Ken Hutcherson
Encyclopedia
Kenneth Lee Hutcherson is a former American football
linebacker
in the National Football League
who is now the pastor of the Antioch Bible Church in Kirkland, Washington
, where he has been since 1985. His nickname from his NFL days is "The Hutch".
(or "Livingston"), where he had also played football from 1972 to 1974. Hutcherson later joined the NFL but left in 1977 due to a knee injury. He played for the Dallas Cowboys
, San Diego Chargers
, and Seattle Seahawks
.
in 1979. After finishing his studies, he served eight years as director of high school ministries at Westminster Chapel in Bellevue. In 1984, he started Antioch Bible Church in Kirkland, Washington
, along with Mark Webster and Dwight Englund. Hutcherson accepted the position of senior pastor in 1985 and was ordained in 1986. He has said, "I want to be to Christianity what Gretzky
was to hockey, what Beckham
is to soccer, what Jordan
was to basketball, what Martin Luther King was to African-American rights, what the Pope
was to Poland
. I want to be that to Christianity." Later, he also said, "I have a tremendous ego. That's why I played pro football. I'm taking that same ego … and now putting it in for the glory of God to do his will and his work."
He was once quoted on his church's website as saying, "The greatest need today in the church - which does not seem to be important in the average church - is the training of people in evangelism
, discipleship and the responsibility they have for the church and responsibility they have for God."
Hutcherson is a frequent football guest caller on The Rush Limbaugh Show
, and usually appears in around NFL playoff, and Super Bowl
time. Rev. Hutcherson and Limbaugh are such close friends that he officiated Limbaugh's fourth wedding in June 2010 in Palm Beach, Florida.
Although he uses the honorific "Dr.", he does not have a post-graduate degree from an accredited university but from a bible college.
bears a resemblance to the African-American civil rights movement
in the 1960s. An opinion piece by Hutcherson published in The Seattle Times
on March 29, 2004, stated, "It has been said loudly and proudly that gay marriage is a civil rights
issue. If that's the case, then gays would be the new African Americans. I'm here to tell you now, and hopefully for the last time, that the gay community
is not the new African-American community." Hutcherson has been reported as saying that he is offended by those that say same-sex marriage is a civil rights issue and instead is “a moral and sexual preference issue,” because he believes that homosexuality is a choice and race is not. He has said, "I've met many ex-gay
s, but I've never met an ex-black."
On April 25, 2008 Hutcherson protested at a school hosting the National Day of Silence. He planned on organizing, and took an ad out in a local paper calling for, 1,000 people to protest Mount Si High School, the school his daughter attended, in Snoqualmie, Washington
. The National Day of Silence brings attention to anti-LGBT (Lesbian
, Gay
, Bisexual, Transgender
) name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools.
On March 2, 2006, Hutcherson and King County Executive Ron Sims, himself a Baptist Minister and a supporter of same-sex marriage, met at Seattle Town Hall to debate publicly the question "Is the gay rights movement the new civil rights movement?" The debate, sponsored by The Stranger
was arranged as a dare and drew a crowd of around 800 people.
lodged referendum Initiative 65 which sought a public vote to repeal the Murray Anderson Civil Rights Bill before it could take effect on June 7, 2006. Hutcherson supported the initiative and conducted petition signature gathering at his Antioch Bible Church. When the June 6, 2006 deadline arrived the campaign announced they had failed to collect the 112,400 signatures required to qualify for the ballot.
Still focused on overturning anti-discrimination protection for gays and lesbians, Hutcherson lodged his own ballot initiative on January 19, 2007. Initiative 963 proposed removing any reference to sexual orientation or sexual preference from existing anti-discrimination legislation and required 224,800 valid signatures be collected by the July 6, 2007 deadline to qualify for the ballot.
On January 27, 2007, The Seattle Times
reported that Hutcherson had allied with a network of churches, including Watchmen on the Walls
, that are tied to conservative evangelical Slavic
communities in Washington State and California that have been active in anti-gay causes. The stated purpose of this alliance was to collect signatures for initiative 963 to overturn the recently passed state law that banned discrimination based on sexual orientation.
