Scott Douglas Lively (born December 14, 1957) is an American activist, author, and attorney, who is the president of Abiding Truth Ministries, an anti-LGBT group based in Temecula, California. He was also a cofounder of Latvia-based group Watchmen on the Walls, state director of the California branch of the American Family Association, and a spokesman for the Oregon Citizens Alliance. He unsuccessfully attempted to be elected as the governor of Massachusetts in both 2014 and 2018.
Scott Lively | |
---|---|
Born | Scott Douglas Lively December 14, 1957 |
Nationality | American |
Occupation(s) | Author, attorney, pastor and activist |
Known for | Anti-gay activism |
Spouse | Anne Gardner |
Children | 4 |
Lively has promoted a hardline anti-gay interpretation of the Bible, been involved in the ex-gay movement, and been staunchly opposed to LGBT rights. In 1995, he co-authored The Pink Swastika, a book claiming gay people were prominent in the Nazi Party and were behind Nazi atrocities. He has called for the criminalization of "the public advocacy of homosexuality" as far back as 2007. Widely credited as an engineer of Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2014, he gave a series of talks to Ugandan lawmakers before the drafting of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill.
Background
editLively was born and raised in the town of Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, the oldest of six children. He became an alcoholic at the age of 12, an addiction he explains as a means to cope with an unhappy family situation. When Lively was 16, his father was committed to a mental institution, never to return. After graduating from high school in 1976, Lively spent the next 10 years "drifting around the United States, often homeless, sometimes sleeping under bridges and begging for spare change on street-corners."[1] Lively has stated in his autobiography: "I visited every one of the 48 continental states and logged over 25,000 miles by thumb, bus and train in my wandering. I didn't learn to drive a car until I was 25."[1]
Lively states that he became a born-again Christian on February 1, 1986, while staying at an alcohol treatment facility in Portland, Oregon, of which he has said, "It was a miracle which completely removed my desire for alcohol and drugs—something I had been unable to do for myself over several years of a desperate futile struggle to find some way to freedom."[1]
Political candidacies
editLively was an independent candidate for Governor of Massachusetts in the 2014 election.[2][3]
He ran again as a Republican candidate in the 2018 election.[4] At the Massachusetts Republican Party's state convention on April 28, 2018, he received support from nearly a third of the delegates present, exceeding the minimum requirement to appear on the ballot for the primary election on September 4, challenging fellow GOP incumbent Charlie Baker.[5][6] Lively lost the primary to Baker, with Lively receiving 36.1% support (98,214 out of 271,990 votes cast) and Baker the remaining 63.9%.[7]
Activities
editAnti-abortion activism
editIn 1988, Lively began campaigning against abortion in Portland. In 1989, he became a spokesman for the Oregon Citizens Alliance and worked on the anti-abortion ballot measure for the 1990 United States midterm elections.[1]
Anti-homosexuality activism in the United States
editIn 1991, Lively, together with Oregon Citizens Alliance, shifted focus from abortion to homosexuality citing the "rapid advance of that agenda in Oregon".[1] In 1991, Lively assaulted Catherine Stauffer, throwing her against a wall and dragging her across the floor of a Portland church, at an Oregon Citizens Alliance event she had been trying to film.[8][9] In 1992 he was found liable for damages in excess of $31,000.[10][11][12]
Lively is the president of Abiding Truth Ministries, a conservative Christian organization based in Temecula, California[13] which is listed by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-gay hate group.
