Things haven’t been going so well lately for the religious right. Even its leaders admit blocking marriage equality is a lost cause, and young people increasingly equate being Christian with being a homophobe. The one bright spot has been the success of evangelicals in exporting homophobia, particularly to Uganda and Russia.
That spot doesn’t look so bright any more. A court in Uganda has struck down the country’s “jail the gay” law, in a slap in the face to Uganda President Yoweri Museveni and the many U.S. religious right leaders who saw his country as a laboratory for antigay oppression.
The ruling is has a good news-bad news flavor to it. The good news is that the law is gone, at least for now. The bad news is that the court struck it down on technical grounds–Parliament didn’t have a quorum when the bill passed–and did not address whether it’s okay to jail gay people in the first place.
“We’re very happy,” said Sylvia Tamale, a Ugandan law professor and gay rights advocate, told The New York Times. “But it’s unfortunate that the court did not deal with the substantive issues that violate our rights.”
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Not so happy: the Scott Livelys of the world, who have been making a living out of fanning antigay hatred in Uganda. Lively in particular has invested a lot of time and energy visiting the country, meeting with religious and political leaders, and feeding a steady stream of poison about the LGBT community. While he has denied supporting the original version of the Uganda law, which called for capital punishment, a Ugandan LGBT group is suing him in U.S. court for crimes against humanity for his role in enabling antigay violence to flourish in that country.
With the court ruling, Lively is discovering that what he thought of as fertile ground may not be quite so fertile after all. Uganda has paid a price for its hatred, with the loss of some U.S. aid, though not nearly a steep a price as it might have. Museveni may decide that he’s made his point and just let the decision stand so he can blame it all on the courts. He’s scheduled to meet with President Obama in Washington next week, so the ruling could be an easy way out of a situation that has clearly displeased Obama.
Left hanging: Lively. His credibility–if you can call it that–depends upon his ability to point to successes elsewhere. Now he has one less (big) success to point to. Unfortunately, the viciousness that he helped unleash won’t vanish anytime soon.
David
Scott Lively is a disgusting, vile, despicable maggot. If he were pushed under the wheels of an 18 wheeler and dragged 500 yards over rocks and glass, the agonizing pain he would feel still wouldn’t be enough to counter the hate he brings into the world. Lively believes in hell. He doesn’t realize that’s where he’s going.
DarkZephyr
@David: I agree, he is a nasty monster, a vile disgrace. Does anyone know what is going on with that Crimes against Humanity trial that he is facing? Has that even happened yet?
Stache99
I don’t know. Yes Lively is an evil monster. However, doesn’t say allot for people sitting there agreeing with his ridiculous claims and not laughing him out of the room.
Gays were behind everything from the Jewish and Rwandan Genocides to looking to steal your children away from you. Just complete utter stupidity on the Ugandans part.
Stache99
You want to talk about truthful. Who really was behind those genocides and what was their motivations. You answer that and you know who the real monsters are. For Lively and Uganda all you have to do is look in the mirror.
mcflyer54
Lively has gotten more and more desperate in his attempts to save his 6 figure paycheck. Donations to groups like NOM, AFA, FRC and others are reaching all time lows. Organizations are selling their mailing lists and talking of mergers, all signs that their mission is failing. It must be so disheartening to know that you are losing the battle yet in order to ensure receiving a paycheck you must continue lying to your contributors about victory being just around the corner. It is people like Lively who are driving others away from religion in droves.
mcflyer54
@Stache99: says even less about the fools that are still continuing to send him money. Guess it’s true, there’s a sucker born every minute.
Ron Jackson
It was and is always about the money
Kathukid
Lively’s passport should be revoked. His spread of hatred is killing gay people and he needs to be stopped.
mcflyer54
@Kathukid: Actually I think it might be better if Mr. Lively were to visit Liberia, Guinea and/or Sierra Leone where he could see first hand what real world problems (like the EBOLA virus) look like instead of conducting his foolish battle against marriage equality. And maybe if Scotty would visit one of these three countries he might have a better understanding of why he and his nonsensical anti-gay fight is no longer being taken seriously.
DarkZephyr
Where is BJ McFrisky to come defend Scott Lively as a sweet and innocent victim of liberal bias and agenda?
gaym50ish
The undercover videos from Uganda show Lively giving a five-hour lecture in which he told lawmakers that if they didn’t pass the legislation, gays would be coming from America to recruit their children. He suggested that if Uganda didn’t “actively discourage” same-sex relations, the nation’s children might soon be throwing orgies and performing oral sex on school buses. I’m not making this up.
Lively’s audience considered him to be the “expert” on homosexuality. “These people had never heard of anything called the gay agenda,” said Kapya Kaoma, an Anglican priest from Zambia. “But Lively told them that these predators were coming for their children. As Africans hearing it for the first time, they believed it was true — and they were burning with rage.”
gaym50ish
The Uganda legislation contained language that came straight from Exodus International propaganda. The wording of the law — that homosexuality is “not an innate and immutable characteristic,” that “it is preventable,” that homosexuals “develop this disorder based on experiences and environmental conditions,” are pitches that Exodus was using in its literature at the time, almost word-for-word.
And, while Lively was the principal architect of the legislation, he wasn’t the only one. Missouri preacher Lou Engle spoke at a huge rally in Uganda in May 2010 that focused on praying for the bill’s passage. Engle is the founder of IHOP — not the restaurant chain, but the International House of Prayer in Kansas City.
There is also evidence that Rick Warren was involved, although he denies it. After his public denials, anti-gay Ugandan Pastor Martin Ssempa published a letter to Warren, asking why he was changing his story. Ssempa wrote; “When you came to Uganda on Thursday, 27 March 2008, and expressed support to the Church of Uganda’s boycott of the pro-homosexual Church of England, you stated; ‘The Church of England is wrong, and I support the Church of Uganda.’ You are further remembered to say, ‘Homosexuality is not a natural way of life and thus [it’s] not a human right. We shall not tolerate this aspect at all’.”
All the people, including Obama, who are outraged that the Ugandans would pass such a repressive law, have not placed the blame where it belongs — on American evangelicals who are so frustrated with their failures in the U.S. that they exported their hatred to Africa, Russia and other places where their message found gullible audiences.
1EqualityUSA
Princeton’s Robert P. George is just as harmful, but in a quieter way. John Boehner appointed him to spread his special brand of religiosity across the globe. His NOM baby died, but he still propagates hate for us via U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom.
Weeping John Boehner said, “Dr. George is a respected and leading voice for religious freedom, and I’m pleased that he will bring his passion for this issue and legal expertise to the commission. No person should live in fear of persecution for worshipping as they see fit or be forced by government mandate to disavow or compromise their faith. He will be a great resource in the House’s effort to defend this fundamental human right.
“This commission has a unique opportunity to call attention to efforts that threaten religious liberty around the globe, and I was pleased that Congress reauthorized it last year. Lastly, I appreciate the leadership of Rep. Frank Wolf, the founder of the commission, who has been a leader in Congress to ensure that religious freedom is protected in the U.S. and is appropriately addressed in our foreign policy.”
– See more at: http://www.speaker.gov/press-release/speaker-boehner-appoints-dr-robert-p-george-us-commission-international-religious#sthash.lLpETtXk.dpuf
jmmartin
You fail to mention the outcome (?) of Lively’s lawsuit in which he is defendant in an attempt to hold him accountable for his defamation of gays. It passed the summary challenge in, I think, federal court.