“…but if he goes onto the street and starts propagandizing it, then of course he will be held accountable”

By Cathy Kristofferson, August 1, 2013

A series of tweets from @r_sport, who bills themselves as the “Official host news agency for @Sochi2014″, alerted me to renewed confirmation that Sochi Olympic athletes will NOT in fact be exempt from Russia’s “anti-gay propaganda” laws.

The story quotes the Russian Sports Minister’s confirmation:

“Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko warned Thursday that athletes and visitors to the Sochi Olympics will be subject to the country’s laws against promoting homosexuality, contradicting a statement from the International Olympic Committee that the government had promised they would be exempt.

No one is forbidding an athlete with non-traditional sexual orientation from coming to Sochi, but if he goes onto the street and starts propagandizing it, then of course he will be held accountable.”

Photo courtesy r-sport

So just what is the definition of “propagandizing”. The Russian law is broad and vague. It leaves ‘spreading information’ open to everyone’s interpretation.  Pro-gay statements, such as proudly waving rainbow flags and wearing pins, certainly qualify.

Will New Zealand’s proudly out speed skater Blake Skjellerup be ‘held accountable’? Will he be arrested, detained for 15 days and then deported just as the Dutch filmmakers? Will he also be banned from returning for 3 years. And would he even want to return!

Skjellerup has stated in press, most recently in an interview with CBC, that he will be wearing his IOC-approved 2010 Olympic rainbow pin.  Will it be seen as illegally “propagandizing” this time around?  He says he will wear it, but he did express concern:

“I would like to think that because the IOC approved it in a previous Olympic, it’s not something that is going to get me into trouble whether I’m in or out of the village during Sochi.”

There seems to be plenty of reason for concern for everyone still considering attending the Olympic Games in Sochi.  It seems more Russian Ministers are declaring the law will be enforced than those whispering to the International Olympic Committee that “athletes and spectators” will be exempt.

What will it take to push the IOC into bold action?

Related articles:-

• 10 Actions you can take against Russia | shocking video of Russian Gay Teen torture
• Protests and arrests as Russia’s State Duma passes anti-gay promotion bill unanimously
• Call to Boycott Olympics in homophobic Russia reminds of Apartheid South Africa
• Violent Arrests at pro-Gay Rally in Russia
• Renewed calls for Olympic boycott as gay arrests continue in Russia

“Stephen Fry has called on athletes … to make a symbol at the Games to display their objection to new anti-gay laws.”

By Cathy Kristofferson, August 10, 2013

Photo courtesy MissCairo Mascara

Today’s “UK Supports LGBT Russia” protest in London against Russia’s anti-gay laws and rising homophobia drew an early estimate of 1,100 attending the over 3 hour event.  The protest, originally set for the Russian embassy, was moved earlier in the week to handle the expected capacity as demand increased.  London’s Whitehall, the center of British government, became the protest site conveniently located around the corner from Prime Minister David Cameron’s residence at 10 Downing Street.

Photo courtesy Gaydar – @stephenfry at the London protests against #LGBT human rights abuses in #Russia

In pure British fashion, the protests were described as “dignified and unified” and “overly gentlemanly” by Twitter and Facebook attendees.

Protest signs had slogans such as “Love Russia, Hate Homophobia”, “Equal rights for LGBT Russians. NOW” and “Love is a Human Right.”

The protest attracted well known out gay activists like Stephen Fry and Peter Tatchell.  Tachell had written on his website ”Putin is the ‘Czar of Homophobia’,” before heading down to the protest.

The BBC is reporting that at the protest Fry called on athletes at Sochi to show solidarity with Russian LGBTs:

“Stephen Fry has called on athletes competing at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia to make a symbol at the Games to display their objection to new anti-gay laws.

The broadcaster accepted that it was unlikely that the Games would be boycotted or moved from Russia, but hoped athlete protests would show solidarity with campaigners and “take the sweetness of victory out of Putin’s mouth”.”

The protest has now ended.  We will update the pics and vidoes below as they come in.

PUBLISHERS NOTE:

Melanie Nathan Last week a handful of us in San Francisco managed to get a press conference on the streets of San Francisco, outside City Hall. we had the local evening TV News, Press in Australia, China and USA all responde with articles about the issue of vodka boycotts. And we did it with a few of us – no budget- pro bono- hours of our own time- sending each other emails over the period of a few days. WHERE are the Big talkers and the big moneymakers? The GWM’s who take over national TV for their few seconds of pretending they are leaders? Or does their leadership only apply to US marriage centric issues. HRC should be organizing a massive street protest in DC at Consuls, with the 83 REPS who signed the Bipartisan letter there! HRC should contact the Task Force and Immigration equality and they should put something together. WAKE UP America!!!!

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Pics from the protest:

Photo courtesy Nick Crook

Photo courtesy ticktockaway

Photo courtesy Paul McMichael

“The stewards are on site, fully briefed and ready for YOU! — at 10 Downing Street.” Courtesy Adam Betteridge

Photo courtesy Nick Tcherniak

Photo courtesy Ian Johns

Photo courtesy Oggy Oggy Oggy

Photo courtesy David Salazar Gorosarri

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More Russia OBLOGDEE coverage here:

Scott Lively incites war against the homosexualization of states

by Cathy Kristofferson on July 2, 2013 in Law, LGBT, NEWS, RELIGION, SCOTUS, U.S.A.

Evangelical homophobia spread in Uganda same as done in Russia and worldwide

By Cathy Kristofferson, August 14, 2013

We are rejoicing today in Massachusetts. The Springfield Federal Court has ruled favorably, denying the motion to dismiss, in the Crimes Against Humanity case brought against the Commonwealth’s most anti-gay resident Scott Lively. The Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) v. Lively case will go forward. The discovery phase will commence.

Those of us in The Stop The Hate and Homophobia Coalition Springfield are jumping for joy along with The Center for Constitutional Rights who brought the case on behalf of SMUG. The coalition has been raising awareness and fighting Lively in the U.S. and worldwide not only in Uganda, but in places like Russia, Moldova, and Lithuania,

OBLOGDEE will cover the decision in more depth once we have fully digested the 79 page decision. For now here is the Center for Constitutional Rights’ press release:

Historic Ruling Confirms LGBTI Rights as Internationally Recognized

August 14, 2013, Springfield, MA – Today, in a first-of-its kind case brought by a Ugandan LGBTI advocacy organization against a prominent U.S. anti-gay extremist, a federal judge ruled that persecution on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is a crime against humanity and that the fundamental human rights of LGBTI people are protected under international law. The ruling means that the case brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) on behalf of Sexual Minorities of Uganda (SMUG), a Uganda-based coalition of LGBTI rights and advocacy groups, can move forward over defendant Scott Lively’s request to dismiss the lawsuit.

“Widespread, systematic persecution of LGBTI people constitutes a crime against humanity that unquestionably violates international norms,” said Judge Michael Ponsor. “The history and current existence of discrimination against LGBTI people is precisely what qualifies them as a distinct targeted group eligible for protection under international law. The fact that a group continues to be vulnerable to widespread, systematic persecution in some parts of the world simply cannot shield one who commits a crime against humanity from liability.”

The lawsuit alleges that Lively’s actions over the past decade, in collaboration with key Ugandan government officials and religious leaders, are responsible for depriving LGBTI Ugandans of their fundamental human rights based solely on their identity, which is the definition of persecution under international law and is deemed a crime against humanity. This effort bore fruit most notably in the introduction of the notorious Anti-Homosexuality Bill (aka the Kill the Gays bill), which Lively helped engineer.

Lively has also been active in countries like Russia where a new law criminalizing gay rights advocacy was recently passed. In 2007, Lively toured 50 cities in Russia recommending some of the measures that are now law.

“Today’s ruling is a significant victory for human rights everywhere but most especially for LGBTI Ugandans who are seeking accountability from those orchestrating our persecution,” said Frank Mugisha, the director of SMUG.

Said CCR Attorney Pam Spees, “We are gratified that the court recognized the persecution and the gravity of the danger faced by our clients as a result of Scott Lively’s actions. Lively’s single-minded campaign has worked to criminalize their very existence, strip away their fundamental rights and threaten their physical safety.”

U.S. law allows foreign citizens to sue for violations of international law in U.S. federal courts under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS). The case, Sexual Minorities Uganda v. Lively, was originally filed in federal court in Springfield, MA, in March 2012. Today’s ruling ishere. For more information, visit CCR’s case page

The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South, CCR is a non-profit legal and educational organization committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change.

Related articles:-

• U.S. Christian Extremist Sees Russia’s New Homophobic Laws as Model  (oblogdeeoblogda.me)
• Anti-gay Pastor Scott Lively radio face off provides insight into lies (oblogdeeoblogda.me)
• Gay-hating Pastor Scott Lively finds new foothold in Oklahoma  (oblogdeeoblogda.me)
• Large crowd of U.S. Gay Activists at MA Federal Court to Support Ugandan Gays against Pastor Scott Lively (oblogdeeoblogda.me)
• Why we must attend the SMUG v. Scott Lively Lawsuit in Court January 7, 2013 (oblogdeeoblogda.me)

“…widespread, systematic persecution of individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity constitutes a crime against humanity.”

