Controversial pastor, Scott Lively
Pastor Scott Lively has declared victory in an LGBTI rights court case, despite a Boston court dismissing his appeal.
The controversial Springfield pastor and Republican gubernatorial candidate has been fighting this court case for over six years.
He was accused of conspiring to deprive LGBTI people in Uganda of their basic rights.
“This is it. This is the resounding, grand-slam, home-run victory I’ve been waiting for,” The Boston Globe reported Lively saying.
Six years on
A court case was brought against Lively in 2012 by rights group Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) in US courts, accusing Lively of conspiring to deny fundamental rights to LGBTI Ugandans.
Although the case was dismissed in 2017, the Judge Michael Ponsor ruled that Lively had committed crimes against humanity. Ponsor was also scathing of Lively’s beliefs, calling them ‘odious’ and ‘crackpot bigotry.’
‘[Lively’s] positions on LGBTI people range from the ludicrous to the abhorrent,’ Ponsor wrote. ‘The question before the court is not whether Defendant’s actions in aiding and abetting efforts to demonize, intimidate, and injure LGBTI people in Uganda constitute violations of international law. They do.’
In an unexpected twist, Lively appealed Ponsor’s ruling despite it being in his favor.
A possible win
Lively’s declaration of victory after the court dismissed his appeal might seem contradictory. But by doing so, the court did give Lively something that he wanted.
‘The district court did suggest in passing that Lively might have violated international law, but it did so without any meaningful analysis. This suggestion is plainly dictum,” Judge Bruce M. Selya wrote in a footnote of the ruling.
In effect, this means that Lively’s alleged breach of international law will not have any ‘binding effect in future litigation between the parties.’
Lively is a controversial figure who is known for his homophobic beliefs. He is the author of The Pink Swastika: Homosexuality in the Nazi Party, which states that the Nazi party was controlled by gay men who hid their sexual orientation.
