appear to hope that the country will then move in a new direction, a direction that is far less open and tolerant. Unfortunately, they seem to be hoping that that little country on the corner of Europe could become a model for what they'd like to see here in the US.

Labels: ken hutcherson, latvia

Prior post: Pride and hatred: Hutcherson's odd connection with Latvia's homophobes

These are the domestic and regional political issues in Latvia into which US citizen Ken Hutcherson placed himself while making his still discredited claims that he had the power to speak for the White House:

News item from Baltic Times, March 21:

Special Assignments Minister for Societal Integration Oskars Kastens said that Riga Pride, a gay and lesbian parade scheduled for May 30 - June 3, will only increase misconceptions about homosexuals among the country?s population.

The minister made the statement after receiving opinions from public organizations about a proposal to include the issue of sexual minorities in Latvia?s national intolerance prevention program, the his office said.

"A demonstration cannot solve the problem of intolerance that the sexual minorities are complaining about. Solutions must be sought in discussions, by hearing various opinions," Kastens said.

News item from Latvian Centre for Human Rights, March 15:

Head of Latvia?s Roman Catholic Church, Cardinal Janis Pujats has sent an open letter to the Special Assignments Minister for Societal Integration Oskars Kastens stating that Catholic Church believes that there are no problems concerning intolerance in Latvia. Therefore, Janis Pujats argues that there is no need to elaborate national program on combating discrimination and intolerance.

News item from Ken Hutcherson's Prayer Warrior email list (via Slog), March 15:

I met with all the Religious Leaders in Latvia except two. I also met with the Ministers of Integration, Minister of the Interior, and the Minister of Human Rights and Parliament.

The successful result of the meeting was to foster complete agreement to work together in the future to strengthen family values. All agreed to keep traditional values of marriage between a man and a woman and ensure that marriage remains an institution between a man and woman as well as ensure religious freedom within the country.

One of the religious leaders that Hutcherson met with in Latvia on March 10 was Cardinal Pujats, who believes gay folk -- the folks who were pelted with eggs or worse as they tried to march in 2005 or meet together in a hotel in 2006 -- there don't encounter any problems.

Since Hutcherson doesn't mention them, it's not clear which of the country's cabinet ministers he met with, but he appears to be referring to Kastens with the abbreviated title "Minister of Integration."

It is a reflection of Latvia's complex history and equally complex current politics that the country has and needs a "Special Assignments Minister for Societal Integration."

It -- like its neighbors to the north and south, Estonia and Lithuania -- is a country that has struggled to define and redefine itself since breaking away from the Soviet Union in 1991. It is also a country where history regularly becomes an integral part of contemporary politics.

An example of that was on display on the streets of the capitol city of Riga last Friday when about 300 people marched in under heavy police guard. They were commemorating an anniversary of the Latvian Legion. Those who marched see members of the Legion as national heroes who fought the invading Stalinist Red Army to protect their country. Those offended by the march say that the Legion was a Nazi Waffen SS group that supported an invading foreign army of Nazi Germany.

Each side in that dispute can cite valid and frightening statistics of the tens of thousands who were killed in Latvia by each of the occupying armies who controlled the Baltic states after Hitler and Stalin agreed, briefly, to divvy up East Europe in 1939. An article that briefly summarizes the history puts it this way:

The ensuing to-ing and fro-ing of armies across the Baltics is a footnote to most people?s recollection of World War II, but the defining national catastrophe for Latvia.

Dates are important in Latvian politics. The country has two holidays to celebrate its independence. Independence Day is celebrated on November 18, marking the day in 1918 when the country declared itself an independent republic, ending centuries of control by Czarist Russia. Independence Proclamation Day is celebrated on May 4 to mark the day in 1990 when the country again declared itself independent, this time of Soviet Russia which had controlled it as one of the republics of the USSR since World War II.

During Gorbachav's Glasnost period, Lithuanians began to agitate for independence with a series of demonstrations called "calendar days."

The purpose of these "calendar" demonstrations was to publicly commemorate the events of June 13-14, 1941 (the mass deportations of Latvians to the Soviet Union); August 23, 1939 (the signing of the Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact); and November 18, 1918 (the proclamation of Latvian independence).