By Cathy Kristofferson, August 15, 2013

On August 14 we reported here on OBLOGDEE that Springfield U.S. District Court Judge Michael A. Posner, ruled against radical Christian Evangelical Scott Lively in his motion to dismiss the case of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) v. Scott Lively.   Accused of Crimes Against Humanity, the case against Lively will go forward and the purveyor of anti-gay hate will stand trial for his actions that caused the persecution of LGBTI Ugandans. Perhaps this should extend beyond.

Since leading the Oregon Citizen’s Alliance (OCA) and the 1992 ballot campaign for an amendment to the state constitution to declare homosexuality perverse requiring schools to teach that it was equal to pedophilia, Lively has continued his campaign to persecute gays around the world.  The SMUG v. Lively lawsuit alleges he began conspiring with Ugandan leaders a decade later in 2002, resulting eventually in the introduction of the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill otherwise known as the “Kill The Gays Bill” and causing much publicized persecution of gay Ugandans.

In 2006 Lively began touring former Soviet Union (FSU) countries pushing for legislation to defeat the so called ‘Homosexual Agenda,’ all the while trying to revive the OCA by recruiting Soviet émigrés. His influence is apparent in the SFU countries, Russia and Moldova, as the timing and his modus operandi points to a connection to the multiple anti-gay laws that have emerged.  Belarus and Latvia are rumored to be on the verge of similar legislation.

In the U.S., Lively has delivered his message of hate from Springfield, Oregon to Springfield, Missouri to Springfield, Massachusetts and most states in between. Now, finally Scott Lively is being held accountable.

Judge Posner rejected the five arguments made for dismissal:

1. the court lacks jurisdiction
2. the court cannot recognize an Alien Torte Statue (ATS) claim
3. the Plaintiff (SMUG) lacks standing
4. the right of free speech described in the U.S. Constitution prohibits court action
5. the Massachusetts state claims lack adequate legal foundation

In the ruling, Judge Posner declared the “Defendant played a crucial role in developing strategies to deny basic rights to Plaintiff’s members over the last decade” after stating “Widespread, systematic persecution of LGBTI people constitutes a crime against humanity that unquestionably violates international norms.”

Lively and his defense team have long claimed he is protected by the U.S. Constitution’s ‘freedom of speech.’ They claim Lively’s denigrating words are just his opinion and do no direct harm. They claim he has not taken any action. He further claims that it is the LGBTI community in Uganda doing the ‘promoting’ and ‘recruiting’. However it is clear that in fact it is Scott Lively who is promoting and recruiting Ugandans to increase his anti-gay flock for the work of persecuting the LGBTI community.

But the Judge felt “the Amended Complaint adequately alleges that Defendant’s actions have fallen well outside the protections of the First Amendment.”

Judge Posner quoted Justice Black in his reasoning about the First Amendment protections by saying: “On the other hand, when noxious words become part of a criminal enterprise, the First Amendment provides limited protection. As Justice Black, an unsurpassed supporter of the First Amendment, wrote:

“It rarely has been suggested that the constitutional freedom for speech and press extends its immunity to speech or writing used as an integral part of conduct in violation of a valid criminal statute. We reject the contention now. . . .

. . . [I]t has never been deemed an abridgment of freedom of speech or press to make a course of conduct illegal merely because the conduct was in part initiated, evidenced, or carried out by means of language, either spoken, written or printed. Such an expansive interpretation of the constitutional guaranties of speech and press would make it practically impossible ever to enforce laws against agreements in restraint of trade as well as many other agreements and conspiracies deemed injurious to society.”

The judge concluded: “It is well-established that speech that constitutes criminal aiding and abetting is not protected by the First Amendment.”

and:

“The complexion of the case at this stage entitles Plaintiff to discovery and requires the court to deny Defendant’s motion to dismiss.”

Scott Lively’s actions of persecution are not limited to Uganda. Yesterday I did an interview with a local radio station about the court ruling and was asked if I thought Scott Lively posed a threat to the people of Springfield (MA). I replied without blinking “Of course!” Because everywhere he peddles his vile lies accusing the LGBT community of ‘coming for your children’, of falsely linking homosexuality with pedophilia, of clinging to the debunked quack science of ‘praying away the gay’, of insisting homosexuality is the result of some traumatic event from childhood, he hurts LGBT people both directly and indirectly. He enrages some of those listening to the point of violence. His actions create harmful legislation and derail protective legislation.

Lively visited 50 cities in 7 countries in former Soviet countries including Russia in 2006 and 2007 prior to the 2009 Uganda workshop Lively proclaimed “nuclear bomb against the gay agenda in Uganda” which became significant evidence in the SMUG case. We know this because Lively brags about it on his own blog site.

He brags that the only countries, at the time of his post, to enact the very legislation he recommended are the two countries to which he personally sent “Letters To The People”. Those two countries are Russia and Lithuania. Since that time Moldova where he left a video outlining how to defeat ‘The Gay Agenda’ has passed its own so-called ‘gay propaganda’ law. Belarus is rumored not far behind with similar stifling legislation. Gay Pride is now banned for 100 years in Moscow. In these countries one cannot wear a rainbow pin or even say one positive word about homosexuality out loud without being arrested.

Last July Lively rushed to Springfield Missouri for the sole purpose of persecuting their LGBT community with a strong dose of his over the top rhetoric – see the sign to the left claiming Human Rights Commissions are Gay Trojan Horses. As we reported, he went there to help defeat a proposed municipal ordinance guaranteeing the LGBT community job and housing protections by whatever means he found necessary. The jobs and housing discrimination protections were derailed.

Just last month, Lively visited the people of Hungary and issued yet another of his infamous “Letter to the People” decrees outlining the evil which would arrive should they embrace the so-called gay agenda as “extremely destructive moral anarchy that dissolves and disintegrates civilization”. He told them “I strongly advise that you adopt an anti-propaganda law similar to what Russia has recently passed, to stop the “gay” agenda from advancing any further.” More LGBT oppression set in motion by Scott Lively.

Busy this July he also went on a multiple conservative state tour visiting at least Oklahoma, Missouri and Nebraska because he brags about it on his blog while advertising “I am looking for more invitations to conservative states“ to join the fray of defeating ‘The Homosexual Agenda’.

This tour is a follow up to the initial organizing done in Oklahoma this past April for the launch of his First Amendment Supremacy Clause campaign. The clause that he is fighting to have added to all non-discrimination protections everywhere he can for what amounts to religious bigotry trumping legal protections already in place.

As you can see, Lively shows no sign of curtailing or lessening his campaign of hate and persecution, but rather seems to ramping up before any court decision.

Scott Lively is not the only American Evangelical working his hate against the LGBT community worldwide. Members of the International House of Prayer frequent Africa. The opposition in Belize is lead by a Texan minister. American Evangelicals are waging war on the LGBTI communities of many foreign nations as well as here at home.

Lively’s instigation incites others to take up his mantel of hate against the LGBT community. SMUG under the guidance of CCR has bravely come forward to take him on.

Perhaps SMUG will inspire. Perhaps the LGBT community in the U.S. will now be inspired to do more to prevent the further export of homophobia across the globe. These ‘Missionaries of Hate’, as the Current TV movie calls them, must be stopped. If courts are where it has to happen, not the public square, so be it.

As the SMUG v. Lively lawsuit asks, we need to have “injunctive relief enjoining Defendant from undertaking further actions, and from plotting and conspiring with others, to persecute.” Let us all demand it for human rights worldwide and explore all available measures to hold Scott and the Lively’s of the world fully accountable.

Related articles:-

• MA court declares evangelical pastor Lively must stand trial for Crimes Against Humanity (oblogdeeoblogda.me)
• U.S. District Court Memorandum and Order Regarding Defendant’s Motions to Dismiss (ccrjustice.org)
• U.S. Christian Extremist Sees Russia’s New Homophobic Laws as Model (oblogdeeoblogda.me)
• Scott Lively incites war against the homosexualization of states (oblogdeeoblogda.me)
• Scott Lively | Satan wins back the scouts (oblogdeeoblogda.me)
• Poor Scott Lively bullied and intimidated by homo-fascists (oblogdeeoblogda.me)
• Gay-hating Pastor Scott Lively finds new foothold in Oklahoma (oblogdeeoblogda.me)
• Scott Lively’s lies may spell perjury at trial and should result in dismissal of summary judgment motion (oblogdeeoblogda.me)
• Scott Lively poised to cause more anti-gay persecution | An odious letter to the Russian people (oblogdeeoblogda.me)
• Video | Uganda LGBTI Activist Speaks out at Courthouse after Scott Lively Hearing (oblogdeeoblogda.me)
• Large crowd of U.S. Gay Activists at MA Federal Court to Support Ugandan Gays against Pastor Scott Lively (oblogdeeoblogda.me)
• Why we must attend the SMUG v. Scott Lively Lawsuit in Court January 7, 2013 (oblogdeeoblogda.me)

Justice for Dwayne Jones

By Cathy Kristofferson, August 29, 2013

Light panels calling for justice illuminated the street outside the Jamaican Embassy in Washington D.C. last night, as a coalition of organizations including GetEQUAL, Stop The Hate and Homophobia Coalition (Springfield, MA), The DC Center, Center Global, Spectrum Human Rights, CodePINK, and Light Brigade Maryland participated in a light panel display, protesting in conjunction with ‘Justice for Dwayne,’  vigils held in London and Boston. The events shed light on the brutal murder of Jamaican LGBT youth Dwayne Jones, calling for justice and the Jamaican Government to bring an end to its institutionalized homophobia.

