PhoboQuotable - Scott Lively

"I am an American citizen [being targeted] over the persecution of homosexuals as they define it as a crime against humanity for speaking the truth of the Bible in a foreign country. Frankly, I don’t this is actionable. They make it clear that this suit is premised on speeches or writings. I spoke to members of parliament in their assembly hall, and advised them to focus on therapy and not punishment. What they’re suggesting here is that the duly elected legislative representatives of Uganda, the cream of Ugandan society, cannot be responsible for their own actions – that they adopted legislation because a white evangelical came and said something to them." - Hate group leader Scott Lively, who was yesterday sued in Massachusetts for inciting violence and hatred against Ugandan gays.

Warren Throckmorton responds:

If you read the suit, you will find that the other people who went to Uganda with Lively (Don Schmierer and Caleb Brundidge) are not being sued. Those guys put out some misinformation too and indicated their belief that homosexuality is a sin but did not tell the audience that gays animated the Jewish Holocaust and were probably behind the Rwandan genocide as well. Those men did not tell the Ugandan audience that the best way to overcome public sympathy for gays is to portray gays as recruiters and threats to children. Where does the Bible say that homosexuality is responsible for the Holocaust? For the Rwandan genocide? That gays are pedophiles? Are those Biblically based beliefs?

Box Turtle Bulletin's Jim Burroway points us to this interview Lively yesterday gave the Associated Press.

The complaint claims Lively issued a call in Uganda to fight against a "genocidal" and "pedophilic" gay movement, "which he likened to the Nazis and Rwandan murderers." The suit asks for a judgment that Lively's actions are illegal and violate international law and human rights. Lively said in his email that his words have been taken out of context. "Most of the ostensibly inflammatory comments attributed to me are from selectively edited video clips of my 2009 seminars in Kampala," he said. "I challenge the plaintiffs and their allies to publish the complete footage of the seminar on the Internet. They will not do this or their duplicity would be exposed."

Burroway notes:

It’s my understanding that the Kampala-based Family Life Network, who sponsored the 2009 [seminar], owns the copyright to the video. While it is legal to publish excerpts of the video under the “fair use” clauses of U.S. copyright law, it would be illegal for anyone who is not the copyright owner to post the entire video. Why hasn’t Stephen Langa’s Family Life Network published the video? Who knows. It’s theirs to do as they wish. But by not publishing it, they leave the door open for Lively to complain about “selectively edited clips.”