History becomes contemporary politics.

Hutcherson put himself in the midst of a political battle in the Baltic republic, and he did so while touting those now-discredited credentials as an envoy from the White House. That by itself should give the White House pause because this is not merely a matter of a few activists wanting to march in a street. Hutcherson is also agitating against tolerance policies of the European Union, which admitted Latvia as a full member in 2004.

He has allied himself in Latvia with Alexei Ledyaev, a Russian-speaking preacher from Khazakhstan who has, according to this Latvian blogger [via Slog], called for the abandonment, not only of EU tolerance policies, but also of the constitution adopted after the November 18 proclamation of independence.

Ledyaev has suggested replacing Latvia's constitution, the Satversme, with the Ten Commandments, introducing Christian totalitarianism, and "humbling all liberals and homosexuals.

But what makes Hutcherson's declared "official" meddling in Latvian politics even more appalling is that he was accompanied to Latvia by lawyer/preacher Scott Lively who also dabbles in historical revisionism. Lively rewrites history and has become a fellow agitator with Hutcherson in a country where history still excites raw political nerves. Lively, an associate of Oregon's Lon Mabon and the Oregon Citizens Council (OCA), peddles a book called The Pink Triangle.

Postman offers this summary of the tract:

[Lively] says homosexual "are the true inventors of Nazism and the guiding force behind many Nazi atrocities."

His co-author wrote that the "authors contend that homosexualism, elevated to a popular ideology and combined with black occult forces, not only gave birth to Nazi imperialism but also led to the Holocaust itself."

And they say America could easily now follow the same path.

It's silly, but it's is dangerous stuff to introduce into a place where history is politics in so many ways.

Labels: ken hutcherson, latvia

During his two recent visits to the Baltic republic of Latvia, Redmond's anti-gay activist pastor Ken Hutcherson called himself a "special envoy" from the White House Office of Faith Based Initiatives. The Stranger's Eli Sanders checked with the White House about the title. A spokesperson for the office told him that Hutcherson had no official sanction for his trip. Disputation ensues.

The White House has reason to be concerned about the title that the pastor has been using because Hutcherson's activities in Latvia have embroiled him in a confusing, dangerous, and potentially violent local and regional political firestorm in the Baltic republic.

We've been a bit mystified by this bizarre connection between that small republic on the Baltic and the local pastor. As we've mentioned before, a great Seattle Times story from January by reporter Janice I. Tu about Hutcherson's outreach to local Slavic emigrant churches seems to partly explain the local angle on his connections with Latvia. The Times' David Postman today points to the same article to explain the connection in his summary of the official-title flap.

The picture accompanying the January story shows Hutcherson with a group that includes Alexey Ledyaev, the pastor of New Generation Church in Riga which sponsored Hutcherson's November trip to Latvia. Unfortunately, the story doesn't explain how the connection between the two pastors was first made.

But, in keeping with the "WebWrangler" handle we use here, we wrangled through the web a bit and found a bit more to explain things.

Latvia's dangerous gay-rights/no-rights brew

Since at least 2005 when a group of activists staged a gay pride march in Riga, gay rights has become a hot-button issue in Latvia.

Although it was opposed by Latvia's prime minister, Aigars Kalvitis, activists staged a gay pride march in Riga in July 2005. Before the march, the Prime Minister said that Riga should "not promote things like that".

"For sexual minorities to parade in the very heart of Riga, next to the Doma church, is unacceptable," he told the country's television station before the march.

Despite the PM's misgivings, a few dozen people marched, according to the BBC.

[The] marchers were outnumbered by hundreds of protesters who blocked the narrow streets of the capital.

Police were forced to alter the march route and to form a chain around the parade participants to protect them.

The march had sparked outrage in Latvia and only went ahead after a court overturned a council ban on the event.

Officials said that six of the protesters had been detained for their part in disrupting the march.

Although march organizers had initially been given a permit in 2005 by Riga's city council, the council withdrew the permits "after receiving letters and e-mails from religious and extremist groups threatening to disrupt it." A court order restored the permits just prior to the march.