On July 22^nd Dwayne Jones, a 16 year old youth who had been bullied in school, kicked out of his home at 14, and who dared to show up at a party dressed in women’s clothes was outed by someone who pointed him out as ‘male’.  Dwayne tried to escape but was chased, beaten, stabbed, run over and his body dumped by the side of the road. This is just one of the horrific homophobic attacks and killings that have occurred of late in Jamaica. Last week 5 gay men were trapped in their own home by an angry mob having to be rescued by police. This was the 6^th anti-gay mob attack in the last month. And just yesterday another gay man was stabbed to death, his house set on fire and his car stolen.

Homosexual acts between men is illegal in Jamaica and punishable by 10 years in prison.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in 2012 said that “discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression is widespread throughout Jamaica, and … discrimination against those in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and intersex … communities is entrenched in Jamaican State institutions. Those who are not heterosexual or cisgender face political and legal stigmatization, police violence, an inability to access the justice system, as well as intimidation, violence, and pressure in their homes and communities.”

These pictures show the messages displayed on light panels in D.C.:

The following statement was made during the D.C. action by Cathy Kristofferson of Stop The Hate and Homophobia Coalition:

”Jamaica has long been called ‘The Most Homophobic Place on Earth.’  The violence due to homophobia has prompted hundreds of LGBT Jamaicans to seek asylum in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States.

Currently the country is doing nothing to distance itself from that label. A challenge to the anti sodomy law, which punishes those convicted with 10 years in prison, began at the end of June. A few days before the court case began, conservative churches called for a rally in support of retaining the law.  1500 people turned out.  The rally contributed to an already escalated state of homophobia.  There were even reported attacks on people perceived to be gay at the churches’ rally.”

We are calling on the Jamaican authorities to fully investigate Dwayne’s murder while we call on those authorities to do more to protect the country’s LGBT community against these vicious attacks.  We are calling on the international community to boycott tourism and investments in Jamaica until the hate and homophobia ends.”

Organizers of the London vigil are demanding “Jamaican authorities need to send an unequivocal message that there will be zero tolerance for violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people” and “the police thoroughly investigate Dwayne’s murder.”

The London organizers have launched a CHANGE.ORG petition demanding:

“PETITION TO SEND A STRONG MESSAGE TO THE JAMAICAN GOVERNMENT THAT THEY MUST ACT NOW TO: 1. FIND AND PROSECUTE THE MURDERERS OF DWAYNE JONES 2. REPEAL THE BUGGERY LAWS IN JAMAICA THAT MAKE HOMOSEXUAL ACTS BETWEEN CONSENTING ADULTS IN THE PRIVACY OF THEIR HOMES A CRIME.”

Also the Boston vigil remembered Martin Luther King Jr. on this 50th anniversary of the DC March week, and the latest Jamaican hate crime victim Dean Moriah, who was murdered on Tuesday in Montego Bay.

Related articles:-

• Censorship of Gay PSA on Jamaican TV Goes to Supreme Court
• Jamaica Homophobia – Where the Nights are GAY

Our March Campaign Will Not Be Silenced

By Cathy Kristofferson, August 30, 2013

At Wednesday’s 50th anniversary March on Washington celebration Dream Defender’s Philip Agnew and United We Dream’s Sofia Campos were denied their opportunity to speak at the last minute. The excuse given?  Officials said they had “run out of time.”  This follows the reprehensible cutting of Julian Bond’s microphone at Saturday’s festivities. Too many important voices were cut in favor of pasteurized and homogenized party-line speeches. There was a reason Bayard Rustin did not allow politicians to speak at the original March on Washington in 1963. This year’s organizers should have taken note.

Philip Agnew has turned his lemons into amazing lemonade by creating the #OurMarch campaign. His own campaign-launching video is breathtaking:

“BY THE TIME WE FINISH ANOTHER BLACK BOY WILL LAY BLEEDING IN THE STREETS OF CHICAGO AND AS WE REST OUR HEADS TONIGHT 300,000 OF OUR VETERANS LAY HOMELESS, AND I WANT TO EXPLAIN HOW THE HATE WE SPREAD ABROAD IS THE REASON THAT HATRED WASHES ON OUR SHORES….BUT I ONLY HAVE TWO MINUTES.

AND, I COULD TELL YOU THAT PHILADELPHIA JUST CLOSED 23 OF ITS SCHOOLS AT THE SAME TIME IT BUILDS A $400 MILLION STATE OF THE ART PRISON AND THAT NORTH CAROLINA AND FLORIDA CONTINUE TO SILENCE ITS CITIZENS AT THE BALLOT BOX- BUT I ONLY HAVE TWO MINUTES.

I COULD TELL YOU HOW AS WE CELEBRATE DR. KING’S DREAM, OVER 400,000 OF OUR IMMIGRANT BROTHERS AND SISTERS LANGUISH AWAY IN PRIVATELY OWNED DETENTION CAMPS…AND HOW WE STILL FIND OUR QUEER BROTHERS AND SISTERS IMPRISONED IN THE SHADOWS OF CLOSETS—BUT I ONLY HAVE TWO MINUTES.

I’D TELL YOU HOW OUR MOTHERS, SISTERS, WIVES AND DAUGHTERS STILL EARN LESS, HAVE NO CONTROL OVER THEIR BODIES, AND ARE TRADED AND TRAFFICKED LIKE SLAVES….OR THAT IT’S EASIER FOR SOMEONE TO BUY A GUN AND PUT IT TO THEIR HEAD THAN IT IS TO DIAGNOSE THE ILLNESS WITHIN IT. – BUT I ONLY HAVE TWO MINUTES.

IF THERE WAS TIME, I’D TELL YOU THAT MILLIONS OF YOUNG PEOPLE AND QUEER PEOPLE AND POOR PEOPLE AND PEOPLE OF COLOR ARE ASKING WHAT WE DO WITH THIS ANGER, FEAR, DISAPPOINTMENT, AND FRUSTRATION. THIS MAD THAT WE FEEL??? —BUT, ALAS, I ONLY HAVE ONE MORE MINUTE.

AND WITH IT. THIS LAST MINUTE OF OUR CONVERSATION I’D LIKE TO TELL YOU THAT…THOUGH IT MAY SEEM THAT ALL IS LOST…THAT THERE IS A GENERATION OF DREAMERS, FIGHTERS, DEFENDERS, LOVERS BUILDERS BUBBLING, BUBBLING, BUBBLING BENEATH THE RUBBLE.

AND BENEATH YOUR FEET YOU MAY FEEL A COLLECTIVE QUAKING…TREMORS OF A SLEEPING GIANT AWAKENING. EMANATING FROM FAULT LINES AT THE ARIZONA-MEXICO BORDER, AND RALEIGH AND AUSTIN, AND CLEVELAND, AND CHICAGO, AND TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA.

AND WE’VE COME HERE FROM EVERY CRACK, CREASE, AND CREVICE OF OUR COUNTRY TO OUR CAPITOL TO SAY, THAT FOR ALL WHOSE CARES HAVE BEEN OUR CONCERN. WE WILL NOT BE CO-OPTED. WE WILL NOT BE BOUGHT. BUT, WE ARE READY.
AND FOR THOSE THAT DOUBT OUR ENERGY, AND DISCIPLINE. WE ARE READY.

FOR THOSE THAT BELIEVE THAT FUTURE FINGERS MAY FAIL THE TORCH. FEAR NOT. WE ARE READY.

FOR ALL THOSE THAT BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF NONVIOLENCE AND LOVE AS UNCONQUERABLE. WE ARE READY.

FIFTY YEARS AGO A MAN TOLD US OF A PROMISED LAND. AND FOR 50 YEARS WE’VE WANDERED AND WONDERED. WHERE ARE THE YOUTH?…A CONSTANT WHISPER IN OUR EARS.

AND SO WE HAVE COME, ASKING NEITHER PERMISSION NOR QUESTIONS, BUT TO SAY THAT WE ARE HERE. BELIEVING INDEED THAT WE HAVE A BEAUTIFUL HISTORY, AND THAT THE ONE WE WILL BUILD IN THE FUTURE WILL ASTONISH THE WORLD.
AND WE ARE READY.

