U.S. Rep. Tim Huelskamp refused to say last week whether he regrets participating in a documentary that links homosexuality to communism, likens LGBT rights to Nazi oppression and claims same-sex marriage could bring about the return of Jesus Christ.

In the opening scene of "Light Wins," a dark silhouette of trees blows in the wind as a woman’s voice offers a bleak premonition: "When evil is called good, darkness is ushered into the land and with that darkness comes a threat to our freedoms."

The subtitle of "Light Wins" is "How to Overcome the Criminalization of Christianity" and its narrator is Janet Porter, one of the most vehemently anti-gay zealots in the country. The documentary, peppered with slippery slope warnings of future atrocities in America after the legalization of same-sex marriage, features a number of prominent politicians, including former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Sen. Rand Paul and Huelskamp.

Huelskamp’s association with far-right commentators of the anti-gay movement puts him at odds with two opponents to his 2016 re-election bid. While Roger Marshall and Alan LaPolice both identify as pro-family Republicans, they broach the subject of same-sex marriage in more subdued manners and say they don’t agree with the incumbent’s zealous nature.

But Chapman Rackaway, a professor of political science at Fort Hays State University, says Huelskamp’s supporters in the 1st congressional district have come to expect the Tea Party Caucus chairman to act as a firebrand on social issues, a stance that is unlikely to harm him much in the August 2016 primary.

‘A lethal product’

In "Light Wins," Porter argues that the only time in history, according to the Book of Genesis, in which same-sex marriage was legal was in the time of Noah.

"Matthew 24:27 says ‘As it was in the day of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man,’ " Porter tells viewers. "If this is true, then we are uniquely and distinctly positioned for the return of Christ like no other time in history."

In another scene, the camera pans across children’s toys as Porter compares homosexuality to hazardous trinkets.

"If hundreds of thousands of people died from a product that’s being marketed to your children, would you want to know about it?" Porter asks. "A lethal product like that would have more than a warning on the label, it would be pulled from the shelves and anyone caught selling it would be held legally liable. Unless that lethal product happened to be homosexual behavior."

Among the speakers in the documentary is David Barton, president of WallBuilders. In 2011, Huelskamp’s office spent $45.42 in taxpayer dollars for research materials by the Texas-based organization, which claims the U.S. Constitution doesn’t insist on separation of church and state.

Another participant is Scott Lively, an anti-LGBT pastor whose advocacy led to the creation of a law in Uganda which made homosexuality illegal and punishable by death. The punishment was later amended to life in prison and signed into law but struck down in court.

The film contends that America’s public school system is indoctrinating children into believing homosexuality is natural in order to prime them for sexual abuse by gay and lesbian pedophiles.

"It leads to children being taught dangerous sexual practices in the guise of equality," said Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, who was denied entry into Canada last year for violating the country’s hate speech laws.

"We have abandoned, we have left people who may have homosexual tendencies to adults to step in and so-called ‘groom’ them, perhaps for their own purposes down the line," adds John Diggs, an anti-gay advocate and doctor of internal medicine.

Asked this week if he agrees that homosexuality is harmful to children, Huelskamp said, "I continue to believe children are best served in a home with a loving mom and dad, and it is in our national interest to promote this ideal."

In "Light Wins," modern opponents of LGBT rights are compared to German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was arrested in 1943 for his opposition to Nazi oppression and executed in 1945. One scene suggests Christians should stand up "in the face of overwhelming darkness … like Ronald Reagan did in the face of communism" as archival footage shows marching Soviet troops. At another point in the 100-minute film, the narrator claims, "Like a tank in Tiananmen Square, the homosexual agenda has been rolling over people since Anita Bryant’s courageous stand in the 1970s."

Huelskamp’s role in the film is relegated to a brief scene in which he encourages same-sex marriage opponents to show up at town hall meetings and ask their local members of Congress why they haven’t signed Huelskamp’s amendment to the Constitution barring same-sex marriage. In a trailer for the film, Huelskamp said the U.S. Supreme Court is "a runaway court" that "called every church, every world religion a bigot" in striking down the Defense of Marriage Act last year.

‘I don’t appreciate his approach’

Huelskamp’s criticisms of the nation’s high court show a lack of respect for the Constitution and its separation of powers, says Alan LaPolice, one of two Republicans challenging Huelskamp in next year’s primary.