On June 29, 2007, Hutcherson told The Seattle Times
that he had dropped the initiative some months earlier at the urging of Pastor Joe Fuiten, who argued that the time was not right for the campaign and asked instead for his help in opposing domestic partnership
rights for gay and lesbian couples.
reported that Hutcherson persuaded Microsoft
to withdraw support for the Washington anti-discrimination bill that would have made it illegal to fire an employee due to their sexual orientation
. Hutcherson had reportedly told the Microsoft general counsel that 700 evangelical
Microsoft employees attend his church, and all of them opposed the bill. He added that if Microsoft did not withdraw support of the bill, he would organize a national boycott of the software maker. Sometime after the meeting Microsoft changed its long held position on the issue from support to neutral stating that anti-discrimination was not a priority for that legislative session.
A few weeks later, after furious protests from Microsoft employees and advocacy by GLEAM
, Microsoft’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employee resource group, the company reversed itself and pledged to support future anti-discrimination legislation.
The Anderson Murray Civil Rights Bill was passed in the Washington State House on January 20, 2006, in the Senate on January 27, 2006, and signed into law by Governor Christine Gregoire
on January 31, 2006. When the bill was passed, Hutcherson again called for a boycott, but no such organized effort emerged.
On January 25, 2006, Hutcherson called for supporters to take action against Microsoft for reinstating its support of the Washington State Anti-Discrimination bill by driving down the company’s stock price. Hutcherson asked that supporters purchase one or two Microsoft shares over the following months with the goal of selling them on May 1, 2006. Market experts stated that the “buy-and-dump” plan had no realistic chance of affecting Microsoft stock while legal scholars warned that the plan could be considered illegal market manipulation. Microsoft maintained its support of the bill and on May 1, 2006 Microsoft shares closed up 14 cents on the previous day’s close.
On November 13, 2007, Hutcherson addressed the Microsoft
Annual Stockholders meeting. During the question and answer session he referred to previous discussions with Microsoft executives regarding their support for anti-discrimination legislation in Washington State and threatened further action against the company without clearly specifying the policy position or activity he hopes to change. Hutcherson stated "I could work with you, or I could be your worst nightmare, because I am a black man with a righteous cause, with a host of powerful white people behind me...".
After Hutcherson's comments, one attendee asked what shareholders could do to help the company to oppose Hutcherson. Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith responded, "As a company, we've had a clear policy with respect to the way we treat our people, and we believe in that policy. It's a policy that's founded on non-discrimination, it's a policy that we believe has served our employees well, it's served our shareholders well, and I think that was reflected last year when all of our shareholders were asked to vote on that policy, and over 97 percent of you and all of our other shareholders stood up and agreed with us. And I think that it is precisely in that form that shareholders have the opportunity to continue to make their views known, and we very much appreciate that support".
On November 16, 2007, an interview appeared in The Daily Telegraph
, a UK newspaper, where Hutcherson described his plan to ask millions of evangelical activists, Orthodox religious and other allies, to purchase Microsoft shares and demand a return to 'traditional values'. He described Microsoft as just the first company to be targeted in a larger campaign which will attempt to force American corporations to support only biblically
-based social policy positions. In the article Hutcherson alleged "There are 256 Fortune 500
companies alone pouring millions upon millions of dollars into pushing the homosexual agenda
..." but he has yet to provide any evidence for his claims.
However, in accordance with a May 6, 2005 e-mail where Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer
laid out guidelines and restrictions for future public policy engagement, the company has expressed no position on same-sex marriage
, civil unions, or domestic partnership
legislation at the Washington State or Federal levels.
In a January 12, 2008 radio interview on Sirius OutQ
with Michelangelo Signorile
, Hutcherson once again claimed that Microsoft was advocating in support of same-sex marriage.
On January 8, 2008, Hutcherson announced details of his "Buy Three, Donate One" campaign which asked supporters to purchase three shares of Microsoft stock, donate one share to the "AGN Financial Network," and prepare to vote on a Shareholder Proposal that would be presented at the next Microsoft Stockholders Annual meeting in November 2008.
opposing passage of the federal Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007. The event, to be held at the National Press Club, was intended to put pressure on lawmakers to drop the legislation which proposed adding sexual orientation
and gender identity
to the currently protected classes of race, color, religion and national origin. The press conference was cancelled in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings. The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007 passed the House on May 3, 2007 by a vote of 237 to 180.
