BY JOSEPH KAYE — In the wake of the recent Supreme Court Prop 8 and DOMA decisions, the push for LGBTI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex) equality has been rapidly gaining ground, state by state. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for elsewhere in the world, and the problem is being exacerbated by radical right-wing evangelicals, essentially sore losers from the home front, who are seeking to cut their losses and bring the fight abroad.
One such sore loser is Scott Lively, an American evangelical pastor, President of the conservative evangelical Abiding Truth Ministries (which is classified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group), author of The Pink Swastika: Homosexuality in the Nazi Party and Seven Steps to Recruit-Proof Your Child, a lawyer, and currently a gubernatorial candidate in Massachusetts.
According to Lively, homosexuality is a disease—and an evil one, at that—which causes those afflicted to become aggressive and violent, to become immoral drug addicts, to spread disease, and to commit rape, murder, and even genocide (in The Pink Swastika, Lively contends that the Nazi party was controlled by a group of homosexuals who wanted to wipe out the Jewish population because their religion condemned homosexuality). Also among his inflammatory theories is the idea that homosexuality is contagious, and that LGBTI-rights organizations use the media, pornography and other “tools” in an attempt to actively degrade the moral fiber of society in order to “defeat the marriage-based society,” and that they focus on “recruiting” children from broken families.
When Lively’s efforts to pass legislation to battle this “menace” failed in America in the nineties, he brought his crusade to Uganda, where he met with religious and political leaders to push for public policy changes that would condemn homosexuality by law, with the end goal of complete eradication (he outlines his approach in a letter to the Russian people, here). Over the course of more than a decade, Lively made repeated visits to Uganda, making TV appearances, visiting universities, promoting his books and holding conferences where he indoctrinated the people of Uganda with his theories.
In 2009, Ugandan politicians introduced the “Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Bill” into Parliament (also known as the “Kill the Gays Bill”), which sought to strengthen pre-existing anti-homosexuality laws, dividing conduct into “aggravated homosexuality,” for which the penalty would be death, and the “offense of homosexuality,” for which the penalty would be life imprisonment. Under the proposed bill, harsh criminal penalties attach even to those who fail to report suspected homosexuals to the police. Following the introduction of this bill came a wave of homophobic vigilante “justice.” In one case, a Ugandan newspaper printed photos and contact information of hundreds of suspected homosexuals under the headline “Hang Them.” One person identified was David Kato, the founder of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), a Ugandan LGBTI-rights organization. Following publication of the article, Kato was beaten to death with a hammer.
Although the bill has since undergone revisions, one of which was the removal of the death penalty provision, it still effectively seeks to make Uganda an anti-gay police state. The bill was signed into law in February of this year. You can read the full text of the Anti-Homosexuality Act, here. In total, Lively has promoted similar anti-gay provisions in nine countries, including Russia and Latvia, pressing for bans on the “public advocacy of homosexuality.” Five of the countries, Russia being one, have passed or will pass these bans into law.
Fortunately, SMUG, represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights, is bringing the fight back to American soil, under the Alien Tort Statute, 28 U.S.C. 1350. The Alien Tort Statute provides federal jurisdiction for “any civil action by an alien, for a tort only, committed in violation of the law of nations or a treaty of the United States.” SMUG is bringing an action seeking civil damages under this statute against Scott Lively in his home state of Massachusetts for the crime of persecution, a crime against humanity which is defined in international law as “intentional and severe deprivation of fundamental rights contrary to international law by reason of the identity of the group or collectivity.” According to SMUG, Lively is liable for the persecution they face as a result of his actions over the past decade, which they characterize as participation in “a conspiracy to deprive them of their rights based on their sexual orientation and/or gender identity.” Lively responds, among other things, that he cannot be liable because his conduct was not criminal activity, but constitutionally-protected free speech.
On August 14, 2013, District Court Judge Michael Ponsor of the District of Massachusetts denied Lively’s motion to dismiss. In his opinion, Judge Ponsor was the first federal judge to recognize that “widespread, systematic persecution of LGBTI people constitutes a crime against humanity that unquestionably violates international norms.” Although Lively has petitioned for a writ of mandamus, discovery is currently ongoing, with the next pretrial hearing set for May, 6, 2015.