Anti-homosexuality activism in Latvia and Russia
editIn 2006, Lively met with Latvian pastor Alexey Ledyaev to form an international anti-gay organization called Watchmen on the Walls, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has dubbed a hate group. Lively spent the summer of 2006 lecturing at Latvian universities and meeting with lawmakers, and preached at Ledyaev's New Generation church. During Lively's speaking engagements, he claimed that Western activists (backed by the European Union) were trying to infiltrate Latvian society and spread homosexuality, particularly to children.[14]
After his trip to Latvia, Lively then embarked on a fifty-city tour of Russia and other former Soviet republics, sponsored by Ledyaev's church, which had roughly 200 congregations and a regional TV channel. As Lively traveled from the Baltics to Siberia, he pressed officials to outlaw the "public advocacy of homosexuality" and urged officials from passing anti-discrimination laws. Eight of the nine countries he visited eventually weighed nationwide bans on "homosexual propaganda," and five (including Russia) either have bills pending or have since passed them into law. Lively takes partial credit for this development and calls Russia's gay propaganda ban his "proudest accomplishment."[14]
In 2007, Lively wrote a Letter to the Russian people in which he advocated criminalizing "the public advocacy of homosexuality".[15]
On August 30, 2013, in response to anti-LGBT legislation in Russia, Lively wrote an open letter addressed to Vladimir Putin saying, "You have set an example of moral leadership that has shamed the governments of Western Europe and North America and inspired the peoples of the world."[16]
Lively appeared on Russian television channel Russia-1's documentary titled Sodom in September 2014.[17]
Anti-homosexuality activism in Uganda
editIn March 2009, Lively, along with evangelical activists Don Schmierer and Caleb Lee Brundidge, arrived in Kampala to give a series of talks. "The theme of the event, according to Stephen Langa, its Ugandan organizer, was "'the gay agenda—that whole hidden and dark agenda'—and the threat homosexuals posed to Bible-based values and the traditional African family."[18] Lively gave a lengthy presentation to members of Uganda's parliament and cabinet, in which he laid out the argument that the nation's president and lawmakers would later use to justify Uganda's anti-gay crackdown; namely that Western agitators were trying to unravel Uganda's social fabric by spreading "the disease" of homosexuality to children.[14]
"[T]housands of Ugandans, including police officers, teachers and national politicians", reportedly attended the conference. Lively and his colleagues "discussed how to make gay people straight, how gay men often sodomized teenage boys, and how 'the gay movement is an evil institution' whose goal is 'to defeat the marriage-based society and replace it with a culture of sexual promiscuity.'"[18] He asserted that the 1994 Rwandan genocide "probably" involved gay men whom he referred to as "monsters."[14] Lively wrote days later that "someone had likened their campaign 'to a nuclear bomb against the gay agenda in Uganda.'"[18]
The talks inspired the development of the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Act, a private member's bill, proposed in the Ugandan parliament.[19][20][21][22] The bill, submitted in November 2009, called for the death penalty in some cases, and was harshly criticized in the international community.[19][23][24]
Lively expressed disappointment that "the legislation was so harsh."[18] "Lively says he recommended an approach rooted in rehabilitation, not punishment, and says an anti-gay bill being considered by the Ugandan Parliament goes too far",[25] even though he himself is not opposed to criminalizing homosexuality:[26]
[M]y advice to the parliament was to go the other direction from what they did to actually go on a proactive positive message promoting the family, promoting marriage, et cetera, through the schools, and that if they were going to continue to criminalize homosexuality that they should focus on rehabilitation and not punishment. And I was very disappointed when the law came out as it is written now with such incredibly harsh punishments.[25]
Lively has stated that he will endorse the bill if the death penalty is removed.[27]
In March 2010, Lively wrote:
In my view, homosexuality (indeed all sex outside of marriage) should be actively discouraged by society—but only as aggressively as necessary to prevent the mainstreaming of alternative sexual lifestyles, and with concern for the preservation of the liberties of those who desire to keep their personal lifestyles private. Marriage-based culture served humanity very favorably during the centuries when homosexuality was disapproved but tolerated as a sub-culture in America, England and elsewhere. It has obviously not fared well in the decades since the so-called sexual revolution kicked open Pandora's Box and unleashed both rampant heterosexual promiscuity and "Gay Pride" on the world.
