Kirkland church targeted with hateful messages toward LGBTQIA+ community

KIRKLAND, Wash. — The commitment to inclusion at Holy Spirit Lutheran Church in Kirkland apparently led someone to leave hateful flyers on car windshields in the parking lot after Sunday’s service.

“Generally hateful and ugly, a lot of imagery and words, particularly directed at the LGBTQ+ community and most especially against folks who are transgender,” said Pastor Katy McCallum Sachse.

A week earlier, the same type of flyers appeared outside Edmonds United Methodist Church.

“For us this feels like a very big scary unusual event, and it is, but it’s also a reminder that for other communities this is something that happens regularly,” McCallum Sachse said.

In fact, Holy Spirit Lutheran already had a poster up, showing support for the Jewish community after vandals targeted Temple De Hirsch Sinai in Seattle with antisemitic messages.

“I’m heartsick to say so, but unfortunately this is the current state of where we are at as a society,” Rabbi Daniel Weiner said after the April 17 incident.

“The northwest is uniquely vulnerable to hate crimes,” United States Attorney Nick Brown said during a Tuesday interview on KIRO 7.

Brown cited FBI statistics that Washington ranks fifth in hate crimes per capita.

“We’ve seen a rise in antisemitism, we’ve seen a rise in hate attacks against the Asian American community, we’ve seen a rise in all sorts of violence against people of color, marginalized people, LGBT,” Brown said.

Brown said he’ll seek federal prosecution for hate crimes when appropriate.

Despite the hateful incidents, faith leaders like Pastor McCallum Sachse are determined to keep spreading love.

“We’re just going to keep doing what we do, and we hope that over time, that changes enough hearts that there never need to be incidents like this.”

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