From special correspondents in Riga

RIGA, November 18, 2007  –  A Latvian government minister and the owner of a widely-circulated newspaper have both praised the work of the New Generation Church and Watchmen on the Walls in the campaign against gay men and women.

They were both speaking at the Watchmen on the Walls conference which concluded today.

Stendzenieks Armand, who owns the newspaper RitDiena, told the Watchmen conference, billed as a “human rights conference”, that Latvia today “has a strategic place” in the confrontation of the gay culture.

He went on to pledge that he – and his newspaper – will do everything it can to stop what he called “the immoral laws and propaganda of sin in Latvia”.

RitDiena, a tabloid that is editorially on the extreme right, is a free-circulation paper which currently claims a distribution of 143,771 copies for each issue.

Also praising the conference was the Latvian government’s Minister of Transport and Communications, Einars Shlessers.

“We now stand at the precipice,” Mr. Shlessers said tpld delegates.  “We must decide what to do and what will determine our future and the future of our countries.”

He went on to praise the New Generation Church, saying it was “very good” that the church was holding such a conference.

“We must fight for the family and traditional values,” he said, predicting that if there was not a “spiritual renewal” in Europe, there will soon be a major crisis.

It was not only gays who attracted criticism at the conference.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger fell victim to Vlade Kusakin, the publisher of the anti-gay American newspaper, The Speaker, and host of a radio show in Sacramento – both in Russian – for signing pro-gay bills.

He screened a video which, he claimed, showed that “children are taught homosexuality” in California.

Following Vlade Kusakin was Alexei Ledyaev who founded the New Generation Church 18 years ago in Riga.

He continued the vendetta against the Austrian-born Governor of California.

Pastor Ledyaev said that the Governor had signed a whole string of California pro-gay and anti-family laws, and the “spin” also included the accusation that the Governor had actually signed the “gay marriage” bill (AB43: “Gender-Neutral Marriage Bill”).

“All the press wrote that he did not sign, but no one wrote that he had signed,” the pastor told his audience.

■  Official California State records show, of course, that the Governor formally vetoed AB43 on October 12.  “I am returning Assembly Bill 43 without my signature,” Gov. Schwarzenegger wrote to the California State Assembly.  “As I stated in vetoing similar legislation in 2005, I am proud California is a leader in recognizing and respecting domestic partnerships.  I believe that all Californians are entitled to full protection under the law and should not be discriminated against based upon their sexual orientation.  I support current domestic partnership rights and will continue to vigorously defend and enforce these rights.

“In 2000, the voters approved Proposition 22, a challenge to which is currently pending before the California Supreme Court.  I maintain my position that the appropriate resolution to this issue is to allow the Court to rule on Proposition 22.”

SEE ALSO

We Don’t Hate Gays, Says Anti-Gay Watchmen on the Walls.  From special correspondents in Riga.  Watchmen on the Walls is not a hate group, Scott Lively declared during the group’s conference which opened yesterday in the Latvian capital.  The anti-gay American author of the notorious The Pink Swastika was introduced to delegates as “the prominent human rights activist and public figure”.  (UK Gay News, November 15, 2007)