Anti-gay activist Scott Lively has taken partial credit for a
controversial Russian law which prohibits “gay propaganda” to
minors.
Passage of the law has prompted calls for a boycott of next year's
Winter Olympics in Sochi.
In July, Lively cheered the law in a blog post, saying that he had
“called specifically for legislation of this sort in my [50 city]
speaking tour of the Soviet Union in 2006 and 2007.”
Lively held up the legislation as a model for the West: “Victory
is still theoretically possible for the pro-family movement in the
West if we are willing to pay the price.”
In comments to NBC
News, Lively added: “Yes, I think I influenced the Russian
law.”
NBC quoted Lively telling a Novosibirsk audience that Christians
were at war with homosexuals.
“There is a war that is going on in the world,” Lively told
more than 1,000 people in August of 2007. “There is a war that is
waging across the entire face of the globe. It's been waging in the
United States for decades, and it's been waging in Europe for
decades. It's a war between Christians and homosexuals.”
Lively, president of the Christian conservative Defend the Family
International, is best known for playing a key role in pushing for
tough anti-gay legislation in Uganda. He is also the author of
The
Pink
Swastika: Homosexuality in the Nazi Party, which attempts to
draw parallels between the modern gay rights movement and Nazism, and
calls gay rights dangerous.