Extreme anti-gay Christian pastor Scott Lively, the American architect of Uganda’s ‘kill the gays’ legislation, will stand trial for crimes against humanity.

Late last week the First Circuit Court of Appeals denied Lively’s petition to have the crimes against humanity lawsuit against him dropped.

Lively is accused of violating international law by inciting the persecution of LGBT individuals in Uganda.

In 2009 a group of American evangelists led by Lively conducted national rallies, seminars and workshops demonizing and dehumanizing homosexuals. The seminars made false and inflammatory claims about gay men sodomizing teenage boys and how “the gay movement is an evil institution” intended to “defeat the marriage-based society.”

Lively is accused of partnering with the key political and religious leaders of the anti-gay campaign in Uganda, advising anti-gay parliamentarians on legislation targeting the LGBT community and leading conferences about the supposed threats posed by the gay movement.

The Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009 (also know as the “Kill the Gays Bill”) was introduced in the Ugandan parliament a month after Lively held meetings and gave a series of lectures asserting that the gay movement in Uganda was “evil” and organized with the purpose of “homosexualizing” children.

Lively has also worked closely with anti-gay leaders and politicians in Russia, Latvia and Moldova, advising them on legislation intended to criminalize any form of LGBT advocacy.

The lawsuit brought against Scott Lively of Massachusetts was filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) on behalf of Sexual Minorities of Uganda (SMUG) in 2012. The lawsuit contends Lively was a major force behind Uganda’s infamous “kill the gays bill,” a bill that would imprison or even execute members of the gay and lesbian community.

Lively admits to meeting with lawmakers to discuss the draconian “kill the gays legislation.” However, Lively denies that he conspired with government officials or religious leaders in Uganda to craft specifics of the legislation.

In spite of the pending suit and near universal condemnation of his actions, Lively is not backing down from his extreme homophobia. Right Wing Watch reports that earlier this week Lively described homosexuality as an “infection.”

In addition, Lively told Christian ‘news ministry’ TruNews earlier this week that he believes that homosexuality is worse than murder and the worst possible sin a person can commit.

Scott Lively is a leading figure in the global conservative Christian movement against LGBT people. Lively is the president of Abiding Truth Ministries, and author of The Pink Swastika, an ugly, anti-gay polemic that draws a false connection between homosexuality and the rise of Nazi Germany.

(H/T Death and Taxes, Towel Road; portions of this article were previously published here)