The Kremlin’s Favorite Anti-Gay Hate Group is Coming to Utah [View all]

[DonViejo]

Jay Michaelson

The Kremlin’s Favorite Anti-Gay Hate Group is Coming to Utah

The vast right-wing conspiracy is coming to Utah. No, not the penny-ante conspiracy Hillary Clinton first floated back in the 90s. We’re talking about an international coalition of hate that stretches from Russia to Africa to someplace awfully close to home.

More specifically, the World Congress of Families, an umbrella group of forty-odd ‘traditional values’ organizations, announced earlier this month that their 2015 conference will be held in Salt Lake City, thanks to the financial patronage of the Sutherland Institute, a far-right think tank based there. Among the attendees: some of the leaders behind the Hobby Lobby battle in the United States and Russia’s anti-gay laws.

Ironically, this announcement comes on the heels of WCF’s awkward cancellation of its 2014 conference, which was to be held in—wait for it—Moscow, and sponsored by Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeev. At first, WCF doubled down in support of its Russian counterparts, even after the Ukraine invasion and the placing of said counterparts on U.S. sanctions lists. But when member organizations started to bolt, the WCF finally caved.

Now Salt Lake City’s not looking like a sure thing either. Representatives of the Human Rights Campaign insisted that "the values of the people of Salt Lake City are ones that promote inclusivity,” and noted that WCF has been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

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http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/19/the-kremlin-s-favorite-anti-gay-hate-group-is-coming-to-utah.html