No
one has done more to orchestrate this situation than Scott Lively. Since 2002, he has worked
systematically to strip away human rights protections from LGBT people in
Uganda and elsewhere around the world, to silence them and make it impossible
for them to organize and defend their rights. While he peddles the usual,
age-old lie that LGBT
people are pedophiles in order to deliberately
provoke the rage that feeds the growing repression and violence, he combines
that myth with a new twist, that gays were
also responsible for the Holocaust and that Hitler's Germany is what can happen when a gay movement
grows unchecked. - Vince Warren, Washington Post.
WHEN YOU COME DOWN TO IT, IT'S STILL KILL A QUEER FOR CHRIST
The career of Scott Lively is based upon two things: a lousy, dysfunctional
childhood and the most homophobic book ever written. Homosexuality was a
scapegoat for one and a sadistic boon for the other. Mistreated by a mentally
ill father, Lively descended into alcohol at an early age and was basically
homeless by the time he was 19. After having "found Jesus Christ" he
went on to become the president of the California Chapter of the American
Family Association and to author,with Holocaust revisionist Kevin Abram, The
Pink Swastika.
Homosexuals Founded The Nazi Party and Were Enlisted For Their Extreme
Cruelty.
So says the Pink Swastika. It also posited that Hitler was gay* and that
homosexuals were NOT persecuted and exterminated in the Holocaust. The Pink
Triangle barely, if ever, existed. Needless to say, the book (some of it based
upon an earlier work in 1945 - Germany's National Vice) was roundly criticized
by many historians as a "pernicious myth" and a "flat-out
lie". Needless to say, it embraced by Christian Right churches and
organizations as ... the gospel truth.
"I know more about this subject than anyone else in the world."
Lively:
"While we cannot say that homosexuals caused the Holocaust,
we must not ignore their central role in Nazism," write Lively and Abrams.
"To the myth of the 'pink triangle' -- the notion that all homosexuals in
Nazi Germany were persecuted -- we must respond with the reality of the 'pink
swastika.'"
Since
it's publication, Lively has become one of the world's leading holocaust
revisionists. and has billed
himself as an "expert" in homosexuality and its causes, traveling to
ill-educated and third world countries among them Latvia, Russia, Moldova and
Uganda. He founded Latvia's Watchmen on the Walls, a rabidly anti-gay group.
One incident is telling:
When in Latvia, Lively described the killing of an alleged gay man by members of Watchmen
on the Walls, (in Sacramento, CA) his Latvian audience cheered. Lively
decried the cheering and applause with a wimpy "now, now."
Kampala
In 2009, Lively and a group of evangelical Christians held a widely-attended
conference focusing on the evils of homosexuality, the "gay agenda"
and how homosexuality must be criminalized in order to stop its evil rise:
"when [homosexuals] see a child that's
from a broken home, it's like they have a flashing neon sign over their head."
Uganda's
First Lady, Madame Mouseveni, Minister David Bahati, clergy and legislators
became incensed that anything like homosexuality could ever take over their
nation. One month later, the infamous "Kill the Gays" bill was born.
Uganda On Trial
While Human Rights organizations, activists and the United Nations were aghast
and the U.S. Congress mentioned sanctions against Uganda, Christian Right
groups were quick to come to its defense with the reasoning that no entity had
a right to tell Uganda how to control their societal affairs - especially if it
was based upon (the Christian) religion. Nationally known Pastor Rick warren
was silent on the affair and was pressured for months to speak out against the
bill.
In the meantime, gays and lesbians were persecuted, people started going
house-to-house trying to "expose homosexuals" (part of the proposed
bill calls for sentences up to three years for not reporting homosexual
activity), a prominent gay-friendly bishop's life was threatened and David
Kato, one of Uganda's leading activists, was murdered. It is these actions for
which Lively is being sued by Sexual Minorities of Uganda (SMUG) under the the
U.S.'s Alien Torte Statute. Lively's defense will be handled by Liberty
Counsel, Jerry Falwell's legal arm from Liberty University.
@theCCR will be live tweeting the event using
the hashtag #StoptheHate
Allies in Hate, Allies in Death
Cloaked under "free speech" and "freedom of religion",
Lively's allies have been promoting his "ministry" (Abiding Truth
Ministries) and The Pink Swastika for years. Chief among them are Bryan Fischer
of the American Family Association, labeled a hate group by the SPLC for its
promotion of lies against the LGBT community.** Also in line for Lively's
admiration society is Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council and another
"Kill the Gays" instigator, "prophet" Lou Engle. Reactions
to the proceedings from these and other anti-gay leaders should be quite
interesting.
The Humor In It All
If anyone can find humor in Lively's machinations and assertions, it is The
Daily Show's Jon Stewart. Lively agreed to be interviewed for the program and
its hilarious segment. Indeed, the stupidity of ANYONE such as Lively
acquiescing to a feature on The Daily Show is monumental...as well as
hilarious.
At the same time, however, the stupidity of Lively, his assertions, his
dealings with Uganda have been serious - deadly serious.
There will be no laughter during the the day's proceedings - only shock at the
results of Lively's deadly proselytizing.
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes, Political Humor & Satire Blog, The Daily Show on Facebook
*Quite an unusual take since Hitler "authorized an edict in 1941 prescribing the
death penalty--yes, the death penalty--for SS and police members found guilty of
gay activity." Also:
In 1942, the death penalty was instituted for homosexuality. Offenders in the
German military were routinely shot. "That wasn't a punishment,"
Himmler explained, "but simply the extinguishing of abnormal life. It had
to be got rid of, just as we pull out weeds, throw them on a heap, and burn
them."
** Fischer himself has been a one-man hate group against gays, Native Americans
and, of course, Muslims.