03/20/2007
Anti-Gay Pastor Claims White House Appointed Him 'Special Envoy'
You may remember religious-right homophobe Ken Hutcherson from an incident in 2005 where Microsoft secretly withdrew its support from a pending gay rights bill in Washington state because of alleged pressure from Hutcherson, who threatened a religious-right boycott of the company should they have thrown their support behind it. Microsoft ended up cutting ties with the extremist.
Well, Hutcherson is back in the news. This time, according to the Seattle paper The Stranger, he's claiming that the director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Jay Hein appointed him a "Special Envoy" and that a recent trip to Latvia, where he appeared with Scott Lively, an anti-gay religious right 'Holocaust revisionist' who claims that homosexuals were the cause of the Holocaust, was sanctioned by the White House.
Lively is co-author of The Pink Swastika- Homosexuality in the Nazi Party, a book which, according to uk.gay.com, claims that "homosexuality is primarily a predatory addiction striving to take the weak and unsuspecting down with it."
They report on the Lively-Hutcherson trip, which apparently was the centerpiece of a 4-day anti-gay crisis conference there. Said Lively: "I have studied homosexual movement now for 17 years and with all responsibility state that currently Latvia a zone of intense confrontation between Christians and homosexuals. This nation will be our main battlefield against this counter Christian culture. God gave Kenneth Hutcherson and me to see that Alexei [Ladyaev, pastor of Latvia’s New Generation Church] is the very man God placed to direct this battle, and church should support him in all respects. We are going to help you consistently and effectively to fight those who violate Christ’s rights and target his ministers for their insults."
The Stranger reports that Hutcherson was also there to complain to the U.S. Embassy "about its alleged monetary support for gay rights groups."
After calls to the White House by The Stranger, a spokeswoman denied any connection with Hutcherson. However, Hutcherson claims the White House is lying and tells the paper to find Hein, who met with him at the White House and in Seattle. Hutcherson claims there is a video of Hein, Hutcherson, and Ladyaev on the White House lawn talking to a Latvian news reporter.
Said Hutcherson: "I’m gonna prove that I had those meetings, I’m gonna prove that I got that title behind me, and I’m gonna show you the video that says I was coming to Latvia and the purpose why."
What does this all mean? Well, if Hutcherson is lying it could possibly be a federal crime, and if the White House gave its seal of approval to an anti-gay homophobe to travel the world with a Holocaust revisionist - well, we'll see.
Last year, in July, violence broke out in the notoriously homophobic nation after a gay pride parade was banned by the government. A gay rights rally did take place and participants were pelted with eggs, excrement, and rotten fruit by Christian fundamentalists, neo-Nazis, and ultra-nationalists as they entered and exited the meeting at the Reval hotel.
In 2005, a participant in the pride parade, which was banned by the government, but allowed to proceed by a court at the last minute, described a similar scene: "There were so many attacks, people were throwing eggs, people were using gaz [sic], they were trying to block the march. It was extremely, extremely homophobic. I don’t think anybody in Europe saw anything like that."
Latvia has been a hotbed of anti-gay extremism, although just recently the new mayor of Riga Janis Birks called for tolerance and said he'll back a gay rights march later this year.
UPDATE: White House Contradicts Local Pastor Ken Hutcherson on His Claim that He Is a U.S. “Special Envoy”; Hutcherson, in Response, Says He Will Provide Video Proof [the stranger via americablog]
US homophobes support Latvia's hate campaign [uk gay.com]
Posted 9:46 AM EST by Andy Towle in George W. Bush, Ken Hutcherson, Latvia, News, Religion, Scott Lively | Permalink
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A little reasearch on this backwaters barbaric country shows that they are little removed form their barbarian ancestors who used to pick and eat the lice off of each others backs.
This is not a country to fear or fear anyone who goes there thinking that they can fight some kind of war against us gays. It is like a fool going to a trailor park in alabama and thinkig they can recreate the Southern Confederation and reinstate slavery.
Time has passed these people by. Be aware of them but stop with the fear. They are fools and a joke.
But follow leland and he would have you cowering in caves afraid of your own shadows instead of the proud beautiful gay men you are.