MAY THE OUTCOME ALWAYS PROSPER OVER INCOME. PEACE OVER PROFIT. REVOLUTION OVER REVENUE AND ALL PEACE AND POWER TO THE PEOPLE. DON’T BELIEVE US JUST WATCH.”

Cayden Mak of 18 Million Rising has contributed his own amazing entry:

What would you say with your 2 minutes? Go ahead – record it, post it, and use hashtag #OURMARCH. Let your voice be heard! Let us know of your entry in the Comments.

Go here to see current entries:  http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%23ourmarch

Related links:-

• Dream Defenders #OurMarch Campaign
• 18 Million Rising Facebook page
• Taking Over Florida’s State Capitol | Racism in America (oblogdeeoblogda.me)

AND Congratulates Vladimir Putin for Anti-Gay Persecution |

“Along with this cover letter, I am enclosing a copy of The Pink Swastika (Fourth Edition) in English that is autographed by my co-author and I” Scott Lively

By Cathy Kristofferson, August 31, 2013

Anti-gay radical Christian extremist and gay hater Scott Lively, fresh from being denied his dismissal of the Crimes Against Humanity lawsuit, brought against him by the Ugandan human rights defenders, SMUG, for persecution on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, has published an ‘Open Letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin’ congratulating him on his “unequivocal stand against this scourge” of homosexuality. Included in the letter is a gift from Lively to Putin, serving as an opportunity to further their friendship in homophobia and anti-semitism.

It’s hard to find a few representative quotes to include in this blog post when Lively has said so much, and all repeat his regular talking points -  homofascism, Nazism, implacable militancy, exploitation of children, only 2% of the population.

Here is the letter in its entirety:

”     An Open Letter to President Vladimir Putin

August 30, 2013

President Vladimir Putin
Russian Federation
23, Ilyinka Street,
Moscow, 103132, Russia.

Dear President Putin,

On behalf of millions of Americans and Canadians who are concerned about the seemingly unstoppable spread of homosexuality in our countries and internationally, I wish to respectfully express my heartfelt gratitude that your nation has take a firm and unequivocal stand against this scourge by banning homosexualist propaganda in Russia. 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. Already Lithuania, Moldova, Hungary and the Ukraine have begun to follow your principled example, and you have engendered real hope in the international pro-family movement that this destructive and degrading sexual agenda might finally begin to be brought to a halt across the globe.

As a long-time leader in the pro-family movement who toured your country in 2006 and 2007 advocating the very policy you have enacted, I want to caution you not to assume that you have fully solved the problem by the enactment of this law. The battle to protect your society from homosexualization has only just begun, and you may be surprised to discover in the coming months and years just how aggressively many world leaders will work to try to intimidate and coerce you to capitulate to homosexualist demands.

Few political agendas in the history of mankind have marshaled the tenacity and resolve of the homosexualist movement. Its activists are driven by an implacable militancy and a zeal to advance their own self-serving interests that rivals even the most fanatical religious cults. A glimpse at the spirit behind the movement can be seen in the Bible in Genesis 19:4-11.

In just fifty years this marginal group representing only about 2% of the population has, through sheer will-power and intimidation, gained more political influence in the legislatures and courtrooms of the western world than the Christian church. The sexual conduct that defines their identity as individuals and as a movement was almost universally illegal and unlawful during the years our two nations were allied against the threat of Nazism, but just a little more than half a century later homosexualist leaders and surrogates sit in a majority of the seats of power across the west, and increasing in the east and in developing nations as well.

In readying your society to recognize and counter the efforts of the militant gay movement it is important to understand that their propaganda and policies adhere invariably to the narrative that all disapproval of homosexuality leads inevitably to hatred, violence and murder of homosexuals. All of the pro-homosexual policies in the United States and Europe rest on this unstated and unchallenged but fictional premise. Thus, the homosexualist movement is not simply seeking social tolerance, or acceptance, but political power and control. They want the power to stamp out all disapproval of homosexuality in your society and to compel every citizen (especially the youth) to embrace the view that homosexual conduct is good and normal.

They ask for a place at the table, but once they have one all the social ideals they exploited to get there, such as social tolerance, freedom of speech, and respect for cultural diversity, are discarded.  In place of those ideals is inserted a new backwards and upside-down morality and world-view that condemns all disapproval of homosexuality as a new fictionalized form of bigotry. I have termed this phenomenon “Homo-fascism” and defined it as a form of extreme left-wing, regressive radicalism which seeks to establish rigid authoritarian controls over all public discourse and government policies regarding sexual norms and proprieties, and to enact punitive measures against conscientious objectors that would punish or suppress all disapproval of homosexuality and related sexual behaviors (that would of course even though they deny it, quickly include a sexual indoctrination and exploitation of children).

In the coming months and years Russia and Her people will be increasingly portrayed by emotion laden and abusive hyperbole as bigoted haters, intent on exterminating homosexuals. Indeed, the propaganda campaign on that theme has already been initiated , with video footage purporting to show Russian neo-Nazis beating homosexuals now being circulated on the Internet, along with the false implication that this is the intent of your policy. This same propaganda machinery and methodology has been grinding away against the country of Uganda since 2009 when it introduced (but never passed) its Anti-Homosexuality Bill (AHB) that I agree was far too harsh but which never reflected any intention of the Ugandan government to exterminate homosexuals as “gay” activists and their media allies continue to allege.

Indeed, this “gay” narrative that equates opposition to homosexuality with Nazi-like genocide is in part an attempt to obscure the ugly roots of the modern homosexualist movement in pre-Nazi Germany. German fascism was formed and facilitated by masculine-oriented male homosexuals in response to an effeminate model of homosexuality which held that all homosexualist men were actually female souls trapped in men’s bodies. Beginning in the 1860s the Femmes, following the Grandfather of Gay Rights, Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, built a powerful social and political movement in Germany which focused on repealing the sodomy laws.

Offended by the constant characterization of male homosexuality as effeminate, the masculine-oriented Butches created their own movement grounded in the male warrior-cult philosophy epitomized by ancient Sparta. These were the first German fascists and from their ranks came first the Brown Shirted brawlers of World War I and then the Nazi Party. This thesis is heavily documented in my book The Pink Swastika: Homosexuality in the Nazi Party, which I co-authored in 1995 with researcher Kevin E. Abrams.

Along with this cover letter, I am enclosing a copy of The Pink Swastika (Fourth Edition) in English that is autographed by my co-author and I. We will soon be completing a long-delayed process of publishing the book in Russian, and hereby pledge that we will dedicate the Russian version of The Pink Swastika to the Russian Government and Her People. It will be our honor to send the very first copy of the Russian version to you.

Once again, thank you, President Putin, for standing firm in defense of the natural family, which is the essential foundation of all human civilization. Perhaps through the inspiration of your leadership, an alliance of the good people of our countries with those of your own, can once again in some cooperative fashion, redeem the future of mankind from a Fascist Leviathan, just as we did in World War II.

Respectfully,
Pastor Scott Lively, J.D., Th.D.
Defend the Family International
PO Box 2373
Springfield, MA 01101  USA”

I hope that Vlad Putin enjoys reading his autographed copy of The Pink Swastika along with acknowledgement of the company he is now keeping. Though perhaps they are just two peas in a pod of hate.

Related articles:-

• MA court declares evangelical pastor Lively must stand trial for Crimes Against Humanity
• Scott Lively’s accountability for Crimes Against Humanity should now extend beyond Uganda to the FSU
• LGBT Russian leadership and the voice of Putin
• Moldova secretly adopts anti-propaganda law
• Protests and arrests as Russia’s State Duma passes anti-gay promotion bill unanimously

“A trap being laid for February’s Russian Olympics could give homosexuals a world-wide exclusive claim on the symbol of the rainbow. “

By Cathy Kristofferson, September 11, 2013

A blog post today from Scott Lively declares that “The Rainbow Belongs to God” something we gays apparently didn’t know when “it was appropriated by the homosexual movement.“  And of the gay appropriation of the word RAINBOW, Lively, the ultra-right-wing radical Christian Evangelical, proclaims:

“The world has irreversibly lost a unique and precious gem of the English language that still adorns the poetry and musical lyrics of a more innocent time, like the fading photograph of a beloved child who died long ago.  The word was stolen and destroyed like a kidnapped child who never came home.”

After declaring it “irreversibly lost… stolen and destroyed“, Lively goes on to lay out his plan to reclaim the word Rainbow to its rightful owners – the Christians who apparently can reverse the irreversible.

Lively’s plan to take back the rainbow from those who “adopted the rainbow flag as an act of defiance against God, and their final attempt to sanitize their sin is to wrap themselves in His own cloak” is to drape Sochi in “rainbow flags and banners bearing the slogan ‘The Rainbow Belongs to God: Genesis 6-9, 19′.”