In 2006 a public march permit for gay pride activists was again denied because of threats of violence -- a denial that was upheld by the courts. Activists in Riga settled for a church service and hotel rally, but the events were once again greeted with violent anti-gay protesters.

This report on the 2006 events should be treated with some scepticism since it comes from a Russian source who is apparently quoting a London activist, Peter Tatchell, who tends to lace his statements with hyperbole. (Tatchell often comes across like a Larry Kramer with 'roid rage.)

Tatchell offers this first-hand account in a web commentary printed by The Guardian:

After the banning of the march, the Latvian gay rights movement, Mozaika, switched to holding an indoor rally in the prestigious Reval hotel, in the heart of downtown Riga. By opting for an indoor, private rally, Mozaika had hoped to cool the inflammatory atmosphere. But the homophobes were not satisfied.

The Reval was under siege all day on July 22 by about 250 protesters from the anti-gay No Pride movement - a menacing alliance of Christian fundamentalists, ultra-nationalists and neo-Nazis who represent a worrying revival of pro-fascist sympathies among sections of the Latvian population.

White T-shirted No Pride thugs roamed the streets outside the hotel searching for gays and lesbians to attack. Anyone who looked the tiniest bit unstraight was liable to abuse and assault, even innocent passing tourists. For much of the afternoon and evening, the police seemed to stand back and let the No Priders terrorise people with virtual impunity.

This is the dangerous brew into which Hutcherson inserts himself with his now-dicredited claim to be a White House Envoy.

Hutcherson inserts himself into the controversy

Riga has a new mayor this year. He expressed guarded support for a gay rights march in the capitol in July.

In an interview with Diena newspaper, Janis Birks said he was ashamed at events last year, when bags of human excrement were thrown at gay marchers.

The Mayor called for tolerance and understanding on all sides.

Last month London Pride announced they would be "twinning" with Riga Pride as a sign of solidarity.

"The problem is not in the march but sexual orientation," said Mr Birks.

"We need to have discussion within society. What happened on the side of sexual minorities and the other side, I think we need understanding from both sides."

Mr Birks said that if security could be provided, the march could go ahead.

The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, welcomed his Latvian counterpart's comments, but urged Riga authorities to do more to protect gay people on the march.

"Security is something that is under the control of the authorities," said Mr Livingstone.

"It is their duty to ensure that demonstrators are able to exercise their right to peaceful protest.

"I urge Mr Birks to complete the stand he has taken and ensure a peaceful Gay Pride demonstration takes place in an appropriate central venue in the city."

Hutcherson's friends -- the anti-gay activists who welcomed the so-called "White House Envoy" to Riga -- reacted angrily to the statement issued by London's mayor. In a letter to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the anti-gay group "No Pride" called it "unacceptable that civil servants of the United Kingdom interfere with the Latvia's internal affairs."

The anti-gay group called on Livingstone and LGBT people "to respect the views of Latvian society and their right to self-determination and sovereignty."

No such call was made in November, 2006 when Hutcherson addressed a church gathering in Riga and criticized the country's president.

This report on Hutcherson's sermon comes from an awkwardly translated report posted on the web page of New Generation, the Pentacostal church that hosted the Redmond preacher:

"My duty in this country is to defend righteousness!" Hutcherson said, "When I heard about the drawings in Diena newspaper and the publications insulting New Generation Church, I realized I must come to Latvia and engage myself in this battle for righteousness.

"Scott and I wrote letters to the leaders of your government, state ministers and statesmen. I can read you the response from Vaira Vike-Freiberga."

Kenneth Hutcherson [quoted] the Latvian President's letter which [stated] that [the] constitution of a democratic state provides for the freedom of speech and allows Diena to express its opinions whether Christians like it or not.

She pointed out that the conflict was initiated mostly by the New Generation Church itself which is intolerant toward sexual diversity. ...

"I came to you representing the White House," continued Hutcherson. "In my country, people will know how Latvia responded to antichristian statements. We need to stand for righteousness not only morally, but also physically and financially. It's a great battle for righteousness and no one can stop it. I promise to stand with you."