In March of this year I had the privilege of addressing members of the Ugandan parliament in their national assembly hall when the anti-homosexuality law was just being considered. I urged them to pattern their bill on some American laws regarding alcoholism and drug abuse. I cited my own pre-Christian experience being arrested for drunk driving. I was given and chose the option of therapy which turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life. I also cited the policy in some U.S. jurisdictions regarding marijuana. Criminalization of the drug prevents its users from promoting it, and discourages non-users from starting, even while the law itself is very lightly enforced, if at all.[28]
Lawsuit by Sexual Minorities Uganda v Scott Lively
editOn March 14, 2012, the Center for Constitutional Rights filed a federal lawsuit against Lively on behalf of a gay rights group, Sexual Minorities Uganda, under the Alien Tort Statute. The lawsuit accused Lively of violating international law by conspiring to persecute the Ugandan LGBT community. This first-of-its-kind lawsuit alleged that Lively's actions over the previous decade, in collaboration with some Ugandan government officials and Ugandan religious leaders, were responsible for depriving LGBT Ugandans of their fundamental human rights based solely on their identity; the lawsuit alleged that this fell under the definition of persecution under international law and was a crime against humanity. Lively was to answer the allegations under the Crime Against Humanity of Persecution.[29] He has portrayed the Ugandan LGBT movement as "pedophilic" and "genocidal" and linked it "to the Nazis and Rwandan murderers".[26] Regarding the allegations of violating international law, he said, "That's about as ridiculous as it gets. I've never done anything in Uganda except preach the Gospel and speak my opinion about the homosexual issue."[30]
Pam Spees, a staff attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights, said, "This is not just based on his speech. It's based on his conduct. Belief is one thing, but actively trying to harm and deprive other people of their rights is the definition of persecution."[30][31][32]
On August 14, 2013, an American federal judge ruled that the case against Scott Lively, by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) on behalf of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), a Uganda-based coalition of LGBT rights and advocacy groups, could move forward. U.S. District Court Judge Michael Ponsor rejected the defendant's jurisdictional claims to dismiss the case, ruling that the plaintiffs were on solid ground under international and federal law and that First Amendment arguments were "premature".[33]
In December 2014, the First Circuit Court of Appeals rejected another petition to dismiss the case.[34][35]
In the summer of 2016 the case continued and a summary judgement hearing before Judge Ponsor was scheduled for September 14, 2016 in Springfield, Massachusetts.[36]
In June 2017, Ponsor dismissed the case due to lack of jurisdiction, citing the 2013 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co.[37][38]
Reactions
editLively is listed in the Southern Poverty Law Center's "Extremist Files", which describes him as "actively propagandizing against LGBT people since the early 1990s."[39] Abiding Truth Ministries has been listed by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-gay hate group.[40] Lively has, in turn, accused the SPLC of "hypocrisy and anti-Christian extremism".[41] The American Family Association, the California branch of which Lively has directed, is also regarded by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group.[42]
Susan Ryan-Vollmar, a communications consultant and a former newspaper editor, wrote on the day after the September 2018 primary that Gov. Baker's "unspoken strategy for dealing with Lively throughout the primary was to ignore him." Neither was there, she said, a significant "local outcry" against Lively's candidacy.[43]
Shift to anti-poverty activism
editAccording to a January 2011 profile, Lively "has not changed his view that gays are 'agents of America's moral decline,' but he has refocused his approach to fit his parishioners in Springfield, Massachusetts", and "is toning down his antigay truths and shifting his focus to helping the downtrodden."[44]
The Pink Swastika
editKevin E. Abrams and Lively co-authored The Pink Swastika (1995). Abrams and Lively state in the preface that "homosexuals [are] the true inventors of Nazism and the guiding force behind many Nazi atrocities."[45]
The premise of Lively and Abrams' book has been criticized as a "pernicious myth",[46] "utterly false",[47] "a flat-out lie",[48] and several historians have questioned Abrams and Lively's claims and selective use of research.[46][49][50]
Personal life
editLively is married to Anne Gardner and has four children.[51][52]
Political views
editIn 2020 Lively claimed Donald Trump lost the election because he is pro-LGBT.[53]
Publications
edit- The Pink Swastika (1996)[54]
- Seven Steps to Recruit-Proof Your Child: A Parent's Guide to Protecting Children from Homosexuality and the "Gay" Movement (1998)[55]
- Why and How to Defeat the "Gay" Movement (2000)[56]
- Redeeming the Rainbow: A Christian Response to the "Gay" Agenda (2009)[57]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e "A Brief Autobiography". scottlively.net. 12 April 2012. Archived from the original on 2014-11-01. Retrieved 2014-11-08.
