Hutcherson photo art via Mike Tidmus.
David Neiwert at Orcinus has an update on the activities of the Seattle-area's answer to Fred Phelps, Ken Hutcherson of Antioch Bible Church.
You might recall that back in March, Pastor Hutch made headlines because of his claim that the Bush White House's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives named him "Special Envoy for Adoptions, Family Values, Religious Freedom, and Medical Relief," and he represented himself as such in Latvia. The White House denied this, and Hutch threatened to prove his status by producing video of him being given the "power." (He has yet to produce his evidence.)
Orcinus points to a report by the Southern Poverty Law Center's Casey Sanchez that Latvian-based fundamentalist extremists are fomenting anti-gay thuggery on the West Coast, specifically among Russian and Ukrainian immigrants in the Sacramento Valley. The group calls itself the Watchmen on the Walls.
In Latvia, the Watchmen are popular among Christian fundamentalists and ethnic Russians, and are known for presiding over anti-gay rallies where gays and lesbians are pelted with bags of excrement. In the Western U.S., the Watchmen have a following among Russian-speaking evangelicals from the former Soviet Union. Members are increasingly active in several cities long known as gay-friendly enclaves, including Sacramento, Seattle and Portland, Ore.Read about some of the people befriending Hutcherson who plan to gather at the Lynnwood Convention Center in Washington after the jump.Vlad Kusakin, the host of a Russian-language anti-gay radio show in Sacramento and the publisher of a Russian-language newspaper in Seattle, told The Seattle Times in January that God has "made an injection" of high numbers of anti-gay Slavic evangelicals into traditionally liberal West Coast cities. "In those places where the disease is progressing, God made a divine penicillin," Kusakin said.
One of the characters sucking up to Hutcherson is Latvian megachurch preacher Alexey Ledyaev, who was at the Seattle homobigot's side at the 2006 conference of the Watchmen on the Walls, along with Scott Lively, former director of the California tentacle of the American Family Association and the anti-gay Oregon Citizens Alliance (OCA).
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."Did I mention that Ledyaev, a good friend of Crazy Pat Robertson, was also invited to the 2006 National Prayer Breakfast hosted by Dear Leader? And he has a flair for anti-gay theatrics:…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.
…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."
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."OK. Is it me or do I sense a smidgen of homoeroticism there?
David Schmader at SLOG (which has action item info up), aptly notes this about the conference, which is slated for October 19-21 at the Lynnwood Convention Center:
Correct me if I’m wrong, but foreigners coming to America with the purpose of doing harm to Americans are traditionally called terrorists, and the Watchmen conference seems like the last thing the City of Lynnwood would want to align itself with.Hat tip oddjob and Shakesville.
23 Responses to “Ken Hutcherson, Latvian fundies to work on anti-gay strategy at WA conference”
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I kind of like the term homosexualist! Is that like feminist? Can we start using that now?
I don’t exactly have a psychic link with teh kidz or anything, but this doesn’t exactly sound youth-oriented, unless you’re talking about the youth of 1986.
Even in Latvia, one guesses.
If anything will save us from the gays and their fellow travelers, it’s got to be rock opera. Maybe Pete Townshend can collaborate with this Ledyaev fellow. Elton John would definitely make a fabulous cameo. Too bad Freddie Mercury died from that dirty needle or I’m sure he’d take part. And the guy from Judas Priest could contribute some vocals as well. Mark Morris could choreograph the dances, and maybe that underemployed guy named Haggard could be the spiritual director. You’ve got to have a spiritual director. Orel Roberts University officials could be in charge of finding the underage extras and making sure they don’t get taken advantage of.
I’d title the show All-Star Rock Solid Moral Extravaganzapalooza, but only if Morrissey opens.
Why do they care?
I mean, really. Is their faith so weak they can’t take any temptation at all? They fear their lack of self control so much that they abandong their Christian tenets of ‘love thy neighbor’ and ‘judge not lest ye be judged’? Losing your faith, and thereby condemning yourself to hell, b/c others don’t share your beliefs seems like a really stupid strategy.