On June 18, 2007, Hutcherson and 29 other African-American pastors in the High Impact Leadership Coalition publicly opposed the Senate hate crimes bill renamed The Matthew Shepard Act on 1st Amendment
grounds.
in Seattle, Washington
. Later, in October 2004, he organized another "Mayday for Marriage" rally in Washington, D.C.
which attracted an estimated 140,000 participants. Comparing the “Mayday for Marriage” rally he organized in Washington D.C. to the Madrid train bombing by terrorists that killed 191 people, he said, "My idea here is to drop a spiritual bomb on D.C., like Spain, where they had the terrorist bomb."
After switching focus from opposing anti-discrimination legislation to fighting recognition of domestic partnerships in early 2007, Hutcherson claims that the Christian group who were in charge of the effort failed to follow through on their plans. Despite opposition from Hutcherson and Christian groups the Domestic Partnership bill passed the state legislature and was signed into law on April 21, 2007. Angered by the situation, Hutcherson has said he intends to force a state-wide debate on legal recognition for same-sex relationships which he and other opponents see as an incremental step towards securing same-sex marriage rights. Speaking with The Olympian, Hutcherson said “I am going to do something that deals with the main issue,” adding that he intends to provide broader political leadership for Christians that he believes has been absent in recent years.
Dave Coffman filed a complaint with the Federal Bureau of Investigation
asking them to investigate whether or not Pastor Hutcherson violated federal law by claiming to be a White House "Special Envoy" on a 2007 trip to Latvia
. Hutcherson claims his work and trip were sanctioned by the Bush White House. The trip was the centerpiece of a four-day anti-gay-rights "crisis conference" held in Latvia.
Hutcherson claims that the director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
Jay Hein
appointed him as a "special envoy" for the Latvia trip, where he appeared with Scott Lively
, an opponent of LGBT civil rights and author, with Kevin Abrams, of the book The Pink Swastika
which purports to document the role of homosexuals in the formation of the Nazi Party and the administration of the Third Reich.
According to Eli Sanders of the Seattle alternative weekly newspaper The Stranger
, who spoke to an agent at the FBI, the agency does investigate allegations that people have represented themselves as speaking for the White House.
Hutcherson has claimed that he was made a Special Envoy for Adoptions, Family Values, Religious Freedom, and Medical Relief by the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
White House spokesperson Alyssa J. McLenning communicated to the newspaper that Hutcherson was never given the title of Special Envoy. In her statement, McLenning wrote "The White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives did not give Hutcherson the title, 'Special Envoy for Adoptions, Family Values, Religious Freedom, and Medical Relief.' The White House did not give Hutcherson any other titles and did not coordinate with Hutcherson on his recent trip to Latvia."
Hutcherson claims the White House is lying and told The Stranger that they should speak with Hein, who met with him at the White House and in Seattle.
Hutcherson claims to have met with Hein at least twice in person about this partnership, once in January 2007 in Seattle, and once in February 2007 at the White House. Hutcherson said of the title and partnership relating to his work in Latvia, "In my meetings, I can represent as being with them (the Bush White House) and having the power I need to get things done."
Hutcherson claims there is a video that was shot after a meeting on 8 February 2007 at the White House between himself; Jay Hein; and Alexei Ledyaev, pastor of New Generation Church in Riga, Latvia.
Hutcherson said this White House meeting was the second of two meetings he had with Hein about his plans in Latvia. The first meeting, according to Hutcherson, took place on January 18, 2007 during a conference in Seattle on faith-based initiatives that was attended by Hein.
"That was when he made his first commitment to me and said it was a done deal," Hutcherson told me. Hutcherson describes the "done deal" as "our partnership." Hutcherson claims requested the first meeting with Hein because "I just wanted Faith-Based to give me the power to do what I needed to do" and that "the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives did just that." according to Hutcherson.
Hutcherson claims that in the video from the second meeting on February 8, 2007 in Washington D.C., the three men—Hutcherson, Hein, and Ledyaev—are standing on the White House lawn answering questions from a Latvian television reporter. Hutcherson claims the video will show that Hein met with him, knew of his new title, and approved of his mission to Latvia. Hutcherson told the Seattle Stranger newspaper "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."
