‘Vicious’ and ‘Extreme Animus Against LGBTI People’ Court Finds

A case alleging crimes against humanity against a Christian pastor has just been dropped by a federal district court, citing lack of jurisdiction. SMUG, Sexual Minorities Uganda, sued hate group head Scott Lively in his home state of Massachusetts, but ultimately Judge Michael A. PonsorÂ was forced to grant Lively’s request for summary judgment, closing the case that had been brought in 2012.Â

The Center for Constitutional Rights represented SMUG. Lively was represented by Liberty Counsel, which also infamously represented Kim Davis.

However, there is a win of sorts: the official federal court’s detailing of the “vicious” and “ludicrouslyÂ extreme animus against LGBTI people” Lively exhibited, and his “determination toÂ assist in persecuting them wherever they are, includingÂ Uganda,” as Judge Ponsor wrote.

The Court concluded that there is evidence of “the extremity” of Lively’s “homophobia and his determination to vilify,Â repress, and injure the LGBTI community, both generally andÂ in Uganda particularly.”

Lively heads the anti-gay hate groupÂ Abiding Truth Ministries, along withÂ Watchmen on the Walls. Many blame him for Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” bills, one of which became law for a short period of time. Lively, as the Court noted, traveled to Uganda and as has been documented, talked to political leaders in Uganda, lying to them about gay people:

Judge Ponsor also writes:

Defendant Scott Lively is an American citizen who has aidedÂ and abetted a vicious and frightening campaign of repressionÂ against LGBTI persons in Uganda. Defendant’s positions on LGBTI people range from the ludicrous to the abhorrent. He has asserted that “NazismÂ was in large part an outgrowth of the German homosexualÂ movement,” and that “[i]n seeking the roots of fascism weÂ once again find a high correlation between homosexuality andÂ a mode of thinking which we identify with Nazism.”

Lively, the judge writes, “hasÂ tried to make gay people scapegoats for practically all ofÂ humanity’s ills, finding ‘through various leads, a dark andÂ powerful homosexual presence in . . the SpanishÂ Inquisition, the .. French ‘Reign of Terror,’ the era of SouthÂ African apartheid, and the two centuries of AmericanÂ slavery.'”

He continues:

This crackpot bigotry could be brushed aside asÂ pathetic, except for the terrible harm it can cause. TheÂ record in this case demonstrates that Defendant has workedÂ with elements in Uganda who share some of his views to tryÂ to repress freedom of expression by LGBTI people in Uganda,Â deprive them of the protection of the law, and render theirÂ very existence illegal. He has, for example, proposedÂ twenty-year prison sentences for gay couples in Uganda whoÂ simply lead open, law-abiding lives.

Also:

Anyone reading this memorandum should make no mistake.Â The question before the court is not whether Defendant’sÂ actions in aiding and abetting efforts to demonize,Â intimidate, and injure LGBTI people in Uganda constituteÂ violations of international law. They do.

To comment on this article and other NCRM content, visit our Facebook page.

Thanks to Equality Case Files for publishing the Court ruling

Image by Tim Pierce via Wikimedia