Lively’s plan to “catch the “gays” in their own trap” should be interesting since Rule 50 of the Olympic charter states “no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted” at any Olympic site.  It has already been pointed out by the Sochi Olympic Committee eager to avoid protests highlighting Russia’s ever increasing anti-gay laws that Olympics’ Rule 50 will preclude such things as painted fingernails and wearing rainbow-colored pins.  Why would the rainbow flag and banners bearing Lively’s religious propaganda be any different?

Today’s Rainbow Hysteria seems to be the result of a MassResistance  - Massachusetts’ other SPLC-designated hate group – blog post picked up by WND and published as ”‘GAY’ PLAN TO DISRUPT OLYMPICS REVEALED.”  It seems Brian Camenker, the group’s leader, went undercover at a recent National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association event and heard talk of getting around Russia’s publicized plan to confiscate rainbow items from baggage at airports by “utilizing diplomatic channels to get things into the country.” Plans for disrupting the Games abound it seems.

I hope there really are plans to protest the hate and homophobia so prevalent in Russia today, at the Sochi Olympic Games scheduled for next year.  I look forward to Brian Burke of the You Can Play Project’s prediction of an athlete being expelled from the Games.

The publicity will be priceless as Olympic sponsor VISA would say.

But let’s imagine as Scott Lively does of “the Russian Olympics taking place under a giant rainbow banner” but not one “declaring that the rainbow belongs to God!” as he hopes, but one as the symbol of love, acceptance and diversity that we’ve all come to hope for.

Related articles:-

• Gay hater Scott Lively Sends Pink Swastika to Putin
• U.S. Christian Extremist Sees Russia’s New Homophobic Laws as Model
• Putin bans meetings and protests during Sochi Winter Olympics
• Russian Sports Minister confirms Olympic athletes are NOT exempt
• Protests and arrests as Russia’s State Duma passes anti-gay promotion bill unanimously

We Belong Together and allies are turning up the heat in Washington DC!

By Cathy Kristofferson, September 12, 2013

As I write this more than 100 women are being arrested in front of the House of Representatives in Washington D.C. They are part of a mass civil disobedience action calling on Congress to pass immigration reform that treats women fairly.

From We Belong Together:

September 12, 2013

Right now, 100 women, including moms, grandmothers and undocumented immigrants are preparing to risk arrest for immigration reform that keeps families together and treats women fairly. This includes 25 undocumented women, a number We Belong Together believes represents the highest number of undocumented women willingly risking arrest for the cause of fair immigration reform.

As you read this, these courageous women are forming a circle and getting ready to take over the intersection outside the House of Representatives.

The direct action participants are a coalition of women activists and immigrants including the LGBTQ rights groups GetEQUAL and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force:

Won’t you join them, and us at OBLOGDEE, in We Belong Together’s call to action:

Show your support by calling 800-490-2010 and urging the House of Representatives to pass immigration reform that treats women fairly right now.

Call 800-490-2010 right now to tell the House to stand up for women’s equality. When you call tell your representative:

• I am part of We Belong Together;
• I stand with the 100 women risking arrest for immigration reform that treats women fairly and keeps families together;
• I urge you to lead the way for immigration reform that treats women fairly and keeps families together;
• Thank you for your courage on this important issue.

On behalf of the 100 women risking arrest today, thank you for taking 3 minutes to call today.

Read the press release and sign the petition here calling on Speaker Boehner to STAND UP for comprehensive immigration reform.

A few pics of the live-streamed action:

More pics on twitter…

Follow twitter hashtags: #womentogether #houseunited

By Cathy Kristofferson, September 23, 2013

Today Scott Lively suffered another defeat in his quest to have the Crimes Against Humanity lawsuit brought against him by Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) dismissed. As we reported here on OBLOGDEE, the Federal Court in Springfield ruled against Lively on August 14^th to deny his first Motion To Dismiss, which was heard in court January 2013, and referred the case for pretrial scheduling.

A few weeks after the first denial, Lively’s defense team filed an Interlocutory Appeal (an appeal of a ruling made before the trial itself has concluded) trying to once again have the case dismissed.  Lively tried again to re-try the same arguments the court rejected at trial: 1) The Alien Tort Statue does not apply, 2) No substantial grounds proving persecution, and 3) all of Lively’s actions are nothing but free speech.

Last Friday, The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed an opposition response. Today the court with rapid turnaround promptly denied Lively’s latest Motion To Dismiss.

Today’s ruling by Judge Posner follows Lively’s recent media stunts once again declaring “homosexuality is the moral issue of the End Times”.  Lively also call the defendant’s in the Crimes Against Humanity lawsuit, SMUG, not the coalition of human rights defenders that they are but rather “a handful of Ugandan homosexuals and are really just dupes.”

Lively depicted SMUG’s legal counsel CCR as:

“They are very powerful, they are heavily funded, absolutely dedicated, these are ideologues, these are the hard-left, Marxist ideologues and I am their primary—I am the most visible symbol of opposition to the gay agenda right now in the United States.”

Even as Lively whines about CCR and lead counsel Pam Spees, who Scott Lively calls out by name, notice he can’t help bragging believing himself the number one enemy of the so-called ‘gay agenda’ (or what I like to call the fight for full federal equality).

Hear the full interview audio here.

Lively’s massive ego aside, that is exactly how he has depicted himself for years on his own blog site – Example A is his 2011 “RSVP to the LGBTs” where he opens stating unequivocally:

“I am Pastor Scott Lively and it has been my mission for 25 years to work against the “gay” agenda. I am probably one of your best-known opponents in this world.”

Today, Lively posted a shiny new update to his upcoming “SPECIAL 5TH EDITION” of The Pink Swastika’s Chapter 3 THE HOMOSEXUAL ROOTS OF FASCISM.  The book is his fictional depiction of the gay men in Hitler’s inner circle who he claims actually helped mastermind the Holocaust.

Lively is soliciting comments over on his website, so if you have some thoughts to share, why not head on over to his site at scottlively dot net.

Related articles:-

• Scott Lively says The Rainbow Belongs to God not you Gays!
• Gay hater Scott Lively Sends Pink Swastika to Putin
• U.S. Christian Extremist Sees Russia’s New Homophobic Laws as Model
• MA court declares evangelical pastor Lively must stand trial for Crimes Against Humanity

Is Lively asking his flock to pray or prey?

By Cathy Kristofferson, September 25, 2013

After failing, yet again, to have the case against him for Crimes Against Humanity dismissed, Scott Lively has sent what is tantamount to a persecutory email to his followers containing a ‘hit list’ of those who are supporting the prosecution of his persecution.

Lively sent his Defend The Family flock details of local Springfield citizens who he feels are “responsible” for the lawsuit brought against him in the guise of a ‘please pray for’ me  letter.  He labels those he has listed as “the Marxist activists that have conspired to bring this bogus litigation forward.” A defamatory term, no doubt, as he would be hard pressed to prove that the names he mentions are indeed Marxists. Perhaps more lawsuits ought to follow this misrepresentation and slander.

And he knows no bounds as his email letter is replete with names, places of employment, and photos.

It seems quite obvious that Lively is lashing out as a result of his recent court losses and because it is so obvious that praying for a third party does not require outing their personal details nor slandering their reputations with phony political attributions. Those types of details are not required for a call to pray and so Scott Lively’s motives are abundantly clear. The man wants revenge and is setting the activists up as targets.  It leads by providing the uncalled for details arm in arm with slanderous rhetoric,that Lively is calling upon his his flock to do his bidding – to take some form of revenge into their own hands.

Of course he didn’t publish it to the Internet, just his email list. But it is public and hence as dangerous and equally slanderous. He had his fellow SPLC- designated anti-gay hate list pal Peter LaBarbera, head of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH), do the worldwide push hoping to defend his “friend and culture war hero Scott Lively”.

Lively starts his hit list with the Federal Court Judge, then the local counsel, and then an activist from local social justice organizations making sure everyone reading knows just which person he is pointing at:

This is what he says and we have redacted names to not perpetuate what we perceive to be a call to violence directed at radical Christian Evangelical extremists against the people so named:

“Pray especially for <redacted> of both <redacted> and <redacted>, the self-described 44-year-old “butch” lesbian at the bottom right in the photo under the “Harm Reduction” category of the <redacted> website. She has been especially aggressive against me and against our church.”

He goes on to ask that his flock:

“Pray for all of these Marxist activists .. As they press forward to attack me, pray confusion into their camp and for all of their strategies and tactics to be turned against them.”

The intention of the list is clear and the great lesson of the lawsuit against Lively has yet to be taken seriously by the man who is accused of persecuting Ugandan gays and lesbians. In fact this very letter serves as a perpetuation of the harm he has in fact been accused of and serves as is a clear threat against those who support it.