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
linebacker
Linebacker
A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...
in the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
who is now the pastor of the Antioch Bible Church in Kirkland, Washington
Kirkland, Washington
Kirkland is a city in King County, Washington, United States. It is a suburb of Seattle on the Eastside . The population was 48,787 at the 2010 census makes it the 9th largest city in King County and the 20th largest city in the state...
, where he has been since 1985. His nickname from his NFL days is "The Hutch".
Football career
Hutcherson obtained his highest educational degree, a Bachelor's in 1974 from Alabama's University of West AlabamaUniversity of West Alabama
The University of West Alabama is a public university located in Livingston, Alabama, United States. It is currently on probation with its regional accrediting body....
(or "Livingston"), where he had also played football from 1972 to 1974. Hutcherson later joined the NFL but left in 1977 due to a knee injury. He played for the Dallas Cowboys
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
, San Diego Chargers
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, and Seattle Seahawks
Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team joined the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team...
.
Pastoral career
After ending his football career, Hutcherson conducted theological studies at Cascade Bible College in Bellevue, WashingtonBellevue, Washington
Bellevue is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, across Lake Washington from Seattle. Long known as a suburb or satellite city of Seattle, it is now categorized as an edge city or a boomburb. The population was 122,363 at the 2010 census.Downtown Bellevue is...
in 1979. After finishing his studies, he served eight years as director of high school ministries at Westminster Chapel in Bellevue. In 1984, he started Antioch Bible Church in Kirkland, Washington
Kirkland, Washington
Kirkland is a city in King County, Washington, United States. It is a suburb of Seattle on the Eastside . The population was 48,787 at the 2010 census makes it the 9th largest city in King County and the 20th largest city in the state...
, along with Mark Webster and Dwight Englund. Hutcherson accepted the position of senior pastor in 1985 and was ordained in 1986. He has said, "I want to be to Christianity what Gretzky
Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Douglas Gretzky, CC is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. Nicknamed "The Great One", he is generally regarded as the best player in the history of the National Hockey League , and has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters,...
was to hockey, what Beckham
David Beckham
David Robert Joseph Beckham, OBE is an English footballer who plays midfield for Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer, having previously played for Manchester United, Preston North End, Real Madrid, and A.C...
is to soccer, what Jordan
Michael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan is a former American professional basketball player, active entrepreneur, and majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats...
was to basketball, what Martin Luther King was to African-American rights, what the Pope
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
was to Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. I want to be that to Christianity." Later, he also said, "I have a tremendous ego. That's why I played pro football. I'm taking that same ego … and now putting it in for the glory of God to do his will and his work."
He was once quoted on his church's website as saying, "The greatest need today in the church - which does not seem to be important in the average church - is the training of people in evangelism
Evangelism
Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....
, discipleship and the responsibility they have for the church and responsibility they have for God."
Hutcherson is a frequent football guest caller on The Rush Limbaugh Show
The Rush Limbaugh Show
The Rush Limbaugh Show is an American talk radio show hosted by Rush Limbaugh on Premiere Radio Networks...
, and usually appears in around NFL playoff, and Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
time. Rev. Hutcherson and Limbaugh are such close friends that he officiated Limbaugh's fourth wedding in June 2010 in Palm Beach, Florida.
Although he uses the honorific "Dr.", he does not have a post-graduate degree from an accredited university but from a bible college.
Gay rights as a civil rights movement
Ken Hutcherson strongly objects to suggestions that the current gay civil rights movementLGBT social movements
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender social movements share inter-related goals of social acceptance of sexual and gender minorities. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their allies have a long history of campaigning for what is generally called LGBT rights, also called gay...
bears a resemblance to the African-American civil rights movement
African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)
The African-American Civil Rights Movement refers to the movements in the United States aimed at outlawing racial discrimination against African Americans and restoring voting rights to them. This article covers the phase of the movement between 1955 and 1968, particularly in the South...
in the 1960s. An opinion piece by Hutcherson published in The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times is a newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, US. It is the largest daily newspaper in the state of Washington. It has been, since the demise in 2009 of the printed version of the rival Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle's only major daily print newspaper.-History:The Seattle Times...
on March 29, 2004, stated, "It has been said loudly and proudly that gay marriage is a civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
issue. If that's the case, then gays would be the new African Americans. I'm here to tell you now, and hopefully for the last time, that the gay community
Gay community
The gay community, or LGBT community, is a loosely defined grouping of LGBT and LGBT-supportive people, organizations and subcultures, united by a common culture and civil rights movements. These communities generally celebrate pride, diversity, individuality, and sexuality...