Posted by: jimmyboyo | Mar 20, 2007 4:18:57 PM
Nice to see my comments on the blog
Posted by: delindaholder | Mar 21, 2007 1:26:11 AM
Nice to see my comments on the blog
Posted by: delindaholder | Mar 21, 2007 1:44:49 AM
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Posted by: delindaholder | Mar 21, 2007 1:46:54 AM
Nice to see my comments on the blog@@@@@@@@
Posted by: delindaholder | Mar 21, 2007 1:49:43 AM
Nice to see my comments on the blog4444
Posted by: delindaholder | Mar 21, 2007 4:07:50 AM
Nice to see my comments on the blog4444
Posted by: delindaholder | Mar 21, 2007 4:10:02 AM
Nice to see my comments on the blog4444
Posted by: delindaholder | Mar 21, 2007 4:13:33 AM
Seattle "Stranger"...??? Why, do you suppose, other more recognizable news media have been mute on this story??? Perhaps a bit more research is needed on the "fact checking" front...then let 'em have it with all barrels.
Posted by: JTB | Mar 21, 2007 10:20:57 AM
Metropolitan Community Churches, a predominately LGBT Christian denomination, has been working in Latvia and throughout Eastern Europe to combat this kind of homophobia. Rev. Diane Fisher is the MCC Bishop whose region includes Eastern Europe. She would be a great source of information for you on the this story and the struggles of the LGBT community in Latvia. Rev. Fisher can be e-mailed at revdianefisher@mccchurch.net for interviews.
From MCC's website www.mccchurch.net regarding our work in Eastern Europe:
Why Eastern Europe? There is a unique opportunity in Eastern Europe today as countries continue to emerge from the repression of the former Soviet Union. As countries apply to join the European Union, they are being asked to include human and civil rights for LGBT people in their constitutions. At the very same time, traditional churches across Eastern Europe are more homophobic than ever. Those churches have been emboldened by anti-LGBT hostility at the recent Pride events in Moscow and have been carrying their opposition to a more open society on two fronts; in the courts and on the streets.
MCC's 2006 Accomplishments in Eastern Europe
• We hired Florin Buhuceanu to focus on MCC ministry and human rights in Eastern Europe.
• We celebrated the first gay marriage in Romania and that country's second pride march.
• We experienced seven days of unprecedented media coverage, seen, heard and read all over Europe.
• We trained young LGBT leaders in media strategies.
• We spoke at the European Community on Human Rights and Freedom of Religion, addressing the leaders of 50 nations and the Vatican.
• We forged a new partnership with ILGA in Europe, offering training to young activists
• We launched MCC's initial work with churches and religious groups in Latvia and Moldova.
What to support the efforts of LGBT groups in Latvia? Donate to the Easter 2007 Offering for Eastern Europe at https://www.mccchurch.org/eseries/source/EasterDonations/donate.cfm?
Posted by: Bryan Parker | Mar 21, 2007 11:12:23 AM
I am from Booneville, Mississippi. In 2000, I accidentally discovered dismembered body parts in an old refrigerator of the hospital in Tupelo, Mississippi, AKA "NMMC".
I asked about these parts and was immediately tossed into a world I had no idea existed. I was asked to sigh "FALSE" documents and told I would be "suspended" without pay if I did not agree to all terms set forth by NMMC. I refused and was cursed...threatened and litterally thrown out of the hospital in hand-cuffs. I was then "banned" for life. I have written a book and am looking for a publisher. I have been putting information out online since 2000 concerning this matter and have been investigating the world of "illegal body parts marketing". I am nearing the completion of "Connecting the dots" and may not live to see my book published (call it a hunch) Thank you.
Kevin Curtis
662-871-5482
Posted by: Kevin Curtis | May 6, 2007 10:37:40 PM
I am from Booneville, Mississippi. In 2000, I accidentally discovered dismembered body parts in an old refrigerator of the hospital in Tupelo, Mississippi, AKA "NMMC".
I asked about these parts and was immediately tossed into a world I had no idea existed. I was asked to sigh "FALSE" documents and told I would be "suspended" without pay if I did not agree to all terms set forth by NMMC. I refused and was cursed...threatened and litterally thrown out of the hospital in hand-cuffs. I was then "banned" for life. I have written a book and am looking for a publisher. I have been putting information out online since 2000 concerning this matter and have been investigating the world of "illegal body parts marketing". I am nearing the completion of "Connecting the dots" and may not live to see my book published (call it a hunch) Thank you.
Kevin Curtis
662-871-5482
Posted by: Kevin Curtis | May 6, 2007 10:39:20 PM