Apparently they think it's OK for someone who claims to be "representing the White House" to "interfere with the Latvia's internal affairs."

Next post: History is politics in Latvia

Labels: gay pride, ken hutcherson, latvia, religion

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

The Rev. Ken Hutcherson now has a number for his initiative "related to discrimination." It will be Initiative 963.

Remember that number, decline if you're asked to sign 963.

Although the number is assigned, the initiative text is not yet available from the secretary of state's site. You should be able to read it shortly by following the link above.

Labels: equal rights, gay news, I-963, initiative, ken hutcherson, politics, Washington

Prayer Warrior, horse-breeder, quickly washed-out football player, and discrimination activist Ken Hutchinson, who is awaiting review by the Secretary of State's office of his new discrimination initiative, admits to the Seattle Times writer Janet I. Tu that he has a "tremendous ego."

"That's why I played pro football," he said. "I'm taking that same ego and energy that benefited me in football and now putting it in for the glory of God to do his will and his work."

In that regard, his ambitions are bigger than ever. He talks of organizing an international summit: "I am building a force around the world."

And he's starting by trying to build pro-discrimination coalitions with Slavic immigrant churches in the Puget Sound area. Tu takes a look at one of them, in Kent, for today's fawning piece in the Times.

Hutcherson now hopes the alliance will result in signatures for an initiative he filed last week seeking to repeal a state law, passed a year ago, that adds sexual orientation to a state law banning discrimination based on race, gender, religion and other categories.

"We've got a lot of churches to reach," said Hutcherson, who must gather at least 224,800 valid signatures by July 6 to put the initiative on the fall ballot.

"We want to get the Slavic churches, the Russian-speaking churches, the Korean churches, Philippine, Chinese, white, cross-cultural. ... If we're going to win this fight on protecting traditional marriage, we're going to need all churches to work together."

But even if he doesn't eventually get the signatures, Hutcherson is generating plenty of publicity for his ministry at a church in Redmond that holds Sunday services in a public high-school. And he does seem to enjoy that publicity.

Ken Schramm, a fellow who apparently passes for something other than a right wing conservative within Fisher Broadcasting's local media constellation, last week awarded Hutcherson a Schramm bobble-head doll boobie prize called "The Schrammie" that seems to be a regular feature of one of Schramm's programs. Said the Schramm:

It takes a special kind of person to openly advocate for discrimination.

In this instance, it takes a man of stilted thinking; a man of narrow-minded focus, not to mention bigoted determination.

Indeed, in this case it takes...a man of God.

So would Rev. Ken Hutcherson please, step away from the pulpit and come on down.

Last week found the senior pastor at Antioch Bible Church trudging to Olympia to file an initiative that would repeal a state law banning discrimination against gays and lesbians.

It's been a while since we heard or saw one of his commentaries, but Schramm seems downright reasonable in this one instance:

The otherwise personable Rev. Hutcherson is on a crusade to smite those who seek nothing more than fair and equal treatment under the law.

So, for rising to his self-imposed challenge by sinking to an ecclesiastical low; for his disdain of the human condition and his spiteful desire to steal civil rights under the guise of God, take a bow Rev. Hutcherson, 'cause this "Schrammie's" for you.

Of course, he got plenty of emails from good Christians who attempted to explain to him why the man Schramm called "holier-than-thou self-proclaimed tool of God's avenging hand" really is just that. (But who didn't seem to explain why on earth that -- even if it's the case -- should be the basis for a state's laws.)

The reason we're not up on the current state of Mr. Schramm's thinking is this: The closest we ever get to KOMO, KVI, or any of Fisher's radio outlets is the wonderful Blatherwatch blog where Michael Hood is a kind of Perez Hilton of local talk radio (except, or course, that Blatherwatch uses funny and often insightful words instead of silly pictures -- which makes him not at all like Perez).

But even BlatherWatch had to mention Hutcherson clarifying an earlier note about what Ken Hutcherson does in his spare time.