is not the new African-American community." Hutcherson has been reported as saying that he is offended by those that say same-sex marriage is a civil rights issue and instead is “a moral and sexual preference issue,” because he believes that homosexuality is a choice and race is not. He has said, "I've met many ex-gay
Ex-gay
The ex-gay movement consists of people and organizations that seek to get people to refrain from entering or pursuing same-sex relationships, to eliminate homosexual desires, to develop heterosexual desires, or to enter into a heterosexual relationship...
s, but I've never met an ex-black."
On April 25, 2008 Hutcherson protested at a school hosting the National Day of Silence. He planned on organizing, and took an ad out in a local paper calling for, 1,000 people to protest Mount Si High School, the school his daughter attended, in Snoqualmie, Washington
Snoqualmie, Washington
Snoqualmie is a city next to Snoqualmie Falls in King County, Washington. The city is home to the Northwest Railway Museum. The population was of 10,670 at the 2010 census...
. The National Day of Silence brings attention to anti-LGBT (Lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
, Gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
, Bisexual, Transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
) name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools.
On March 2, 2006, Hutcherson and King County Executive Ron Sims, himself a Baptist Minister and a supporter of same-sex marriage, met at Seattle Town Hall to debate publicly the question "Is the gay rights movement the new civil rights movement?" The debate, sponsored by The Stranger
The Stranger (newspaper)
The Stranger is an alternative weekly newspaper in Seattle, Washington, USA. It runs a blog known as Slog.-History:The Stranger was founded by Tim Keck, who had previously co-founded the satirical newspaper The Onion, and cartoonist James Sturm. Its first issue came out on September 23, 1991...
was arranged as a dare and drew a crowd of around 800 people.
Gay anti-discrimination legislation
Hutcherson has repeatedly opposed state anti-discrimination laws. On February 9, 2006, Tim EymanTim Eyman
Tim Eyman is a conservative political activist in the U.S. state of Washington. He advocates for a smaller state government, through lowering state taxes and fees...
lodged referendum Initiative 65 which sought a public vote to repeal the Murray Anderson Civil Rights Bill before it could take effect on June 7, 2006. Hutcherson supported the initiative and conducted petition signature gathering at his Antioch Bible Church. When the June 6, 2006 deadline arrived the campaign announced they had failed to collect the 112,400 signatures required to qualify for the ballot.
Still focused on overturning anti-discrimination protection for gays and lesbians, Hutcherson lodged his own ballot initiative on January 19, 2007. Initiative 963 proposed removing any reference to sexual orientation or sexual preference from existing anti-discrimination legislation and required 224,800 valid signatures be collected by the July 6, 2007 deadline to qualify for the ballot.
On January 27, 2007, The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times is a newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, US. It is the largest daily newspaper in the state of Washington. It has been, since the demise in 2009 of the printed version of the rival Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle's only major daily print newspaper.-History:The Seattle Times...
reported that Hutcherson had allied with a network of churches, including Watchmen on the Walls
Watchmen on the Walls
Watchmen on the Walls is an international evangelical ministry based in Riga, Latvia. It describes itself as "the international Christian movement that unites Christian leaders, Christian and social organizations and aims to protect Christian morals and values in society." According to a Southern...
, that are tied to conservative evangelical Slavic
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
communities in Washington State and California that have been active in anti-gay causes. The stated purpose of this alliance was to collect signatures for initiative 963 to overturn the recently passed state law that banned discrimination based on sexual orientation.
On June 29, 2007, Hutcherson told The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times is a newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, US. It is the largest daily newspaper in the state of Washington. It has been, since the demise in 2009 of the printed version of the rival Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle's only major daily print newspaper.-History:The Seattle Times...
that he had dropped the initiative some months earlier at the urging of Pastor Joe Fuiten, who argued that the time was not right for the campaign and asked instead for his help in opposing domestic partnership
Domestic partnership
A domestic partnership is a legal or personal relationship between two individuals who live together and share a common domestic life but are neither joined by marriage nor a civil union...
rights for gay and lesbian couples.