"Each of the three branches serves its purpose, and while we can disagree at times with decisions, actions or inactions, people who serve in government ought to respect the process," LaPolice said. "It’s what has made our country great, and this lack of respect is at the very heart of what is wrong today. It is at the core of the whole anti-government movement of which Congressman Huelskamp is very much a part."

Roger Marshall, Huelskamp’s other challenger, said the congressman’s participation in the documentary "is a perfect example of what separates me from him."

"We both have a lot of the same fundamental Christian, Judeo-Christian beliefs, but how we live that is a lot different. How we live our lives seems to be a lot different," Marshall said.

"I don’t appreciate an approach when people are yelling and screaming at other people and telling them they’re all going to hell," Marshall added. "I don’t appreciate his approach of dividing people and looking at the splinter in their eye but not focusing on the boulder in your own eye."

Several LGBT rights groups in Kansas who were contacted for this story declined to comment on "Light Wins" or Huelskamp’s participation in it.

"I think the LGBT community owes Tim a tremendous debt of gratitude," LaPolice said. "If it weren't for him pushing his agenda at the national level, if it weren’t for him constantly goading the Supreme Court, those judges would have never pushed back and established marriage equality in all 50 states. They should put him in a parade, or at the very least, bake him a cake."

‘Smart politics’

While there are few members of Congress more conservative than Tim Huelskamp, there also are few congressional districts more conservative than Kansas’ 1st District. In its 140-year history, a Democrat has represented the Big First for a total of two years. Perhaps more importantly for Huelskamp, the district has a higher rate of churchgoers and social conservatives than the rest of Kansas.

"The religious liberty angle has been played quite a bit out here," Rackaway said. "They believe the same-sex marriage ruling is an infringement on their religious liberties."

For that reason, Rackaway doubts the congressman’s far-right rhetoric on homosexuality will greatly harm him as he seeks re-election to a fourth term.

"I don’t see a big backlash against it, in particular in the western part of the state," Rackaway said. "He’ll get hit in Manhattan, he’ll get hit in Hays, he’ll take some hits in Salina. But elsewhere it’s not going to happen."

Huelskamp lost Riley County and Saline County, home to Manhattan and Salina, respectively, to LaPolice in last year’s primary. Marshall, a Kansas State University graduate, has made several stops in Manhattan in the early days of his campaign.

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling legalizing same-sex marriage across the country, Rackaway believes Huelskamp’s adamant opposition to LGBT rights will solidify his support in the 1st District.

"Churches are looking at this as if there’s a war on religion," Rackaway said. "They’re going to entrench behind people who share their beliefs."

Last year, Huelskamp’s campaign mailed a DVD called "The Art of Being Straight" to a Topeka Capital-Journal reporter. In the little-known 2008 film about a man’s homosexuality, LaPolice plays a nosy supervisor, leading one opponent of gay rights in Kansas to criticize LaPolice’s participation in "a homosexual film."

This year, the Huelskamp campaign again seems eager to make same-sex marriage an issue in the Republican primary by sending an aide to ask Marshall about his views on the issue and film his response.

"I’ve been in over 41 communities now. Only one person has asked me about gay marriage and it happened to be one of the incumbent’s aides who was following me around with a tape recorder and a videotape at every place I went to," Marshall said. "I hope he wasn’t a paid aide. I hope somebody wasn’t paying him to just follow me."

Campaign finance reports show Huelskamp’s campaign had only one paid aide between April and June, former Kansas state Rep. Joshua Powell, R-Topeka, who was paid $4,358 by the campaign last quarter.

"He has different people at different spots," Marshall said of Huelskamp. "As I was walking out of the building, he stuck his recorder in my face — didn’t introduce himself or say who he was. To me, it’s just unprofessional. If someone had asked me that question at a press conference, I would have answered."

The use of trackers has become common in congressional races, and Rackaway said he isn’t surprised to hear they are being used more than a year before the 2016 primary.

"It’s smart politics to some extent," he said. "We’re in a political environment that is conducive to that as a strategy."

For Marshall and LaPolice, that environment will require them to strike a balance between the social conservatism they believe in and the anti-gay zealotry they bemoan. For Huelskamp, it requires only that he stay the course.

"Rest assured, I will continue to defend traditional marriage — and the hundreds of thousands of Kansans who vote to pass my Kansas Marriage Amendment," the congressman said in an email Wednesday.