US: Anti-gay evangelist Scott Lively warns Vladimir Putin Russian ‘gay propaganda’ laws are not enough

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Scott Lively, an anti-gay activist who previously supported the Ugandan ‘kill the gays’ bill, wrote an open latter to President Vladimir Putin this month telling him more can be done with Russia’s notorious anti-gay laws.

In his letter, Mr Lively hailed the Russian president as “an example of moral leadership that has shamed the governments of Western Europe and North America.”

However, he warned Putin that his “gay propaganda” law might not be enough.

According to Buzzfeed, he wrote: “I want to caution you not to assume that you have fully solved the problem by the enactment of this law.”

He added: “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 cult.”

Mr Lively previously also accused US Supreme Court judge Anthony Kennedu of being a “homosexualist” last month.

He said: “There is no such thing as a ‘Gay Christian.’ The very notion is anti-biblical.”

In another incident last month, Scott Lively was also accused of human rights violations for his support of the Ugandan ‘Kill the Gays’ bill. At his request to have the case against him dismissed, Judge Michael Ponsor ruled against Lively.

Judge Ponsor said: “Widespread, systematic persecution of LGBTI people constitutes a crime against humanity that unquestionably violates international norms.

“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 ruling was made in the lawsuit brought against Lively by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) on behalf of Sexual Minorities Uganda, a coalition of LGBT rights and advocacy groups.

The case alleges that his actions in Uganda over the past ten years led to the persecution, torture, arrest and murder of gay people in the country.

President Vladimir Putin signed the controversial law in June banning the promotion of “non-traditional relationships” toward minors, a move that has been criticised as part of a broader crackdown on Russia’s gay community.

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