Microsoft
In 2005, the Seattle weekly newspaper The StrangerThe Stranger (newspaper)
The Stranger is an alternative weekly newspaper in Seattle, Washington, USA. It runs a blog known as Slog.-History:The Stranger was founded by Tim Keck, who had previously co-founded the satirical newspaper The Onion, and cartoonist James Sturm. Its first issue came out on September 23, 1991...
reported that Hutcherson persuaded Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
to withdraw support for the Washington anti-discrimination bill that would have made it illegal to fire an employee due to their sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
. Hutcherson had reportedly told the Microsoft general counsel that 700 evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
Microsoft employees attend his church, and all of them opposed the bill. He added that if Microsoft did not withdraw support of the bill, he would organize a national boycott of the software maker. Sometime after the meeting Microsoft changed its long held position on the issue from support to neutral stating that anti-discrimination was not a priority for that legislative session.
A few weeks later, after furious protests from Microsoft employees and advocacy by GLEAM
Gleam
Gleam may refer to:*reflectivity*Gleam *The Gleam*Gay and Lesbian Employees at Microsoft *Samsung SCH-u700, also called the "Samsung Gleam"...
, Microsoft’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employee resource group, the company reversed itself and pledged to support future anti-discrimination legislation.
The Anderson Murray Civil Rights Bill was passed in the Washington State House on January 20, 2006, in the Senate on January 27, 2006, and signed into law by Governor Christine Gregoire
Christine Gregoire
Christine O'Grady "Chris" Gregoire is the 22nd and current Governor of the state of Washington, and a member of the Democratic Party. Gregoire defeated Republican candidate Dino Rossi in 2004, and again in 2008. She is the second female governor of Washington...
on January 31, 2006. When the bill was passed, Hutcherson again called for a boycott, but no such organized effort emerged.
On January 25, 2006, Hutcherson called for supporters to take action against Microsoft for reinstating its support of the Washington State Anti-Discrimination bill by driving down the company’s stock price. Hutcherson asked that supporters purchase one or two Microsoft shares over the following months with the goal of selling them on May 1, 2006. Market experts stated that the “buy-and-dump” plan had no realistic chance of affecting Microsoft stock while legal scholars warned that the plan could be considered illegal market manipulation. Microsoft maintained its support of the bill and on May 1, 2006 Microsoft shares closed up 14 cents on the previous day’s close.
On November 13, 2007, Hutcherson addressed the Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
Annual Stockholders meeting. During the question and answer session he referred to previous discussions with Microsoft executives regarding their support for anti-discrimination legislation in Washington State and threatened further action against the company without clearly specifying the policy position or activity he hopes to change. Hutcherson stated "I could work with you, or I could be your worst nightmare, because I am a black man with a righteous cause, with a host of powerful white people behind me...".
After Hutcherson's comments, one attendee asked what shareholders could do to help the company to oppose Hutcherson. Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith responded, "As a company, we've had a clear policy with respect to the way we treat our people, and we believe in that policy. It's a policy that's founded on non-discrimination, it's a policy that we believe has served our employees well, it's served our shareholders well, and I think that was reflected last year when all of our shareholders were asked to vote on that policy, and over 97 percent of you and all of our other shareholders stood up and agreed with us. And I think that it is precisely in that form that shareholders have the opportunity to continue to make their views known, and we very much appreciate that support".
On November 16, 2007, an interview appeared in The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, a UK newspaper, where Hutcherson described his plan to ask millions of evangelical activists, Orthodox religious and other allies, to purchase Microsoft shares and demand a return to 'traditional values'. He described Microsoft as just the first company to be targeted in a larger campaign which will attempt to force American corporations to support only biblically
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
-based social policy positions. In the article Hutcherson alleged "There are 256 Fortune 500
Fortune 500
The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations as ranked by their gross revenue after adjustments made by Fortune to exclude the impact of excise taxes companies collect. The list includes publicly and...
companies alone pouring millions upon millions of dollars into pushing the homosexual agenda
Homosexual agenda
Homosexual agenda is a pejorative term used by some conservatives in the United States to describe the advocacy of cultural acceptance and normalization of non-heterosexual orientations and relationships...
..." but he has yet to provide any evidence for his claims.