The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed a federal lawsuit against Abiding Truth Ministries President Scott Lively on behalf of Sexual Minorities Uganda, a non-profit umbrella organization for LGBT advocacy groups in Uganda. The suit alleges that Lively’s involvement in anti-gay efforts in Uganda, including his active participation in the formulation of anti-gay legislation and policies aimed at revoking fundamental right from LGBT persons constitutes persecution. This is the first known Alien Tort Statute (ATS) case seeking accountability for persecution on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

The Lively letter is pure manipulation and embeds a grave danger, It serves as a defiant perpetuation of the very offense for which he is being taken to task and bolsters the accusations against him, showing that he has no remorse for the harm he continues to inflict on LGBT people around the world and those who come to their defense.It is clear he has intended targets and while he may cry and yell “freedom of speech” and “freedom of religion” the embed is just way too obvious. Perhaps the Department of Justice should take note of this tactic sooner rather than after the call to harm is done. After all this man is clearly desperate and his followers are extremists, and he is already facing charges of Crimes Against Humanity.

Edited by Melanie Nathan.

Related articles:-

• Scott Lively denied second Motion To Dismiss of Crimes Against Humanity charges
• Scott Lively says The Rainbow Belongs to God not you Gays!
• Gay hater Scott Lively Sends Pink Swastika to Putin
• U.S. Christian Extremist Sees Russia’s New Homophobic Laws as Model
• MA court declares evangelical pastor Lively must stand trial for Crimes Against Humanity

Scott Lively brags about partnership with Russian Orthodox Church while pushing hate, pimping his book, and posing for the TV cameras… in Russia!

By Cathy Kristofferson, October 18, 2013

scottlively.net – “Pastor Scott at St Basil’s”

American Evangelical anti-gay hate monger Scott Lively is currently “on a one-week mission to bolster the Russian pro-family movement” in Russia, he reports on his blog today.  He is happy to relay “Re-Christianized Russia Now Defending Biblical Values.”

So much for the United States stopping the export of homophobia by American Evangelicals. Lively is freely pushing hate, pimping his book, and posing for the TV cameras.  To me, this is an interesting way to campaign for Governor of Massachusetts.

First stop on Lively’s latest hate tour of Russia was to the planning meeting for the World Congress of Families VIII due to take place in Moscow next year September 2014. Lively even got a tour of the Kremlin where the conference will open.

The World Congress of Families (WCF) is a Rockford, Illinois-based conservative group who provided support for the ‘gay propaganda’ laws in both Russia and the Ukraine.  The WCF is also the group exposed last week as the ones who brought NOM’s Brian Brown to Russia to testify for the bill banning adoptions by gay couples and single people in countries that allow marriage equality. They have their sights on more anti-gay hate in the Ukraine.  No doubt Scott Lively will be in the mix as Ukraine was one of the countries on his 2006-7 tour of former Soviet Union countries.

scottlively.net – “TV Interview at Gorky Film Studios”

Next stop on Lively’s tour was a TV appearance pushing his hate for all things “homosexual” on Archpriest Dimitri Smirnov’s television show.  Smirnov is head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch‘s Commission on the Family.

Back in early September, Lively posted about “The Rainbow Belongs God” and not those gays.  He reported how “the “gays” hope to lay claim to exclusive global use of God’s rainbow as a symbol of homosexuality“.  But fear not, because Scott has a plan to reclaim the rainbow for the Christians.  They will do it at the Sochi Olympics with the whole world watching no less! (I wonder how they themselves will not be arrested for gay propaganda?)

Lively now believes his lobbying has succeeded and the Archpriest is “very supportive of my Rainbow strategy for the Winter Olympics and thinks it has a chance of being implemented.“

The most lucrative stop, and dare I say a clear reason for the visit, is the news that “Father Dimitri has also offered to help me find a publisher for the Russian version of The Pink Swastika.”  No doubt, as Lively claims, “[g]iven the Russian attitude about homosexuality, and the still-fresh memories of Nazism in the Russian population, this book has significant potential to further harden resolve against the homosexualization of Russia and the countries in its orbit.”  See OBLOGDEE’s recent coverage of Lively and his pack of lies ‘The Pink Swastika’ novel here and here.

Once again I am wondering who will be the Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) of Russia.  Who will be the ones to sue Lively for his active persecution against gays?  Once again Scott Lively is publicly bragging about his export of homophobia, both past, present and of course his intent to continue to contribute and promote an ongoing persecution of the LGBT community in Russia and “its orbits” as he has since his first visits over a decade ago.

Related articles:-

• Scott Lively says The Rainbow Belongs to God not you Gays!
• Gay hater Scott Lively Sends Pink Swastika to Putin
• Scott Lively’s accountability for Crimes Against Humanity should now extend beyond Uganda to the FSU
• U.S. Christian Extremist Sees Russia’s New Homophobic Laws as Model
• WND promoting anti-gay Scott Lively’s revisionist Pink Swastika and the call to kill gays

Lively’s hate and persecution continues and so must we!

By Cathy Kristofferson, October 25, 2013

Back in January, I blogged “Sexual Minorities Uganda v. Scott Lively – why you should care, why you should go!”  The case is ongoing and heating up.  Until now Scott Lively and his defense team have been mustering up every tactical move than can to avoid this trial. But they have run out of moves to try to get out from under the Crimes Against Humanity charges brought against him. The proceedings continue with a  discovery scheduling meeting before the magistrate on November 6^th at 11am in the Springfield MA Federal Courthouse.

So, now again we are saying again – “Sexual Minorities Uganda v. Scott Lively – you should still care and must attend!”

scottlively.net – “TV Interview at Gorky Film Studios”

After being charged with Crimes Against Humanity and eve after the Court refused to dismiss the case against him,  Scott Lively has not slowed down from his life’s work of persecuting the LGBTI community worldwide. In fact, he has stepped it up.

This past week Lively was in Russia, again, where he has been so many times. So proud of his work in Russia, and what he perceives as the resulting anti-gay legislation, he told Bryan Fischer of The American Family Association: “I indirectly assisted in that and it’s one of the proudest achievements of my career.”

Keep in mind he is bragging about his influence on the recent spate of Russian anti-gay legislation including the gay propaganda ban law, the gay adoption ban law, the arrest and deport foreign nationals suspected of being gay law, the label advocacy NGOs ‘foreign agents’ to cripple them law, and the new bill to remove children from gay families.

Lively even has a campaign going, supposedly supported by the Russian Orthodox Church, to take back the rainbow for the Christians so the nasty gays can’t use it to protest their persecution at the Sochi Olympic Games.

He’s been busy here in the U.S. as well fanning the flames of anti-gay hate. This year he has visited Oklahoma, Nebraska and Missouri on his First Amendment Supremacy Clause tour, signing up foot soldiers in the war against The Gay Agenda, specifically Human Rights Ordinances and the First Amendment liberty of individuals to refuse public accommodation to the gay community.

“I have just returned from a nine-stop speaking tour in Nebraska, which is now on-board with the First Amendment strategy, along with Oklahoma and Missouri. I am looking for more invitations to conservative states where we can put these in place as a roadblock to the homosexualization of those states and perhaps build some momentum in the other direction.” Scottlively.net July 2, 2013

In September, after their last appeal of the dismissal ruling was denied, Lively even issued a hit list of sorts complete with names, photos and places of employment of those he felt were responsible for the lawsuit brought against him. Not his persecution of the Ugandan LGBTI community, of course, but local activists supporting the case complete with ridiculous charges such as “especially aggressive against me and against our church”.

“Homophobia—the religion of bullies” (AP Photo/Evgeny Feldman)

So yes, Lively is still at his bullying and bragging. As much as ever. He is still persecuting the LGBT community near and far. With nothing much stopping him, we need your help and your presence will show Lively that his behavior is abhorred by our community.

It will also help create opposition against his crazy notion that he is worthy of being the Governor of MA.

Sexual Minorities Uganda is proceeding with their lawsuit. It’s time for everyone opposed to American Evangelicals exporting hate and homophobia to come out and support SMUG. See you there.

See you in front of the Federal Courthouse in Springfield on November 6^th.

Related articles:-

• Scott Lively in Russia to bolster anti-gay hate and partner with Russian Orthodox Church
• Scott Lively says The Rainbow Belongs to God not you Gays!
• Scott Lively poised to cause more anti-gay persecution | An odious letter to the Russian people
• Scott Lively denied second Motion To Dismiss of Crimes Against Humanity charges
• MA court declares evangelical pastor Lively must stand trial for Crimes Against Humanity
• Scott Lively’s accountability for Crimes Against Humanity should now extend beyond Uganda to the FSU
• U.S. Christian Extremist Sees Russia’s New Homophobic Laws as Model

What is the point of ENDA now?

By Cathy Kristofferson, November 5, 2013

Republicans have introduced two amendments to the already highly contentious religious exemption of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2013 (ENDA), further watering down the bill’s protections.

With all Democrats already committed to vote Yes and only 59 votes secured, supporting Senators Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) were suddenly and unexpectedly unavailable.  This meant additional Republican supporters were hurriedly secured. It seems they came at a high price.