We said Rev. Ken Hutcherson who raises race horses. We were wrong. He wrote to say: "I do not own race horses, they are cutting horses, quarter horses, for roping and cutting out cattle from the herd." The mega-churched ex-Seahawk preacher began his referendum signature drive to undo civil rights legislation for gays on Monday.

Hmm. "Cutting out cattle from the herd." We're not surprised he'd be enjoy that kind of thing.

BlatherWatch adds parenthetically (and probably all too hopefully):

If he doesn't succeed in getting it on the ballot and getting it passed, that'll prove once and for all that God is on the gays' side, and the good reverend will just go away, right?

After reading, in Slog, a reprint of Hutcherson's Prayer Warrior announcement touting yet another in an endless stream of media appearances, Northwest Progressive Institute detected a certain misunderstanding of the whole initiative process.

They kindly schooled the preacher in the technicalities, before concluding,

The real difficulty is getting enough signatures. It's hard to distort what this is about -- legalizing discrimination -- and most Washingtonians aren't interested in condoning bigotry. A signature drive that lacks a ton of money needs superb organization and coordination to make the ballot. At this juncture Hutcherson doesn't appear to have either, and that's good news. We'll be watching closely to see if he gets any help from someone who knows what they're doing.

Labels: equal rights, gay news, I-963, initiative, ken hutcherson, local bites, politics, Washington

Discrimination activist and Eastside preacher Ken Hutcherson on Friday filed his expected pro-discrimination initiative with the Secretary of State. It has not yet been given a number, but is expected to be virtually identical to a version that he filed in November.

Hutcherson filed the new initiative under his name using an Olympia PO Box, Antioch Church telephone numbers, and the email address HutchforTraditionalMarriage@hotmail.com. In November, 2006, he pre-filed an initiative "Related to amending the laws against discrimination." Last year's filing allows for quicker review of the current version. The text of the 2006 initiative is available here, in pdf format.

Hutcherson, a one-time NFL football player who is pastor of a large Redmond church that meets in a school building, achieved a spot of fame in 2005 by protesting Microsoft's then-quiet support for the anti-discrimination law that finally passed last year. Hutcherson managed to get Microsoft to temporarily withdraw its support for the law in 2005, but it was a short victory. After an outcry from employees, the Redmond company reaffirmed its support for the law and backed its passage last year.

After the anti-discrimination law passed last year, Hutcherson announced that he would lead a boycott of Microsoft because of that stance, but little was heard about the boycott beyond an initial flurry of press releases from Hutcherson's church.

Hutcherson's November filing was what liberal blogger David Goldstein called a "warning shot" that had this extra advantage:

By refiling the identical initiative on Jan. 2, with the initiative language already approved, Hutcherson gets a few extra days in 2007 to gather signatures, and four extra weeks this month [Dec. 2006] to organize his anti-fag army. Hutcherson is many things, but stupid is not one of them.

That initiative was, in turn, virtually identical to Tim Eyman's Initiative which failed to qualify for the ballot last year. It "This measure removes references to "sexual orientation" or "sexual preference" including heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, gender expression, identity, appearance and behavior from the state's law against discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations."

Goldstein wasn't impressed by last year's Equal Rights Washington (ERW) spinoff that was set up to battle Eyman's initiative.

It will take far more than a smug (and white) group of Seattle libs launching a web site and handing out flyers to derail Hutcherson. It will take money -- a lot of it. It will take a prolonged statewide media campaign featuring a bipartisan roster of Washington's political, business, and cultural leaders. And it will take serious outreach into Hutcherson's religious base of support, speaking with pastors, other religious leaders, and their congregations about, for example, Jesus' teachings on discrimination, forgiveness, and the judging of others.

Goldstein's smug Seattle-lib dismissal of last year's efforts by the awkwardly named "Washington Won't Discriminate" (which becomes "WWD" and therefore sounds vaguely Cheneyesqe) fails to recognize that WWD was born of two groups, both ERW and the "Religious Coalition for Equality". The Coalition's "Faith Statement in Support of Antidiscrimination" and outreach to religious leaders throughout the state did just what Goldstein says they should have done.

