US pastor who exported anti-gay laws running for Governor of Massachusetts
Scott Lively has claimed that God removed Donald Trump from office because he was too accepting of homosexuality.
A US pastor who attempted to export anti-gay laws to Africa is competing in the Republican primary for Governor of Massachusetts.
Massachusetts preacher Scott Lively has links to anti-LGBT movements across the world, particularly in deprived countries. Human rights watchdogs allege his work is key to a wave of campaigns for anti-gay laws around the world.
Lively is reviled by LGBT activists for his work in pushing laws criminalising homosexuality, including Uganda’s now-defunct 2014 Anti-Homosexuality Act, while he also cheered on anti-gay legislation in Russia.
The pastor has now announced a bid for Governor of Massachusetts, as a primary challenger to incumbent Republican Governor Charlie Baker.
Lively has vowed to bring “a strong dose of true Republican values” to the race.
Speaking to Left-Right Radio with Chuck Morse, Lively insisted: “I’ve consulted on human rights around the world, and I can tell you there is no human right based in sodomy.”
He said: “The two things that I would do in Massachusetts… number one is what I call the First Amendment supremacy clause, this is something I drafted that says that whenever there is a conflict between regulations based on sexual orientation and the First Amendment, the First Amendment has to prevail.
“You cannot have newly invented laws and policies superseding the most fundamental right of Americans.
“The second is what I call the separation of LGBT and state. To the extent that religion is restricted in government, so should the LGBT political movement because it is basically the counter to it.
“They’re opposite political forces and movements competing for influence in society, and government should get its thumb off the scale when it comes to that.
“Let’s get back to like we had it in the ’40s and ’50s.”
Lively previously ran for governor as an independent candidate in 2014, picking up 0.9 percent of the vote.
A US District Court judge previously described Lively as a “crackpot” in an official judgment.
Judge Michael A Ponsor made the comments while ruling on a ‘crimes against humanity’ lawsuit brought against Lively over his role in securing Uganda’s 2014 Anti-Homosexuality Act.
While the judge ruled that the case could not proceed because the actions did not take place on US soil, he took time to describe Lively as a “crackpot bigot” who has caused “immense harm” around the world.
He wrote: “Anyone reading this memorandum should make no mistake.
“The question before the court is not whether Defendant’s actions in aiding and abetting efforts to demonise, intimidate, and injure LGBTI people in Uganda constitute violations of international law. They do.
“The much narrower and more technical question posed by Defendant’s motion is whether the limited actions taken by Defendant on American soil in pursuit of his odious campaign are sufficient to give this court jurisdiction over Plaintiff’s claims. Since they are not sufficient, summary judgment is appropriate for this, and only this, reason.”
He wrote: “Discovery confirmed the nature of Defendant’s, on the one hand, vicious and, on the other hand, ludicrously extreme animus against LGBTI people and his determination to assist in persecuting them wherever they are, including Uganda.
“The evidence of record demonstrates that Defendant aided and abetted efforts (1) to restrict freedom of expression by members of the LBGTI community in Uganda, (2) to suppress their civil rights, and (3) to make the very existence of LGBTI people in Uganda a crime.
“The record also confirms that these efforts to intimidate and injure the LGBTI community in Uganda were, unfortunately, to some extent successful.
“This crackpot bigotry could be brushed aside as pathetic, except for the terrible harm it can cause. The record in this case demonstrates that Defendant has worked with elements in Uganda who share some of his views to try to repress freedom of expression by LGBTI people in Uganda, deprive them of the protection of the law, and render their very existence illegal.
“He has, for example, proposed twenty-year prison sentences for gay couples in Uganda who simply lead open, law-abiding lives.”
The GOP primary will take place on September 4 ahead of the 2018 Massachusetts gubernatorial election on November 6.
