Scott Lively 2011.jpg

Controversial pastor Scott Lively, seen here speaking to reporters outside federal court in Springfield in 2011, is planning a run for governor of Massachusetts.

(The Republican file | Mark M. Murray)

SPRINGFIELD - Whatever your views on Scott Lively's philosophies, it would be difficult to argue he's cowed by controversy.

The anti-homosexuality, pro-life evangelist, who is currently being sued by a Ugandan civil rights group for crimes against humanity, has announced he's running for governor. Some of his platforms are predictable, given his previous public statements: stop public funding for abortion; repeal gay marriage and help homosexuals "repent;" and protect Second Amendment rights.

Lively, a lawyer who founded Abiding Truth Ministries in California, also has a few unexpected platforms, including protecting honey bees, according to his campaign literature.

His campaign motto is "Qualified. Experienced. Electable." Publicly available campaign finance records show he has about $3,000 in his coffers, including a $2,000 loan to himself.

Lively said he does not believe being the target of a 2012 lawsuit in federal court leveled by Sexual Minorities Uganda in connection with his anti-homosexuality campaign in that country will hurt his chances as a candidate.

"If anything, I think it will help me when people learn how ridiculous the lawsuit is," he said during an interview.

The lawsuit accuses Lively of fanning anti-gay flames in the East African country during an address to parliament members in 2009, and credits Lively with government-backed acts of violence against gays as a result of his rhetoric. The case is pending in U.S. District Court in Springfield.

Lively is running as an independent in the "bluest of the blue states," he said. He said he will be a viable option for conservatives whom, he said, have been abandoned by Republicans and have no connection with Democrats, to whom he refers as "Communists."

"The people of Massachusetts need a candidate who can clearly and unapologetically articulate Biblical values without fear or compromise," his campaign literature states. "They need a candidate who will tell the simple truth that abortion is murder, and homosexuality is condemned by God (but that Jesus forgives those who repent)."

He cites the greatest threat to the citizenry as the "Godless ideology of Cultural Marxism, better known as the 'progressive movement.'"

The Shelburne Falls native is a graduate of Trinity Law School. The State Bar of California lists Lively as an inactive member "eligible to be active."

Lively, who lives on Sherman Street, once posted on his blog that he believed God blew up a Worthington Street strip club through a natural gas explosion last year.