Scott Lively is among the social conservatives applauding passage of a Russian law which prohibits “gay propaganda” to minors.

President Vladimir Putin signed the controversial bill into law last week.

The measure is modeled after a law which took effect last year in St. Petersburg. St. Petersburg's law criminalizes “public actions aimed at propaganda of pederasty, lesbianism, bisexuality and transgenderism among minors.” It also bans public events that promote gay rights, such as Gay Pride parades and gay rights demonstrations.

“I am personally very pleased to see this development, having called specifically for legislation of this sort in my speaking tour of the Soviet Union in 2006 and 2007,” Lively wrote, referring to a 50-city speaking tour.

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.”

“The key to pro-family victory is preventing any more 'Gay Fascism Bills' form being adopted,” he wrote, referring to anti-discrimination laws based on sexual orientation, “and uprooting the seeds that have already been planted, all toward the openly declared goal of discouraging all sex outside of marriage for the health of our society. Anything less is futile, except to slow the process of homosexual control.”

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.

Austin Ruse, president of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute, told the AP that he “admired” the law. “We want to let them know they do in fact have support among American NGOs (non-governmental organizations) on social issues,” he said.