WWD was disbanded after Eyman's initiative failed to qualify, but the campaign certainly seemed to understand the need for media outreach and for the money needed to make that happen. Would their campaign have worked or would they have dismissed as "a smug (and white) group of Seattle libs"? Since the campaign never really got under way, it's impossible to tell. Unfortunately, we'll have another chance this year to find out.

Labels: equal rights, gay news, I-963, initiative, ken hutcherson, politics, Washington

Congrats to Microsoft for recognizing that the company made a mistake in failing to support the anti-discrimination measure in this year's Washington legislature.

CEO Steve Ballmer explained in an email to employees:

"Obviously, the Washington state legislative session has concluded for this year, but if legislation similar to HB 1515 is introduced in future sessions, we will support it,'' he said.

Ballmer said the company will also continue supporting efforts to pass similar national legislation.

It's better late than never for the Redmond company to recognize that its long-time and sometimes cutting-edge support for diversity should not have been ignored in this situation.

Ballmer's mail acknowledged that today's decision was influenced by input from employees concerned about Microsoft's commitment to diversity issues. He also said the company will improve the way it communicates its legislative positions in the future.

"After looking at the question from all sides, I've concluded that diversity in the workplace is such an important issue for our business that it should be included in our legislative agenda," Ballmer said.

In a AP story on the issue, Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese reiterated the business importance of diversity.

"We are proud that Microsoft did the right thing and has come down squarely on the side of fairness for all employees," Solmonese said in a statement. "It is clear from Mr. Ballmer's statement that it is a business imperative to value a diverse work force and support public policy that reinforces that principle."

Technorati tags: Microsoft Diversity Gay

Labels: ken hutcherson, legislature

Seattle Pride has now opened up online registration for both march contingents and Pride Festival vendor booths.

The theme for 2005 is Pride Explosion, which strikes us as just a bit odd. (And yes, we realize that we used "Tourist Alert" as a theme for the Cruise a two years ago, but still...). Looking on the bright side, it may be a sign that we might be moving to a place where the word can once again be used for something other than its primary meaning. Maybe.

We don't have any inside information on this, but we suspect that Microsoft's queer employee group, GLEAM, might be even more visible than usual in this year's march after Microsoft decided to drop the company's support for a state anti-discrimination bill just when it actually seemed to have a chance to pass for the first time in decades.

After The Stranger reported Microsoft's withdrawal of its long-time support for the bill, Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center asked the Redmond-based company to return an award it had bestowed on the software giant in 2001 for "corporate vision".

The LA center explained in a press-release

At the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center's 30th Anniversary Gala in 2001, Microsoft was honored because the company had been a leader in opposing anti-gay initiatives, was one of the first companies to offer domestic partnership benefits and include sexual orientation in its corporate non-discrimination policy, and has supported AIDS and GLBT organizations across the country. Center leaders are concerned about the company's apparent shift in its support of civil rights legislation for the GLBT community.

Although it was unwilliing to join other Northwest companies like Nike, Boeing, Coors, Qwest, Washington Mutual and many others in active support for a statewide ban on discrimination, Microsoft continues to maintain internal antidiscrimination and diversity policies that are "comprehensive and progressive."

One of the GLEAM members who talked to The Stranger said,

"Microsoft is a good place to work for gay and lesbian employees. This is the worst thing that has happened. It was shocking that they wouldn't support this bill," the employee says. "This is the case of an otherwise progressive employer getting caught short by the changing political climate."

[9:20] AmericaBlog, always a wonderful source for gay-centered political commentary has been fiercely covering this issue for days. They comment on a leaked letter to all employees from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, in which he tries to justify the company's change in position just when it actually mattered. Ballmer's odd justifications are now echoed on several message boards by other Microsoft employees.

But really, if the company was trying "to focus on a limited number of issues that are more directly related to our business such as computer privacy, education, and competitiveness," as Ballmer asserts, then they underestimated the reaction to this significant change in public position.

Here is the full text of Ballmer's email.

Update: Our webWrangler has a bit more to say about this, but felt it would be more appropriate to continue in his rarely-updated personal blog.

Technorati tags: Microsoft Diversity Gay Richard Florida

Labels: ken hutcherson, legislature