Heh heh heh I typed “abandong”. Heh heh heh
I’m a homosexualist!Let’s overthrow the heteroarchy!Or would that be heterocracy?MAJeff,please help!
People like Ledyaev and Phelps should spend their tme more productively. Perhaps by having sex together
And Hutcherson should join them for a threesome.
DING! DING! DING! DING! DING!
You have just wone the prize! Johnny, tell then what they’ve won!
A female friend commented to me last week that they love to ‘date’ gay men: They are fun. They aren’t stupid. They know a good time. You don’t have to watch their hands 100% of the time. They know how to dress. They take very good care of themselves. They are not ‘closeted’ (which it took to mean free thinkers). They smell good. They don’t play games.
Granted, much of her statements are unfair generalizations but I thought more of the overall comments as a slam on your traditional ‘NASCAR loving, Harley driving, meat and potatos eating, Spike TeeVee watching throwback to caveman times and felt sorry for them.
I used to revel in the idea that people thought me ‘crazy’ (not hide your kids craazy, harmless crazy) because it brought with it the sense of ‘anything goes’ fun. It sounds like human (or sub-human?) males are scaring away their perspective mates by acting so hungup on ‘being male’ that they are ignoring the base of ‘being human’?
I don’t know… I always found the ‘John Wayne’ typical movie hero’s so mean and cold. I wondered why they always got the girl…
I’m so freaking sick of these people. Why is it such a big deal to them that some boys like to kiss other boys and some girls like to kiss other girls? Why has that become so important to them as to negate many other tenets of their faith? It really wears on me sometimes, the ridiculous obsession with what people do with their personal lives. Maybe they just need someone to bother and feel holier than? I don’t know, I’m pretty much past the point of understanding the mindset.
“Why is it such a big deal to them that some boys like to kiss other boys and some girls like to kiss other girls?”
‘Cause Jesus told them that who you want to kiss is the single most important aspect of human existence. In fact this crucial idea is so important, that Jesus couldn’t take the chance of mentioning it while he was on earth, so it never actually ended up in his part of the bible.
Fortunately we have Ken Hutcherson and an endless list of other “religious” men to tell us exactly what Jesus wants us to do (or NOT do)…
It’s based on fear and brainwashing.
I worked with a ‘born again’ fundie years ago. perhaps I took to much glee in poking at the weak shrouds around her fear. I was ‘released’.
But the inanity was stunning… She would chant some weird ‘prayer’ before doing something that was fear producing. Like: opening a letter, answering her cell phone, going on long trips…
Her fear was palpable. It was a presence in the room. I never knew when she would go into her ‘prayer stage’ and I found it extremely hilarious. Well, until I had a panic attack. Being ‘released’ was a saviour to both of us, I’m sure.
She was a ‘member’ of one of those wacko mega-church/cults that would march outside abortion clinics and I’m sure would write vicious letters filled with misspellings to vent their spleen (and fear-set) in whomever they were instructed to.
I felt profoundly sorry for her. I felt sorry for her ex, who she would excuriate at the drop of a hat. (She not only hated and feared life but hated her ex with a passion I’ve not seen in a primate before). I’m sure the feeling was mutual. His major transgression: He wanted her to stop going to the ‘church’…
Pinky, the fear somebody like that feels on a constant basis is one of the few things that “brings meaning” to their otherwise empty lives.
Ironically - if heaven really existed, and they ever managed to pass all the hurdles and make it there - those people would be so miserable with nothing to fear, nothing to prepare for, no huge lists of ridiculous rules that must be followed or else, no need for constant proselytizing to earn “heaven points”, no need to criticize you neighbors, relatives, friends, and acquaintances to make yourself look holier, they wouldn’t be able to stand it.
Heaven: Be careful what you ask for, because you just might get it…
Just fuck and have fun. It really pisses them off if you don’t feel guilty.
