Rev. Ken Hutcherson declared what he called a 'war' on February 15 when he learned that a poster for the Gay/Straight Alliance was displayed at the school his daughter attends, Mt. Si High School in Snoqualmie.
Update: see Qnews summary of Times and PI coverage of meeting:
Day of Silence at Mt. Si High prompts loud controversy at Washington school
GLSEN has put out a call for those who live in the area to attend a meeting of the school board tonight at 7:30 when issues raised by the pastor's battle-call are likely to be discussed.
We would love people from the Snoqualmie Valley School District there in NUMBERS, but people from outlying areas would be great as well. (The reason we want people from the area there is to show the school board and superintendent that the LGBT issue isn't just a Seattle thing.
There are LGBT issues ALL over, including in rural places like the Snoqualmie Valley) We need to tell the superintendent and school board that they need to support the students at Mt. Si High School AND the Mt. Si Gay-Straight Alliance. We need to ensure safe schools for ALL students, regardless of Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity/Expression.
Even if you don't want to speak at the meeting, attend anyway. We want the crowd to be BIG and visible. We want to send a message that this issue is important!
The meeting starts at 7:30 and will be held in the administration office boardroom, 8001 Silva Ave SE in Snoqualmie. [get directions]
Hutcherson, at least, won't be there. He told his "Prayer Warriors" mailing list that he will be in Los Angeles Thursday night to tape a TV appearance. But he's asking his warriors to help convince the school district that gay rights aren't civil rights.
[P]lease pray for the challenge I have made to the Snoqualmie Valley School District to sponsor a debate between the Rev. Wayne Perryman, Rabbi Daniel Lapin and me and any three people of their choosing to discuss why homosexual rights should not be viewed in the same way as civil rights for African Americans.
To review (since we haven't even attempted keep up with his "war" on these virtual pages): Hutcherson was challenged by a teacher at an assembly where he'd been asked to speak about the Rev. Martin Luther King and civil rights.
Mount Si teacher Kit McCormick, who questioned how Hutcherson can support human rights if he doesn't support gay rights, told KING/5 that she thought the students should know the full story about the leader of the Antioch Bible Church in Redmond.
"I felt like the students needed to know the truth," she said. "He's not about equality for everyone," she told KING/5, "he's about equality for some people."
McCormick is adviser to the high school's gay-straight alliance, according to KING5.
After a poster for the school's gay/straight alliance was posted in a hallway, Hutcherson sent in one of his typically pithy postings to the Prayer Warrior list,
It's time we wake up and realize we are in a culture WAR!
When teachers are allowed to hang posters like this in our local school, we've got a big problem. It's time to take back our schools.
GSA students, staff, and teachers spoke at a February school board meeting in an attempt to convince the board that tolerance is an important value for the school. But GLSEN and Mount Si's GSA say that the board "is sitting idle and talk about the Day of Silence is becoming more controversial, including talks of ending the Day of Silence AND the GSA itself."
Tonight's board meeting is expected to tackle the issue once again.
Even without their pastor in attendance, Hutcherson's "warriors" are expected to attend. That's one reason GLSEN has called for a balance.
They also emphasize that letters to the board are important -- especially from eastsiders and those who live in or near Snoqualmie valley.