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March 06, 2006
Hutcherson and Sims mix it up on gay rights Civil liberties and theology intersect in a fiery debate at packed Town Hall
Posted at March 6, 2006 12:37 AM in Gay & Lesbian Issues .
By CLAUDIA ROWE
P-I REPORTER
(post includes some of the video)
The crowd was braced for a fight. They crammed into every available seat as a bank of video cameras trained their lenses on center stage.
Though sparks flew in the often heated exchange, onlookers were divided as to the victor in Thursday night’s debate, pitting King County Executive Ron Sims against the Rev. Ken Hutcherson over the issue of gay rights’ intersection with civil rights.
Simply put, Sims, who is the state’s highest elected black official, believes discriminating against a person based on sexual orientation is only the latest incarnation of a decades-long struggle to protect the civil rights of minorities.
It is said the men came armed with their points of view and ready to debate gay rights. So who made the more persuasive arguments?
According to KING/5 News in Seattle, "It was a spectacle. Eight-hundred people packed Town Hall to see King County Executive Ron Sims and Pastor Ken Hutcherson face-off on gay rights. Sims is the Democratic politician who encouraged gay couples to sue over the right to marry. Hutcherson is the pastor at Antioch Bible Church who threatened to boycott Microsoft over gay rights. They have both faced discrimination; They are both ministers. Yet on this issue, the divide is enormous.
Up front this week, highlights from the debate at Town Hall, as the state awaits a gay-marriage ruling from the State Supreme Court and a possible gay rights initiative this fall." [Read More] There is also more video here.
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