However, in accordance with a May 6, 2005 e-mail where Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer
Steve Ballmer
Steven Anthony "Steve" Ballmer is an American business magnate. He is the chief executive officer of Microsoft, having held that post since January 2000. , his personal wealth is estimated at US$13.9 billion, ranking number 19 on the Forbes 400.-Early life:Ballmer was born in Detroit, Michigan to...
laid out guidelines and restrictions for future public policy engagement, the company has expressed no position on same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
, civil unions, or domestic partnership
Domestic partnership
A domestic partnership is a legal or personal relationship between two individuals who live together and share a common domestic life but are neither joined by marriage nor a civil union...
legislation at the Washington State or Federal levels.
In a January 12, 2008 radio interview on Sirius OutQ
SIRIUS OutQ
OutQ is a news, talk and entertainment channel on Sirius XM Radio, geared for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender audiences. The channel is available to Sirius and XM subscribers in both the United States and Canada....
with Michelangelo Signorile
Michelangelo Signorile
Michelangelo Signorile is a gay American writer, a national talk radio host whose program is aired each weekday across the United States and Canada. He is a political liberal, and covers a wide variety of political and cultural issues...
, Hutcherson once again claimed that Microsoft was advocating in support of same-sex marriage.
On January 8, 2008, Hutcherson announced details of his "Buy Three, Donate One" campaign which asked supporters to purchase three shares of Microsoft stock, donate one share to the "AGN Financial Network," and prepare to vote on a Shareholder Proposal that would be presented at the next Microsoft Stockholders Annual meeting in November 2008.
Hate crimes legislation
On April 17, 2007, Hutcherson was scheduled to participate in a press conference hosted by Exodus InternationalExodus International
Exodus International is a non-profit, interdenominational ex-gay Christian organization founded by Michael Bussee, Gary Cooper, Frank Worthen, Ron Dennis, and Greg Reid...
opposing passage of the federal Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007. The event, to be held at the National Press Club, was intended to put pressure on lawmakers to drop the legislation which proposed adding sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
and gender identity
Gender identity
A gender identity is the way in which an individual self-identifies with a gender category, for example, as being either a man or a woman, or in some cases being neither, which can be distinct from biological sex. Basic gender identity is usually formed by age three and is extremely difficult to...
to the currently protected classes of race, color, religion and national origin. The press conference was cancelled in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings. The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007 passed the House on May 3, 2007 by a vote of 237 to 180.
On June 18, 2007, Hutcherson and 29 other African-American pastors in the High Impact Leadership Coalition publicly opposed the Senate hate crimes bill renamed The Matthew Shepard Act on 1st Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
grounds.
Same-sex marriage
On May 1, 2004, Hutcherson organized a "Mayday for Marriage" rally against marriage rights for lesbian and gay couples. The highly-publicized effort drew an estimated 20,000 supporters from around the Puget Sound region to Safeco FieldSafeco Field
Safeco Field is a retractable roof baseball stadium located in Seattle, Washington. The stadium, owned and operated by the Washington-King County Stadium Authority, is the home stadium of the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball and has a seating capacity of 47,878 for baseball...
in Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
. Later, in October 2004, he organized another "Mayday for Marriage" rally in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
which attracted an estimated 140,000 participants. Comparing the “Mayday for Marriage” rally he organized in Washington D.C. to the Madrid train bombing by terrorists that killed 191 people, he said, "My idea here is to drop a spiritual bomb on D.C., like Spain, where they had the terrorist bomb."
After switching focus from opposing anti-discrimination legislation to fighting recognition of domestic partnerships in early 2007, Hutcherson claims that the Christian group who were in charge of the effort failed to follow through on their plans. Despite opposition from Hutcherson and Christian groups the Domestic Partnership bill passed the state legislature and was signed into law on April 21, 2007. Angered by the situation, Hutcherson has said he intends to force a state-wide debate on legal recognition for same-sex relationships which he and other opponents see as an incremental step towards securing same-sex marriage rights. Speaking with The Olympian, Hutcherson said “I am going to do something that deals with the main issue,” adding that he intends to provide broader political leadership for Christians that he believes has been absent in recent years.
Latvia controversy
On March 21, 2007, Seattle attorneyLawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
Dave Coffman filed a complaint with the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
asking them to investigate whether or not Pastor Hutcherson violated federal law by claiming to be a White House "Special Envoy" on a 2007 trip to Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
. Hutcherson claims his work and trip were sanctioned by the Bush White House. The trip was the centerpiece of a four-day anti-gay-rights "crisis conference" held in Latvia.