- ^ Barry, Stephanie (December 15, 2013). "Anti-gay minister Scott Lively, of Springfield, running for governor". The Republican. Springfield, Massachusetts: Advance Publications. Archived from the original on December 17, 2013. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
- ^ 07/17/2014 Radio interview with Jim Braude and Margery Eagan
- ^ "Homepage". Dr. Scott Lively for Governor of Massachusetts. Archived from the original on May 13, 2018. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
- ^ Le Miere, Jason (May 9, 2018). "Republican who claims Holocaust was orchestrated by gay Nazis wins enough support for Massachusetts governor primary". Newsweek. New York City: IBT Media. Archived from the original on May 11, 2018. Retrieved May 11, 2018.
- ^ Salsberg, Bob (May 13, 2018). "Unlikely challenger to Massachusetts GOP governor emerges". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois: Tribune Media Services. Associated Press. Archived from the original on May 13, 2018.
- ^ "Massachusetts Primary Election Results". The New York Times. New York City. September 6, 2018. Archived from the original on September 8, 2018. Retrieved September 8, 2018.
- ^ "Alliance spokesman guilty of using unreasonable force". The Bulletin. October 7, 1992. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
- ^ Dunn, Katia (October 5, 2000). "Honor Thy Debts: Prying Open the OCA's Wallet". The Portland Mercury. Portland, Oregon: Index Publishing. Archived from the original on October 27, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2009.
- ^ "Alliance spokesman guilty of using unreasonable force". The Bulletin. Bend, Oregon: EO Media Group. October 6, 1992. Retrieved December 1, 2009.[permanent dead link ]
- ^ Oregon Judicial Department Appellate Court Opinions - Catherine Stauffer v. Oregon Citizen's Alliance
- ^ Scott Lively profile Archived 2015-05-08 at the Wayback Machine, splcenter.org; accessed December 14, 2015.
- ^ "Scott Lively biodata". The Pro-Family Resource Center of Abiding Truth Ministries. Abiding Truth Ministries. 2002–2008. Archived from the original on July 24, 2012. Retrieved November 13, 2008.
- ^ a b c d "Meet the American Pastor Behind Uganda's Anti-Gay Crackdown". Mother Jones. March 10, 2014. Archived from the original on 2018-06-22. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
- ^ McEwen, Alvin (March 13, 2010). "Scott Lively Advocated 'Criminalizing Homosexuality' as Far Back as 2007". The Huffington Post. New York City: Huffington Post Media Group. Archived from the original on March 23, 2010. Retrieved September 12, 2010.
- ^ "AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN". scottlively.net. 30 August 2013. Archived from the original on 2016-09-09. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
- ^ Levintova, Hannah (October 2014). "This anti-gay candidate's message is bigger in Moscow than Massachusetts". Mother Jones. San Francisco, California: The Foundation for National Progress. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
- ^ a b c d Gettleman, Jeffrey (January 3, 2010). "Americans' Role Seen in Uganda Anti-Gay Push". The New York Times. p. A1. Archived from the original on 2010-02-09. Retrieved 2010-02-09.
