'Day of Silence' Met with Protests, Solidarity in Rural Washington

As you may know, today is GLSEN's 12th annual Day of Silence. Students from more than 6,800 schools across the nation are expected to take part by taking a vow of silence to raise awareness about anti-LGBT bullying and harassment. One school on which media attention is focused is Mount Si High School in Snoqualmie, Washington. Chris Monsos graduated from Mount Si in 1997. He pens the blog Hunk du Jour and works as a software engineer outside Seattle.

Around the country, lunch rooms will be a bit quieter and hallways a bit less rowdy as students in over 5,000 schools participate in the annual 'Day of Silence'. The event is designed to draw attention to anti-LGBT bullying in schools and promote learning spaces that are respectful and tolerant of all people.

In rural Snoqualmie, Washington, the Mount Si High School Gay-Straight Alliance will be taking part, but activist pastor Ken Hutcherson aims to protest the event by encircling the school with 1,000 praying Christians. Hutcherson appeared at the school in January of this year, causing controversy after he was selected to be a speaker at the Martin Luther King Jr. assembly. During his appearance a teacher booed him, and another teacher asked him about the disconnect between his message of equality and his intolerance of the GLBT community.

After the encounter Rev. Hutcherson called for the firing of the two teachers who spoke out. The school offered an official apology, and the district said in a statement that "appropriate action has been taken with staff and school administration..." The district added that it does not comment on personnel matters.

Protesters of the 'Day of Silence' placed a half-page ad in the local paper, The Snoqualmie Valley Record;. They call the event too disruptive for the learning environment, when organizers attest that it is designed to be as non-disruptive as possible.

Support for the Mount Si GSA has appeared from what might have been considered an unlikely source -- another small church in the Snoqualmie Valley. Tolt Congregational UCC, a church in nearby Carnation, took out a full-page ad in the Record, reading "...we stand in solidarity with these student leaders for their efforts to make our schools safe and welcoming to all."

I spoke to Neil Lequia (below, right), a former student who is returning to Mount Si today to support students and facilitate a news conference. Lequia is the subject of a profile in today's Seattle Times.

"It's overwhelming to know that within the community we have so much encouragement and opposition," says Lequia, who began working with GLSEN when he was a student at Mount Si, helping create the GSA. "Because Tolt UCC is a Christian church, it shows that not all Christians are bad people, and they can accept everyone for their differences."

Adds Lequia: "Gay rights has become so vocally debated in the valley because its an issue that people feel they don't have to deal with. It has always been swept under the rug because there are 'no gays in the valley.'"

GSA Advisor Eric Goldhammer reports that around 200 students have taken part in the required 'Day of Silence' training meetings. Student participants are pledging to "approach the day with dignity, maturity and respect." When asked about what he is proudest of thus far, he sees students realizing that "they can make an impact on the world, even in little Snoqualmie, Washington -- they're getting an idea of what student leadership is all about."

While the protesters stand just outside of school property, what you won't see is a counter-protest. A small group of community supporters will welcome students at the gates and show their support. They intend on being gone before the expected protest crowd even arrives. GLSEN WA (Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network) will also be holding an off-campus press conference to answer questions about the 'Day of Silence' and talk to the media about the importance of GSAs in schools.

Adds Lequia: "The 'Day of Silence' raises awareness of issues. It shows how people have to conceal their identity on the behalf of other people. This whole event is about anti bullying and harassment and those things happen especially in high schools. We are the people who are going to make a difference."

Related
Ex-student returns to Mount Si to support Day of Silence [seattle times]
(neil lequia image - dean rutz, seattle times)

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Pastor Ken Hutcherson Back for Another Round with Microsoft?

You may remember back in 2005 when Microsoft quietly withdrew its support of Washington state anti-discrimination HB 1515, and was accused of doing so because of pressure from right-wing religious leader Reverend Ken Hutcherson.

Seattle paper The Stranger explained the bill at the time: "House Bill 1515 would protect gays and lesbians from discrimination in employment, housing, banking, insurance, and other matters by adding sexual orientation to a state law which already bars discrimination on the basis of race, religion, national origin, gender, marital status, and mental or physical handicap."

The controversy prompted both a letter from CEO Steve Ballmer, which Towleroad first published, in which Ballmer denied any pressure from Hutcherson in its withdrawal of support for the bill. Said Ballmer at the time: "There have been several news stories that imply that Microsoft changed its position on an anti-discrimination bill, HB 1515, because of pressure from a conservative religious group. I want to make it clear that that is not the case."

The memo prompted a letter from gay and lesbian employees at Microsoft demanding reinstatement of support and an investigation into the company's dealings with Hutcherson. Hutcherson offered details of the meeting that clearly implicated the corporation, but in the end Hutcherson never got his way.

You may also remember Hutcherson from recent claims that he made trips to Latvia as a "special envoy" of the U.S. State Department where he met with anti-gay leaders. He said the trips were sanctioned by the White House and that he had a letter proving it. Hutcherson did make the trips, but as far as I know never produced evidence of the U.S. government's letter.

Now, he appears to be back for another round, threatening executives at a shareholders meeting last week that he would be their "worst nightmare" if the company continues to support gay rights.

Hutcherson claims Microsoft is the first corporate target "in an escalation of the culture wars between evangelicals and corporate America" and is asking "millions of evangelical activists, as well as Orthodox Jewish and other allies, to buy up Microsoft shares and demand a return to traditional values."

Said Hutcherson to the UK's Telegraph: "There are 256 Fortune 500 companies alone pouring millions upon millions of dollars into pushing the homosexual agenda. I consider myself a warrior for Christ. Microsoft don't scare me. I got God with me. I told them that you need to work with me or we will put a firestorm on you like you have never seen in you life because I am your worst nightmare. I am a black man with a righteous cause with a whole host of powerful white people behind me...Microsoft stepped out of their four walls into my world so that gives me the right to step out of my world into their world. They tried to turn their policy into state policy, making their policy something I had to submit to. And my playbook [the bible] tells me you don't submit to sin...I don't care how big Microsoft is. They are nothing but a feather in the wind of God. America basically got started with a tea party and Goliath, if I'm not mistaken, got taken down by David, who believed in the same cause I believe in. I'm going to go after the new Goliath with one little rock called a share and I'm going to make them tremble before we get through."

Microsoft's general counsel Brad Smith reportedly told shareholders "it was up to [them] to continue their longstanding support of Microsoft's diversity policy, which includes an internal 'affinity employee group' called the Gay and Lesbian Employees At Microsoft (GLEAM)."

Hutcherson's past controversies have not proven that he has much power, but have shown that he can at least raise a big stink.

Pastor to take on Microsoft over gay rights [telegraph uk]
Notes from MSFT's annual shareholders meeting [seattle post-intelligencer]

Previously
Microsoft Secretly Withdraws Endorsement of Gay Rights Bill [tr]

Posted 8:31 AM EST by on in Ken Hutcherson , Microsoft , News , Religion | Permalink | Comments (24)