The price for Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) and Rob Portman (R-OH) was an amendment to ensure that discriminating religious entities which exercise the exemption would not be unduly burdened or penalized by Federal, State or local governments:

“A religious employer’s exemption under this Act shall not result in any action by a Federal government agency, or any state or local government agency that receives Federal funding or financial assistance, to penalize or withhold licenses, permits, certifications, accreditation, contracts, grants, guarantees, tax-exempt status, or any benefits or exemptions from that employer, or to prohibit the employer’s participation in programs or activities sponsored by that Federal, state, or local government agency. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to invalidate any other federal, state, or local law or regulation that otherwise applies to an employer exempt under this section.”

Apparently, ENDA’s sponsor Senator Merkely (D-OR), along with LGBT advocates HRC, ACLU and Freedom to Work are willing to go along with this.  It seems to be just too much of a compromise.

Also, Ayotte and Portman are demanding the following be added to the Purposes section of ENDA for clarification:

 “to reinforce the nation’s commitment to fairness and equal opportunity in the workplace consistent with the fundamental right of religious freedom.”

What?

They want to clarify that the non-discrimination bill, which is clearly serving to actually legalize discrimination, is reinforcing “the nation’s commitment to fairness and equal opportunity.” The self appointed gang in charge of representing our rights are also willing to go along with this. This is an outrage, its ridiculous and it is an irresponsible representation for our community.

Honestly, how watered down does it have to get? This bill will already make sexual orientation/gender identity the ONLY protected class that can be legally discriminated against by the bill that is supposed to protect us.

The second, and more costly, amendment was introduced by Senator Toomey (R-PA) and it actually broadens the religious exemption to allow even more employers, including secular, to legally discriminate.

“In addition, (i) an employer shall qualify for this exemption if it is (in whole or in part) managed by a particular religious corporation, association, or society; if it is officially affiliated with a particular religion or religious corporation, association, or society; or if the institution’s curriculum is directed toward the propagation of a particular religion; and (ii) This exemption shall apply regardless of whether the employer, or the employment position at issue, engages in secular activities as well as religious activities.”

Luckily this particular amendment does not appear to have the votes to move forward.

Additional lunacy today included the Kentucky Republican pair of Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell who are attaching an amendment to create a national Right-To-Work Law. Right to Work laws guarantee employees cannot be required to join or pay dues to a labor union effectively allowing those employees free collective bargaining! Hopefully the union busting amendment will also be opposed by the ENDA sponsors.

Too bad the amendments required to secure the necessary filibuster-proof 60 votes couldn’t go away with the return of McCaskill and Murkowski. Luckily the Toomey broadening amendment seems doomed but the other is scary. It was already disgusting to have that gaping hole of religious bigotry in ENDA, but now to have it justified in the Purposes section is beyond the pale.

Where are the amendments to remove or at least narrow the religious exemption?

READ MORE:

Understanding those very grave concerns about ENDA’s religious exemption

by Cathy Kristofferson on April 29, 2013

Community continues to rally in support of LGBT Ugandans’ case against hatemonger Scott Lively 

By Cathy Kristofferson, November 7, 2013

Stop The Hate And Homophobia Coalition Springfield & LGBT Asylum Support Task Force Worcester

Yesterday a scheduling meeting was held at the Crimes Against Humanity trial of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) v. Scott Lively.  Lively did not appear although he did have one supporter attend. In contrast, about 3 dozen supporters were there to support the Plaintiff, SMUG, from Stop The Hate And Homophobia Coalition, LGBT Asylum Support Task Force, Arise for Social Justice, Recovery Learning Center, and other interested individuals.

A lone Lively supporter

The main contention during the scheduling meeting was the protective order the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) are trying to put in place to keep Lively from obtaining the identity and contact information of witnesses. The fear of reprisal by Lively and his “friends” in Uganda is real and worrisome.  Lively himself has already issued a “hit-list” on his blog of those he feels are responsible for the case, so Lively’s attorney from Liberty Counsel’s statement that concerns being expressed are “without merit” is outrageous.

Without such a protective order, gaining witness testimony will be impeded. Many people have seen the “Hang Them” cover of Uganda’s Rolling Stones tabloid, which endangered many Ugandan lives, including David Kato, who was murdered shortly after its publication. The Plaintiffs are eager to avoid life threatening situations again. The protective order issues were not resolved yesterday and will likely require action from the judge before discovery can move forward.

SMUG counsel Pam Spees and Luke Ryan

We were amazed to learn Lively had yet to answer the initial complaint! We also learned that Lively had rejected a settlement offer made by CCR’s attorneys. CCR reported in a follow up meeting with the Stop The Hate Coalition that the settlement offer, which is mainly non-monetary, will be made public at a later date.

Another interesting statement made by Liberty Counsel during the proceedings was that Lively does not want CCR  to have subpoena power to obtain evidence against him, as he wildly claims that such could ‘harm foreign relations.’  An amused and frustrated CCR, responded that it was too soon to know if that course would be needed.

There is a lot that must happen before the actual trial can begin, including probably yet another attempt by Lively for an unlikely dismissal. The final hearing before the trial is currently scheduled for May 6, 2015!

Here is the released SMUG v Lively Scheduling Order:

Enjoy some photos of the SMUG supporters:

Related articles:-

THE SMUG V. SCOTT LIVELY CASE IS A MUST ATTEND FOR LGBT COMMUNITY

by Cathy Kristofferson on October 25, 2013 in Advocacy & Activism, Africa, Court Cases, CRIME, Law,LGBT, Massachusetts, NEWS, Rally, RELIGION, U.S.A., Uganda, WORLD{ Edit }

“Cathy, I want to tell you I’m shaking and I have a bad taste in my mouth. Just repulsed. A shower will not help.” 

By Cathy Kristofferson, November 15, 2013

Photo courtesy Ellen Sturtz

Late last night, The World Congress of Families Symposium “Family Policy Lessons from Other Lands : What should America Learn?” was denied their original meeting location in the U.S. Senate Dirksen Building by their sponsor Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) once word got out. Despite the exposure of their so-called “pro-family” purpose, they still met on U.S. Capital soil over in the Longworth House building. Photos from inside show lots of grey hair and plenty of empty chairs.

Buzzfeed reported earlier their new location is thanks to House Speaker Boehner (R-OH):

WASHINGTON — The office of House Speaker John Boehner secured meeting space for the World Congress of Families after their original sponsor, Illinois Senator Mark Kirk, canceled their space in a Senate office building following an outcry from LGBT activists, the group’s leader said.

Photo courtesy Ellen Sturtz

As OBLOGDEE posted yesterday, the symposium seeks to laud the recent advances in so-called “pro-family” Russian legislation to see how those laws – banning gay propaganda, gay adoptions, gay foreigners, gay NGOs, etc. – can be applied here in the United States. And by “applied” I, of course, mean exported to and then imported back by their original sponsors.

We will have a follow-up post shortly after our friend, Ellen Sturtz, who bravely attended the hatefest, I mean symposium, has the shower and whatever else she so badly needs!

“Cathy, I want to tell you I’m shaking and I have a bad taste in my mouth. Just repulsed. A shower will not help.”

Update: Part Two Symposium Denies Laws Responsible for Violence in Russia

Related articles:-

• Family Symposium Uses Anti-Gay Russian Law to Promote its Message in U.S. Senate Building
• Scott Lively in Russia to bolster anti-gay hate and partner with Russian Orthodox Church

By Cathy Kristofferson, November 15, 2013

Austin Ruse, left, Allan Carson, center, Janice Shaw Crouse, right. Photo courtesy Ellen Sturtz

As we posted earlier, friend of OBLOGDEE Ellen Sturtz attended today’s World Congress of Families (WCF) Symposium “Family Policy Lessons from Other Lands : What should America Learn?” What the WCF believes America should learn sounds like a whole lot of denial! Here are some of the claims and insights made by the panelists today.

Featured panelists at the symposium were:

• Dr. Allan Carlson, President of The Howard Center for Family, Religion & Society and Editor of The Family in America;
• Austin Ruse, President of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute;
• Dr. Janice Shaw Crouse, Senior Fellow at the Beverly LaHaye Institute, think tank for Concerned Women for America;

Steven Mosher, President of the Population Research Institute, who was listed as a panelist proved to be a no show, apparently unwell following a recent trip to Ecuador.

The crowd only numbered a couple dozen. It is unknown if the large number of empty seats and unclaimed name tags were due to the room change or the heightened scrutiny of the symposium. Perhaps the scant crowd shows an actual lack of interest for learning about backward-looking ideologue gay bashing in American. One can only hope.

Photo courtesy Ellen Sturtz

The most offensive part of the symposium was the all-out denial by multiple panelists that any animosity towards the Russian LGBT community has resulted from the recent spate of anti-gay laws which the WCF claims to be pro-family.  Keep in mind those laws include the gay propaganda law silencing all speech that can be conceived to be positive towards the LGBT community, the gay adoption ban barring adoption to anyone in any country or State that has legalized same gender marriage, the bill that allows for 15 days detention followed by deportation of any foreigner that is suspected of being gay, the bill that labels NGOs “foreign agents”, aka spies, if they receive any foreign funding, and the bill filed, but not yet passed, that calls for the removal of all children, including biological, from LGBT families. Nothing to see here. Painting the LGBT community as pedophiles never riles up the natives.