- ^ a b Alsop, Zoe (December 10, 2009). "Uganda's Anti-Gay Bill: Inspired by the U.S." Time. New York City: Meredith Corporation. Archived from the original on March 24, 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
The bill has an American genesis of sorts, inspired to a large extent by the visits of U.S. evangelicals who are involved with a movement that promotes Christianity's role in getting homosexuals to become "ex-gays" through prayer and faith. Ugandan supporters of the bill appear to be particularly impressed by the ideas of Scott Lively, a California conservative preacher who has written a book, The Pink Swastika, about what he calls the links between Nazism and a gay agenda for world domination, which, by itself, would have raised the anti-colonial sensitivities of Ugandan society.
- ^ "Judge allows landmark case against anti-gay religious leader to proceed". LGBTQ Nation. 14 August 2013. Archived from the original on August 17, 2013. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
- ^ Lavers, Michael K. (July 31, 2014). "State Dept. official: Anti-gay laws inconsistent with African values". Washington Blade. Archived from the original on August 14, 2014. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
- ^ "Anti-Gay 'Revolution' On The Way, Because People Are Fed Up With 'Homosexual Agenda', Scott Lively Claims". Huffington Post. New York City. March 19, 2014. Archived from the original on January 25, 2017. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
- ^ "Helping Hand For Homophobia From U.S. Christians". Inter Press Service. November 11, 2009. Archived from the original on April 2, 2012. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
- ^ Rice, Xan (29 November 2009). "Uganda considers death sentence for gay sex in bill before parliament". The Guardian. London, England. Archived from the original on September 8, 2013. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
- ^ a b Martin, Michel (December 18, 2009). "U.S. Evangelical Leaders Blamed For Uganda Anti-Gay Sentiment". NPR. Archived from the original on March 23, 2010. Retrieved March 1, 2010.
- ^ a b Smith, David (March 15, 2012). "Ugandan group sues anti-gay pastor in US". The Guardian. London, England. Archived from the original on July 12, 2017. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
- ^ "Anti-Homosexual Bill In Uganda Causes Global Uproar". ABC News. New York City: American Broadcasting Company. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
- ^ "The Death Penalty in Uganda". Abiding Truth Ministries. March 11, 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
- ^ "First Amended Complaint Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(1)(B) for Crime Against Humanity of Persecution" (PDF). Center for Constitutional Rights. July 13, 2012. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 1, 2014. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
- ^ a b Goodstein, Laurie (March 14, 2012). "Ugandan Gay Rights Group Sues U.S. Evangelist". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on April 26, 2017. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
- ^ Halper, Katie (March 15, 2012). "Ugandan LGBTQ org sues U.S. evangelist for inciting persecution". Feministing. Archived from the original on May 21, 2012. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
- ^ Weiss, Debra Cassens (March 15, 2012). "Suit Alleges Evangelist Violated International Law by Waging an Anti-Gay Campaign in Uganda". ABA Journal. Washington, D.C.: American Bar Association. Archived from the original on March 21, 2014. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
- ^ Barry, Stephanie (August 19, 2013). "Crimes against humanity lawsuit against anti-gay evangelist Pastor Scott Lively, of Springfield, advances in federal court". The Republican/MassLive.com. Springfield, Massachusetts: Advance Publications. Archived from the original on August 22, 2013. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
- ^ Berry, Conor (December 5, 2014). "Anti-gay activist Scott Lively's crimes-against-humanity case to proceed after federal court denies his petition to dismiss lawsuit". MassLive. Springfield, Massachusetts: Advance Publications. Archived from the original on December 9, 2014. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
- ^ "Scott Lively says being gay is "worse than mass murder" as trial moves forward". Gay Star News. December 8, 2014. Archived from the original on December 13, 2014. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
- ^ "Sexual Minorities Uganda v. Scott Lively". Centre for constitutional rights. Archived from the original on August 9, 2016. Retrieved August 11, 2016.