Just fuck and have fun.
Thank you sir, may I have another?
am I the only one that thought this was even funnier when I thought the headline read “Latverian fundies”? I couldn’t help but think Dr. Doom turned into a fundie - “No abortions! That doesn’t leave enough children for me to kill as part of my EVIL PLAN!”
you know you can see it happening.
My God, could that man look any more stoned?
Excuse me? Doom would never lower himself to associate with the religious right (especially given their views on witchcraft, his mother having been a practitioner).
Since Doom prides himself–however delusionally–on being a wise and just leader, I could easier see him providing widespread family planning.
Comics geek? Uh, no, why do you ask?
“My God, could that man look any more stoned?”
I can’t stop laughing at that one.
Speaking of anti-gay fundamentalists, one of our state’s biggest anti-gay marriage activists is running for city council here in Renton. She was/is the Executive Director of the “Allies for Marriage and Children” group. Over 90% of her campaign funding is coming from outside the city, most of it from a conservative megachurch in Kirkland, where her husband Aaron Haksins is a pastor. I believe he was a speaker at Ken Hutcherson’s “Mayday for Marriage” event. Cheryl Haskins’ anti-gay views are relatively unknown to Renton voters, but I’m aiming to change that. Please join the discussion at http://rentonfacts.blogspot.com.If you wouldn’t mind linking to my blog in a separate posting, I’d really appreciate it. Thanks!
Renton Citizen
Speaking of anti-gay fundamentalists, one of our state’s biggest anti-gay marriage activists is running for city council here in Renton. She was/is the Executive Director of the “Allies for Marriage and Children” group. Over 90% of her campaign funding is coming from outside the city, most of it from a conservative megachurch in Kirkland, where her husband Aaron Haksins is a pastor. I believe he was a speaker at Ken Hutcherson’s “Mayday for Marriage” event. Cheryl Haskins’ anti-gay views are relatively unknown to Renton voters, but I’m aiming to change that. Please join the discussion at http://rentonfacts.blogspot.com.If you wouldn’t mind linking to my blog in a separate posting, I’d really appreciate it. Thanks!
Hey, Doom is pretty wise — his citizens have universal health care.
And considering your average Marvel Universe “hero” is a selifish prick, he’s pretty benevolent by comparison.
I think that the anti-gay movements are basically doomed — and that fact is filtering into their heads. There’s just not an economic basis for the intolerance. Hating blacks “worked” because an underclass that you can steal, kill, and rape occassionally provides a benefit for society at large. Most majorities are racist (hence the existance of racism in the first place) but a majority of the majorities in most nations aren’t terribly bigoted. Without a really strong emotional animus, hating gays needs some kind of cash payout to really survive as a cultural pillar.
If the Puritans had made gays into slaves, maybe this would be a different story. As it is, eventually kids will just get tired of social movements that don’t have more interesting enemies. Like Doom. (How does one of the smartest men on earth lose so often? Bad writing.)
Hey all, I’m trying to get the word out about who to contact in Lynnwood.
Here are the contacts, please make your views known.
Apparently the conv. cntr operates independently from the city. The mayor is not touching this with a 10′ pole. The convention center is run by the Public Facilities Department. Here are the people to contact:
PFD, gdull@lynnwoodpfd.com, 425-640-7631
PFD Chair: 425-640-7631
Convention Center: etadlock@lynnwoodcc.com , 425-778-7155
They say their hands are tied behind “freedom of speech”, but then they also say if it was the KKK, they wouldn’t rent to that group. You can’t have it both ways. A hate group is a hate group in my book, and this group is TRYING to set up shop on the West Coast. Plus, this gives the message that certain kinds of discrimination are not tolerated, other kinds of discrimination is ok.
I don’t want a violent hateful group in my community, especially a group with the agenda of purposefully making a stronghold here, connected with the likes of Ken Hutcherson. Please contact the PFD and the center.