Jim Wallace, deputy chairman Australian Christian lobby, left, and Allan Carlson, right. Photo courtesy Ellen Sturtz

Austin Ruse, president of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute, went so far as to say the tales of woe from the Russian LGBT community specifically as described by Harvey Fierstein in the NY Times are all false. He claimed they face no harassment from the Russian government. Certainly nothing has changed since the laws have passed, starting in July. It is simply the media’s faulty reporting. He claimed to have even blogged about the media’s distortion of truth. Perhaps he rode around looking out rose-colored limousine windows, the same as Thomas Roberts.

Allan Carlson, founder and international secretary of the World Congress of Families, described the panelists “as a small band of refugees” who had to find a home in the House (after being evicted form the Senate Dirksen building).  ”A great fear seems to be descending” impacting their freedoms of speech and religion, Carlson said, making parallels to German fascism describing this time in our country.

Janice Shaw Crouse, right. Photo courtesy Ellen Sturtz

Janice Shaw Crouse of the Concerned Women for America’s Beverly Le Haye Institute stated that the United Nations International Year of the Family is “usually pretty ‘leftist’” but she has been pleased that the pro-family folks have had a greater influence in recent years. Though she warned “we have a long way to go to re-install the natural family.”

The panelists reported that they are inspired by not only the advances of the Russian laws and the Russian Orthodox Church’s influence on that country, but also by the push back seen elsewhere such as in France during their marriage debate.  Interesting that they would site an opposition that was widely known to have been generated by America’s own National Organization for Marriage.

One humorous tidbit reported was the statement that Scott Lively’s claims of legislative influence in Russia and other Former Soviet Union countries were described as self-aggrandizement.  It was curious back in October when Lively blogged about being in Russia as part of WCF’s planning committee and WCF’s later reports that left him off the list of attendees. Clearly something else is going on beyond Scott Lively’s penchant for bragging.

Crowd shot. Photo courtesy Ellen Sturtz

Throughout the question and answer period the American LGBT community was portrayed simply as thugs. After the civility present during the Clinton years, the gays have been out for vengeance.  Oh how I long for the days of civility with DOMA and DADT.

The event closed with the claim that the pro-family movement in the U.S. may be being silenced by the gay thugs, but they “are not defeated, and they are not on the run!”  So it seems we LGBT activists and advocates have more work to do!

Related articles:-

• Boehner Houses Anti-gay Family Symposium kicked out of Senate building
• Family Symposium Uses Anti-Gay Russian Law to Promote its Message in U.S. Senate Building
• Scott Lively in Russia to bolster anti-gay hate and partner with Russian Orthodox Church

By Cathy Kristofferson, November 16, 2013

The Jamaica Gleaner is reporting that Maurice Tomlinson has lost his suit against Jamaica’s major television stations TVJ and CVM for refusing to air his gay positive “Love and Respect” Public Service Announcements (PSA). The court found that Tomlinson’s freedom of expression does not give him the right to use the property of others to disseminate his views.

OBLOGDEE reported on Tomlinson’s suit when it went to Jamaica’s Supreme Court back in May. Tomlinson had attempted to help educate the duly labelled “World’s Most Homophobic Nation” with a pair of 30 second PSAs but the stations refused to broadcast and in some cases even to respond to his requests.

Although the Court agreed Tomlinson had sufficient interest to bring the case, they also found Tomlinson was “obliged … to respect and uphold the rights of others, including TVJ and CVM, and their right included the right not to speak out.”

This is especially disappointing in Jamaica where violence against the LGBTI community has seen staggering increases lately with multiple horrific murders of gay and trans members. How to educate an ignorant and misled public when your government turns a blind eye to violence and your personal attempts are thwarted in all directions?

Justice for Dwayne Jones protest in front of Jamaican Embassy D.C.

Update: Maurice Tomlinson is appealing the Supreme Court’s decision. See appeal press release here.

Related articles:-

• Censorship of Gay PSA on Jamaican TV Goes to Supreme Court
• Attacks Against Gays On The Rise In Jamaica
• Vigils around the world demand justice for murdered Jamaican LGBT youth

By Cathy Kristofferson, November 19, 2013

The Jamaica Observer is reporting that Jamaican Rastafarian star Sizzla has been denied a visa into the U.S. for his tour scheduled for this month and December.

Sizzla has been called out for his homophobic lyrics for at least the last decade. In the past he has had concerts cancelled in multiple countries. He has also been called out for not respecting his signature on the Reggae Compassionate Act. Clearly he should not be profiting from his hate here!

In August he defended another homophobic artist by suggesting “gays should burn“.

The Observer reported his manager, Stephen Brush of International Artists Agency, as saying “he has no choice but to reschedule the tour for early next year.”

“I am deeply saddened by the news, and I can say this is one of the worst weeks in my career… It is not a dead issue, but I am no longer comfortable waiting and seeing. What I would like to do is postpone the tour and look at re-booking it for February and March.”

Postponing the tour should NOT be an option. The venues in Washington, DC, Virginia, Colorado, and New York where his tour was scheduled need to hear that we have no room for his hate in our country.

Feel free to call the venues listed to let them know we do not want the tour re-scheduled! And then we should work to get Eminem to shut up…

Concert tour date locations are listed here:

http://www.reggaeville.com/nc/dates/performers/sizzla.html

11/21 Update:  New petition at CHANGE.ORG to sign.  Click here.

Related articles:-

• Attacks Against Gays On The Rise In Jamaica
• Vigils around the world demand justice for murdered Jamaican LGBT youth

Boehner buries ENDA, where is the Executive Order Obama?

By Cathy Kristofferson and Ellen Sturtz, November 20, 2013

After the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) passed the Senate with bi-partisan support, all eyes turned to the House. It seems when we looked there, the Bill had been buried in four different committees and House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) was busy speaking out against the need for ENDA saying:

“But I think this legislation that I’ve dealt with as chairman of the Educational Workforce Committee long before I was back into leadership, is unnecessary and would provide a basis for frivolous lawsuits.”

Boehner’s claim is despite the General Accounting Office (GAO) finding that in the states with existing employment protections there was only a very small fraction of employment discrimination complaints based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Doesn’t seem that the state laws have in reality provided “a basis for frivolous lawsuits.” So why would a federal law?

Just to see how entrenched Boehner and the Committees are, over a 26 hour period yesterday and today we went to find where ENDA had been buried and we could not find it.

At a subcommittee of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee we were ignored.

Photo courtesy Leah Brown at 1 Angry Old Lesbian

At the Committee on Education and the Workforce’s Subcommittee on Workforce Protections we commend Representative Joe Courtney (D-CT) for actually engaging with us to say he is a co-sponsor of ENDA who would like to see the Bill come to the floor. Unfortunately, he advised us to go talk to Speaker Boehner’s office. Been there, tried that…

Photo courtesy Leah Brown at 1 Angry Old Lesbian

Photo courtesy Leah Brown at 1 Angry Old Lesbian

At the Judiciary Committee after waiting for enough Republicans like Darryl Issa (R-CA) and the Committee Chair to arrive, we called out “Is ENDA here?” while holding up the sign reading the same. Representative Mel Watts (D-NC) did notice, but we were mostly ignored. As we were removed from the hearing room, we continued to call out “Where is ENDA? This is one of the four committees it was sent to!” 

Photo courtesy Leah Brown at 1 Angry Old Lesbian

At the Committee on House Administration we were once again ignored. We were holding the “Where is ENDA?” sign well enough, though, to get it into the livestream broadcast.

And still no one even acknowledged us or our sign so we held it up high and walked on out.

Photo courtesy Leah Brown at 1 Angry Old Lesbian

The result of our search for ENDA was being engaged at one committee, being man-handled at another, and being ignored at two.

The takeaway from the House committee visits is that no one seems to care or have an answer except to send us to Speaker Boehner who has spoken out against the bill. 

President Obama promised back on his first campaign trail to pass an executive order protecting some 22 million federal contractor employees. Once in office, he reneged saying he felt ENDA was the better legislative answer for all.

Now that the Senate has acted on ENDA and House Speaker Boehner has declared he will not – it is your turn Mr. President. Maybe you can find the Bill we could not.

Stay tuned tomorrow for a #BlockParty in Washington D.C. bringing together all of the progressive movements John Boehner has blocked legislation for in the last 3 years. Including not only ending LGBT employment discrimination but also the efforts to reform our immigration system, raise the minimum wage, secure women’s choices about health and reproductive care, defend our environment from corporate destruction, enact sensible gun control policies, curb abuses of the student loan industry, and reduce barriers to voter participation.

https://www.facebook.com/events/579252622130629