City Attorney Candidate Hydee Feldstein-Soto Spoke At An Anti-LGBT Event

_{Hydee Feldstein-Soto addresses a crowd in Beverly Hills on October 7, 2023 (Sean Beckner-Carmitchel)}

By Sean Beckner-Carmitchel

CALIFORNIA – Despite being officially endorsed by organizations like the Planned Parenthood Advocacy Project Los Angeles County Action Fund, Feldstein-Soto attended a rally filled with luminaries fighting against access to abortion.

Event speakers and organizers included Che Ahn, pastor-turned-gubernatorial candidate who told a Washington, D.C. crowd one day before the January 6, 2021 riots they must “rule and reign [over the U.S.] through President Trump & under the lordship of Jesus Christ.” Another attendee, Lou Engle, is listed on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Extremist Files. 

In a report by both Kate Burns and Abner Hauge, a far-right pastor’s failed ballot bid and subsequent rally, they describe a Hydee Feldstein Soto appears not as a central player. The article points to some of the past controversies involving her office—particularly disputes over public records and legal action involving journalists—as emblematic of ongoing tensions between government agencies and watchdog reporting.

Ten Four has reached out to Feldstein-Soto’s office as well as some of the endorsers for her re-election. Those include multiple groups which focus on access to reproductive care like the Planned Parenthood Advocacy Project Los Angeles County Action Fund, and the Women’s Political Committee. The second guiding principle for the Women’s Political Committee is “Abortion services must remain safe, legal and accessible,” and they state they only support pro-choice candidates.

Shortly after Feldstein-Soto took the stage, Joel Mott told the audience at the event that “biblical justice, not social justice” because “social justice is LGBT.” Mott has often been vocal about his support for conversion therapies, a practice condemned by most in the medical and mental health fields as harmful.

Ten Four has reached out to the Feldstein-Soto campaign but they were not immediately available for comment.

Another candidate, for the upcoming primaries was seen alongside Arthur Schaper at a recent rally. Schaper is an activist with a long record of anti-LGBTQ+ advocacy. A Field Director with the group MassResistance, Schaper has spent years campaigning against LGBTQ+ rights. Civil rights organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center have characterized Schaper and his group as an anti-LGBT hate organization. 

The article by Kate Burns and Abner Hauge at Left Coast Right Watch can be found here. If you’d like to support them, their venmos are @kate-burns-20 and @lcrwnews.