Hutcherson claims that the director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
The White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, formerly the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives is an office within the White House Office that is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States.-Under George W. Bush:OFBCI was...
Jay Hein
Jay Hein
Jay F. Hein is a former Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives , and Deputy Assistant to U.S President George W. Bush. As director of the OFBCI, he was charged with the mission of expanding and strengthening the influence of faith based organizations in...
appointed him as a "special envoy" for the Latvia trip, where he appeared with Scott Lively
Scott Lively
Scott Lively is an American author, attorney and ex-gay activist. Lively is the president of Abiding Truth Ministries, a conservative Christian organization located in Temecula, California. Abiding Truth Ministries is classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Lively has called...
, an opponent of LGBT civil rights and author, with Kevin Abrams, of the book The Pink Swastika
The Pink Swastika
The Pink Swastika: Homosexuality in the Nazi Party is a book first published in 1995 by Scott Lively and Kevin Abrams.-Synopsis:According to the authors, homosexuality found in the Nazi Party contributed to the extreme militarism of Nazi Germany...
which purports to document the role of homosexuals in the formation of the Nazi Party and the administration of the Third Reich.
According to Eli Sanders of the Seattle alternative weekly newspaper The Stranger
The Stranger (newspaper)
The Stranger is an alternative weekly newspaper in Seattle, Washington, USA. It runs a blog known as Slog.-History:The Stranger was founded by Tim Keck, who had previously co-founded the satirical newspaper The Onion, and cartoonist James Sturm. Its first issue came out on September 23, 1991...
, who spoke to an agent at the FBI, the agency does investigate allegations that people have represented themselves as speaking for the White House.
Hutcherson has claimed that he was made a Special Envoy for Adoptions, Family Values, Religious Freedom, and Medical Relief by the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
White House spokesperson Alyssa J. McLenning communicated to the newspaper that Hutcherson was never given the title of Special Envoy. In her statement, McLenning wrote "The White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives did not give Hutcherson the title, 'Special Envoy for Adoptions, Family Values, Religious Freedom, and Medical Relief.' The White House did not give Hutcherson any other titles and did not coordinate with Hutcherson on his recent trip to Latvia."
Hutcherson claims the White House is lying and told The Stranger that they should speak with Hein, who met with him at the White House and in Seattle.
Hutcherson claims to have met with Hein at least twice in person about this partnership, once in January 2007 in Seattle, and once in February 2007 at the White House. Hutcherson said of the title and partnership relating to his work in Latvia, "In my meetings, I can represent as being with them (the Bush White House) and having the power I need to get things done."
Hutcherson claims there is a video that was shot after a meeting on 8 February 2007 at the White House between himself; Jay Hein; and Alexei Ledyaev, pastor of New Generation Church in Riga, Latvia.
Hutcherson said this White House meeting was the second of two meetings he had with Hein about his plans in Latvia. The first meeting, according to Hutcherson, took place on January 18, 2007 during a conference in Seattle on faith-based initiatives that was attended by Hein.
"That was when he made his first commitment to me and said it was a done deal," Hutcherson told me. Hutcherson describes the "done deal" as "our partnership." Hutcherson claims requested the first meeting with Hein because "I just wanted Faith-Based to give me the power to do what I needed to do" and that "the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives did just that." according to Hutcherson.
Hutcherson claims that in the video from the second meeting on February 8, 2007 in Washington D.C., the three men—Hutcherson, Hein, and Ledyaev—are standing on the White House lawn answering questions from a Latvian television reporter. Hutcherson claims the video will show that Hein met with him, knew of his new title, and approved of his mission to Latvia. Hutcherson told the Seattle Stranger newspaper "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."
Publications
- Hutcherson, Ken, "Here Comes the Bride : The Church: What We Are Meant to Be". 2000. ISBN 1-57673-359-9
- Hutcherson, Ken, "Before All Hell Breaks Loose : Preparing for the Coming Perilous Times". 2001. ISBN 1-57673-793-4
- Hutcherson, Ken, "Enough Faith: You've Already Got What It Takes to Make a Difference". 2006. ISBN 1-59052-600-7