It's pretty telling when an elected official bars the media from supposedly open events. Could it be because they plan on saying hate filled things that play well with extremists that they want to hide from the larger public? That seems to be the case of Virginia Attorney General Ken "Kookinelli" Cuccinelli who appeared and spoke at what was advertised as a "Virginia Defense of Marriage Summit." One can be sure that some of Virginia's best known knuckle dragging hate merchants were in attendance. Obviously, if you are afraid to have the media hear what you are saying or see with whom you are surrounding yourself , perhaps you should not be in attendance in the first place. Especially if you are the top legal official for the Commonwealth of Virginia. One can only assume that Kookinelli planned on saying things akin to Mitt Romney during his comments on the 47% while gathered with a group of millionaire cronies/donors. The Washington Blade reports on this disturbing circumstance. Here are highlights:
A local church on Friday denied a Washington Blade staff writer access to an anti-gay marriage gathering at which Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli spoke.
A woman who was standing near the entrance of Reconciliation Community Church in Manassas in front of two men wearing dark suits who appeared to be security personnel asked this reporter for identification and proof of media affiliation after he identified himself as a Blade staff writer. He proceeded to show her his drivers’ license and business card. . . . . She then pointedly told him to turn his car around in an adjacent driveway and leave the church’s property.
Pastor John Peyton of the Reconciliation Community Church acknowledged he was asked to host the gathering at which Cuccinelli spoke — the attorney general said on his Twitter account earlier on Friday he was “looking forward to speaking at the Virginia Defense of Marriage Summit tonight!” Peyton told the Blade in an e-mail he “did not bargain for any protesters to come.”
In addition to Cuccinelli; Jackson, Bishop Eugene Reeves of New Life Ministries in Woodbridge, Va., and Phillip Goudeaux of the Calvary Christian Center in Sacramento, Calif., were among those scheduled to speak at Reconciliation Community Church. The Manassas event took place less than a week after Goudeaux described gay men as “predators” who seek to indoctrinate children during an anti-gay marriage gathering at a Baltimore church that Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, Maryland Marriage Alliance Chair Derek McCoy, Jackson, Reeves and roughly 100 others attended.
Shelley Abrams, co-founder of Cooch Watch, told the Blade roughly a dozen members of her group who traveled to Manassas to protest Cuccinelli were also denied access to the church. One Cooch Watch member who arrived at Reconciliation Community Church around 4:45 p.m. told Abrams a woman said “there’s no rally here.” . . . . Abrams further stressed churches typically allow Cooch Watch members to attend forums, meetings and other events they host.
“To be denied entry into what’s considered God’s house is appalling,” she said. “Not only that, this is a public official. We are Virginians and we want to hear what he has to say about same-sex marriage. And we were not given that opportunity. There is fear among the ultra-right wing of being exposed and they know that Cooch Watch is here to expose them.”
Equality Virginia spokesperson Kevin Clay also criticized the church’s decision to deny access to the gathering. . . . . . Behind closed doors, we suspect he rehashed the same overreaching rhetoric. At Equality Virginia, we expect our elected officials to represent all of the commonwealth’s citizens.”
As I have note before, I've received unconfirmed reports that Kookinelli - like so many virulently anti-gay zealots - may have played/play for our team. If anyone can confirm this with convincing evidence, nothing would give me more joy than to expose this nasty extremist as a hypocrite.
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