- ^ Johnson, Patrick (June 6, 2017). "Judge dismisses 'crimes against humanity' suit against anti-gay Springfield pastor Scott Lively". MassLive. Springfield, Massachusetts: Advance Publications. Archived from the original on June 7, 2017. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
- ^ "Scathing ruling dismisses lawsuit against anti-LGBT hate group leader Scott Lively on narrow jurisdictional ground". Southern Poverty Law Center. June 7, 2017. Archived from the original on June 7, 2017. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
- ^ "Scott Lively". Archived from the original on 2018-04-27. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
- ^ Waddington, Lynda (November 23, 2010). "Groups that Helped Oust Iowa Judges Earn 'Hate Group' Designation; SPLC Adds American Family Association, Family Research Council to List". Iowa Independent. Archived from the original on December 2, 2010. Retrieved 25 November 2010.
- ^ HatewatchWatch Archived 2011-07-08 at the Wayback Machine. Blogspot.
- ^ "Extremist Files: Scott Lively". Southern Poverty Law Center. Archived from the original on 2017-03-12. Retrieved May 12, 2017.
- ^ Ryan-Vollmar, Susan (5 September 2018). "Lively Lost, But His Followers Threaten Massachusetts Liberalism". WGBH. Archived from the original on 2018-09-08. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
- ^ Levenson, Michael (January 5, 2011). "Shift in mission for religious firebrand". Boston.com. Boston, Massachusetts: Boston Globe Media Partners. pp. 1–3. Archived from the original on October 4, 2015. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
- ^ Lively, Scott; Abrams, Kevin E. (2010). "Preface". The Pink Swastika: Homosexuality in the Nazi Party (4th ed.). Carbondale, Illinois: Veritas Aeterna. ISBN 978-0-9647609-0-5. Archived from the original on February 8, 2010.
- ^ a b Jensen, Erik N. (January–April 2002). "The Pink Triangle and Political Consciousness: Gays, Lesbians, and the Memory of Nazi Persecution". Journal of the History of Sexuality. 11 (1/2). Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press: 319–49. doi:10.1353/sex.2002.0008. S2CID 142580540.
- ^ Moser, Bob (Spring 2005). "Making Myths". Intelligence Report (117). Southern Poverty Law Center. Archived from the original on October 26, 2014. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
- ^ Zimmerman, Jonathan (August 27, 2011). "Did Nazis persecute gays, or were they gay themselves?". The Bakersfield Californian/History News Service. Archived from the original on May 27, 2012. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
- ^ Seifert, Dorthe (Fall 2003). "Between Silence and License: The Representation of the National Socialist Persecution of Homosexuality in Anglo-American Fiction and Film". History & Memory. 15 (2). Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press: 94–129. doi:10.2979/HIS.2003.15.2.94. S2CID 159598928.
- ^ "The Other Side of the Pink Triangle: Still a Pink Triangle". October 24, 1994. Archived from the original on October 12, 2008. Retrieved November 8, 2008.
- ^ "Lively's Lies: A Profile of Scott Lively - Political Research Associates". www.politicalresearch.org. Archived from the original on June 22, 2018. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
- ^ Blake, Mariah (March 10, 2014). "Meet the American pastor behind Uganda's anti-gay crackdown". Mother Jones. San Francisco, California: The Foundation for National Progress. Archived from the original on May 10, 2018. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
- ^ Villarreal, Daniel (26 January 2021). "Pastor Scott Lively Claims God Allowed Trump to Lose Election for Being Pro-LGBT". Newsweek.com. Newsweek. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
- ^ Lively, Scott; Abrams, Kevin E. (1996). The Pink Swastika. Founders Publishing Corporation. ISBN 0-9647609-1-6.[permanent dead link ]
- ^ Lively, Scott (1998). Seven Steps to Recruit-Proof Your Child. Founders Publishing Corporation. ISBN 0-9647609-5-9. Archived from the original on 2013-05-17. Retrieved 2012-10-28.
- ^ Lively, Scott (2000). Why and How to Defeat the "Gay" Movement. Abiding Truth Ministries. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
- ^ Redeeming The Rainbow. Defend The Family; accessed December 14, 2015.