ANTI-GAY AWARD CEREMONY ATTACKED

Current TV’s television program Vanguard covered it, as well as MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. In Uganda, the most draconian anti-gay laws in the world were moving forward, where the penalty for anyone engaging in homosexual activity could possibly be executed. Now given the fact that we mentioned the African country of Uganda, some folks may be looking for the usual boneheads and right-wingers using it to show how backward “third world” nations are. The reason why that isn’t happening might be because the person who helped draft that law is an good ol’ American White Christian Male. His name is Scott Lively (pictured) and he runs an outfit called Americans For Truth About Homosexuality. He attended a conference in 2009 in Uganda where he discussed the anti-gay bill with lawmakers, and we sure hope he knew what that meant when he came back home! If he didn’t someone in Chicago was more than happy to school him. Anti-Racist Action reports that an anti-gay awards ceremony last week had some most unwelcome attention, and frankly you won’t see us crying about it.

Southside Chicago Anti-Racist Action

On October 15th, Scott Lively, long-time advocate and supporter of harsh anti-gay laws in Uganda, was awarded by Americans For Truth About Homosexuality(AFTAH). This is not the first we’ve seen this group publicly push its hateful agenda at the Christian Liberty Academy in Arlington Heights. In the past they have hosted a public seminar warning students and others about the ‘homosexual agenda’. But many will not sit around quietly as homophobia rears its ugly head. The Gay Liberation Network called for a public demonstration against the ‘award ceremony’, which was attended by many allies; while the night before militants took extra action against the unrelenting den of homophobes. Lively says “In my 20 plus years of pro-family activism, I have never seen such a brazen act of ‘gay’ militancy.’

Here is a communique from an Anonymous  cell found on Chicago Indymedia:

In the early morning hours of October 15th, we put two chunks of concrete through the glass windows and doors of the Christian liberty academy(502 W. Euclid Ave., Arlington Heights, IL)We did this because at 6pm today they will be hosting an event organized by the homophobic hate group Americans For Truth About Homosexuality that will be presenting an award to Scott Lively. Lively is an American preacher and founder of the hate group Watchmen on the Walls.

Christian Liberty Academy – Post Attack- Chicago Tribune

In 2009, Lively and other American homophobes spoke at a conference in Uganda called “Exposing the Truth About Homosexuality and the Homosexual Agenda”. This conference stirred the anti-gay atmosphere that already exists in Uganda, a country with laws that punish homosexual acts with up to 14 years in prison. As a direct result of this conference, participants have drafted a bill that, if passed, would increase the sentencing for homosexual acts to life sentences and execution and make it a legal responsibility to report homosexuals in the community. Lively has also co-written a book called “The Pink Swastika” which claims that homosexuals created the Nazi Party and were responsible for the Holocaust, a book that has been repeatedly denounced as inaccurate by historians.

Americans For Truth About Homosexuality is another U.S-based hate group that is based in Naperville, IL. Run by Peter Labarbera, the organization has previously organized day-trainings for youth anti-gay organizers on how to counter the “Homosexual Agenda” at the Christian liberty academy. Americans For Truth About Homosexuality lost their non-profit status this past summer.

On January 26, 2011, Ugandan gay rights activist David Kisule was murdered after being outed in a newspaper ad that listed names and photos of queer people in the community as a part of an anti-gay campaign that is a result of Scott Lively’s visit.

These chunks of concrete were thrown through these windows and doors for two reasons: to show that there is a consequence for hatred and homophobia in our community and to directly cause this event to be shut down. If this event is not shut down, and the homophobic day trainings do not end, the Christian liberty academy will continue to be under constant attack.

Please call scott lively, Christian liberty academy and peter Labarbera and tell them how you feel

Lively: 1-951-834-5933 Peter: (630)546-4439 Christian Liberty Academy: 847 385-2125

Here is a report back of the public protest from Chicago Indymedia by GLN:

Activist Who Promotes Imprisoning of Gays Protested in Suburban Chicago

ARLINGTON HTS., IL — Pro-LGBT picketers greeted notorious anti-gay activist Scott Lively in suburban Chicago last night at the annual banquet of “Americans For Truth About Homosexuality” (AFTAH), an organization designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as a “hate group.”

The protest was sponsored by the Gay Liberation Network (www.GayLiberation.net) and supported by South Side Anti-Racist Action. Though he denies it, Lively is widely seen as a principal promoter of Uganda’s “kill the gays bill” which would institute the death penalty for what it terms “serial homosexuality” and prison sentences for those who defend gays or fail to report them to the police. In 2009 Lively and two other U.S. evangelicals traveled to Uganda and spoke at a conference which, he boasted, someone likened to launching “a nuclear bomb against the gay agenda in Uganda.”
The New York Times reported that “the Ugandan organizers of the conference admit helping draft the bill, and Mr. Lively has acknowledged meeting with Ugandan lawmakers to discuss it.”

ABC News reported in March 2010 that Lively said of his Ugandan counterparts, “These are good Christians; better Christians than there are here in the states. They care about each other. And I think the reason they’re pushing so hard on this law is that they don’t want to see what happened to our country happen over there.”

This isn’t the first time that Lively had tried to promote his anti-LGBT bigotry abroad. In 2007 he traveled to Russia, a country already riven with anti-gay violence and government repression, and wrote an article advocating that Russians should “criminalize the public advocacy of homosexuality… The easiest way to discourage ‘gay pride’ parades and other homosexual advocacy is to make such activity illegal in the interest of public health and morality.”