Row over anti-gay "envoy" hits Latvia as White House denies link

dpa German Press Agency Published: Wednesday March 28, 2007

Riga- A row over an American anti-gay preacher who visited
Latvia while claiming White House backing looked set to trouble his
hosts Wednesday as the White House denied he had any such status.
The affair has already led to legal proceedings in the US, with a
Seattle-based lawyer asking the FBI to investigate whether the claim
to official backing broke federal law.

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 dpa.

Hutcherson is an outspoken proponent of Biblical morals and an
opponent of gay rights. His organization "Mayday for marriage" says
it is "fighting to ensure marriage remains biblically, historically
and culturally defined as being between a man and a woman."

He visited Latvia in early March at the invitation of the New
Generation church, whose supporters famously pelted pro-gay activists
with bags of excrement at a rally last summer.

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.

During his meetings Hutcherson discussed the possibility of
opening a branch of his organization in Latvia - the first such
branch to be opened within the EU, he confirmed.

But 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.

But a Seattle-based lawyer, Dave Coffman, has asked the FBI to
investigate Hutcherson's claims, saying they breach federal law.

"Maintaining that he represents the White House constitutes a
violation of US law on impersonating a federal official in their
official capacity to government officials or at large," he said.

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.

© 2006 - dpa German Press Agency

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