LYNNWOOD -- An anti-gay religious group planning a three-day meeting at the Lynnwood Convention Center beginning Friday likely will be met by protests.
People from churches and gay and lesbian groups are speaking out against the proposed meeting of Watchmen on the Walls, an organization identified by national watchdog groups as "virulently anti-gay."
"I certainly support their right to free speech and their right to hold their conference, but I don't believe we can sit back and let them have their say without letting them know that they're not welcome in Snohomish County," said Cindy Worthen, 46, of Everett.
She said she's working to organize peaceful protests.
Watchmen on the Walls, a group founded by a Latvian minister that includes mainly Russian-speaking members, is building a reputation for being an "unbelievably virulent anti-gay organization," according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nationally known organization that fights hate groups.
One of the planned speakers is Scott Lively, a California lawyer and anti-gay activist who published a book blaming the Holocaust on gays.
Ken Hutcherson, former Seattle Seahawks player and Kirkland pastor, confirmed Monday that he plans to speak in Lynnwood.
Joseph Fuiten, a Bothell pastor, said he also plans to address the group about civic engagement and the importance of voting.
Fuiten said he is not connected with the Watchmen group and bristled at what he called the Southern Poverty Law Center's overbroad characterizations.
Fuiten said he's opposed to special rights for homosexuals and opposes gay marriage, but he does not advocate hate or violence.
Lynnwood Mayor Don Gough on Monday said he's working hard to foster an atmosphere of understanding and tolerance in the city.
Watchmen on the Walls, a group founded by a Latvian minister that includes mainly Russian-speaking members, is building a reputation for being an "unbelievably virulent anti-gay organization," according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nationally known organization that fights hate groups.
On Friday, Mike Echelbarger, the district's board president, said the Watchmen are law abiding and have a right to free speech. He said the district wouldn't rent the public space to the Ku Klux Klan.
"I find it intolerable when a institution will rent to some bigot organizations and not other bigots," said Josh Friedes, a spokesman for Equal Rights Washington, a gay and lesbian advocacy group based in Seattle. "It suggests that bigotry against some groups is tolerable. It seems like the convention center may be saying that it's acceptable to discriminate against gays and lesbians but that it's not acceptable to do this against other people."