Ken Hutcherson: From Pro White-Basher to Pro Gay-Basher

Somebody please stop this bully. I have mentioned him before, as one of the founders of hate group Watchmen on the Walls.

Black, conservative ex-NFL player Ken Hutcherson, who is now the leader of Antioch Bible Church based out of the same home--Redmond, WA--as Microsoft has vowed to make Microsoft his number one enemy if they keep supporting gay rights bills in the state of Washington. These are bills that would make it illegal for employees to be fired soley based on their sexual orientation.

In his own words, "...I am probably one of the worst nightmares that this corporation can have. I'm a black man, with a righteous cause,with a great deal and a whole host of powerful white people behind me..."

The entire 2007 Microsoft shareholders meeting can be found here. Hutcherson's comments are at about 38 minutes in, so you don't have to listen to the beginning.

52 minutes into the meeting, another shareholder asked what shareholders can do to support the corporation in opposition against "hurtful and hateful positions," specifically in regards to Ken Hutcherson. Microsoft Senior Vice President, Brad Smith, responded with:

"As a company we've had a clear policy with respect to the way we treat our people. It's a policy of non-discrimination...I think that was reflected last year, when over 97% of you and all of our other shareholders stood up and agreed to stand with us...and we very much appreciate that support."

But seriously? Does Hutcherson really think he is more influential and powerful than Bill Gates? Mkay. Get down with your bad self, Ken.

This is the same man who joined the NFL because it was the easiest way for him to "hurt white people." (until he became a born-again Christian).

Apparently now, his mission is to hurt gay people. My take on Hutcherson is this: he's a typical schoolyard bully, used to using his size, race (there, I said it), and strength for pushing people around and getting his way. Everyone, fear the Angry Black Man, or so he wants us to think. It's sad that he is trying to use his race as leverage for forcing hate on others. His self-ascribed nickname is "The Black Man."

He's very outspoken in his opposition to the black civil rights analogy to the gay
rights movement: "You tell me what I went through as an African-American, when they talk about discrimination, compared to what gays go through with discrimination - it's the difference between night and day, not even close. I even get upset when people say, 'Well, you got to understand what they go through.' Not when they've chosen to do what they do. They can stop choosing what to do what they do, and they can hide it anytime they want. They can hide their homosexuality. Could I take a 'don't ask don't tell' policy as an African-American? I could try even to pretend I was Puerto Rican, but I'm still going to get blasted for my skin color."

Hutcherson is missing the point. As with any analogy, the comparison is never exact. The gay rights movement isn't making claims that gay people were ever held as property or sold into slavery. They aren't saying they ever had to sit at the back of the bus. It's never been a contest of "who's suffered more?" However, in a contest of "who's suffered the longest?" one has to wonder. I also wonder how members of the gay black community feel about the analogy, as they are really the only people who can answer from their own experiences.

I don't think many people would deny that gay people have been persecuted throughout history in many ways, and as societies progress to a more tolerant view of homosexuality, we will inevitably be forced to deal with arrogant, ignorant, dangerous fuckwads like Ken Hutcherson.

Good for us that most people (besides those in his congregation) just see him for the bully that he is. Watching his videos, I can see a certain charisma that may charm a vulnerable person, but underneath that giant smile and scarily wide-open eyes I see crazy. In one YouTube video, Hutcherson crazily repeats "I'm not threatened, I'm not threatened at all by gay people. Do I look threatened to you?!?"

In the video, in which the interviewer is a gay man, he appears to instead be sizing up the gay man. It's as if he says, "see me in all my black, ex-NFL football player glory, how can I possibly be threatened by a little white sissie like you?"

Honestly, "Reverend" Hutcherson. Yes. You do look threatened.

You certainly act it.