Readying U.S. pastor’s trial over anti-gay venom in Uganda | 76 CRIMES

Frank Mugisha, Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), provides an update, the most important surrounding Martin Ssempa.  I personally believe since Ssemp is a US citizen, he should be facing the same charges as Lively but my basis for sucjh is justmy disdain for the entire operation.

In early 2015, it was learned that [anti-gay Uganda Pastor] Martin Ssempa is a U.S. citizen, which means he is subject to the U.S. court’s jurisdiction. In May, SMUG requested that the court issue a subpoena, which is a command by a court for a non-party witness to give testimony and produce documents relevant to the issues in the case.  With this subpoena, SMUG seeks to question Ssempa under oath concerning his work with Lively and his involvement in the persecution of the LGBTI community. It is important to emphasize that Ssempa is not a party to this case. He is not himself being sued; SMUG is only seeking his testimony.
The court granted SMUG’s request and issued the subpoena in early May. Since the court’s order, SMUG’s lawyers have attempted to serve Ssempa with the subpoena in order to question him and recover documents from him, but have been unable to locate him.  He has disappeared from social media as well as his TV show and has not been seen publicly.  According to some reports, Ssempa may have disappeared in an attempt to avoid the subpoena.  For example, see [“Pastor Martin Ssempa Summoned: The Question Is, Where Is He And Should We Be Concerned?” on the Uganda Gospel Life blog.]

Readying U.S. pastor’s trial over anti-gay venom in Uganda | 76 CRIMES

On Trial for Crime Against Humanity, Homophobe Scott Lively Begs for Cash | Advocate.com

Scott Lively has been a busy little beaver the past month.   According to The Advocate, SMUG has been able to push their case forward.

Antigay Massachusetts pastor Scott Lively is having a hard time — he's currently on trial, facing a lawsuit accusing him of a crime against humanity. Lively is also broke, according to a frantic message he posted on his website last week.

Lively is spending time in a Springfield, Mass. courtroom where a judge is deciding whether to bring a precedent-setting lawsuit to trial. A Ugandan LGBT group called Sexual Minorities Uganda sued Lively over his trips to the nation in the last decade, where, they claim, he convinced local legislators to embrace antigay laws that cost them their freedom, comfort, and privacy.

The Ugandan gay rights group says Lively not only delivered hateful speeches against LGBT people, calling them "brutal," "savage," and harboring a predilection toward pedophilia, he worked with lawmakers to actively take away their rights and put them in harm's way.

In 2009 a bill was introduced in Uganda's Parliament that called for certain consensual gay sex acts to be punishable by death. It never became law; a version calling for life imprisonment did, but it was struck down by the nation's highest court. Still, homosexuality remains illegal in Uganda. Many Ugandan LGBT people live in constant fear of violence, and local gay leaders have been killed. SMUG says Lively is partly to blame for the dangerous environment and should be convicted of a crime against humanity.

SMUG was able to bring the case to court under a statute allowing foreigners to sue Americans in U.S. federal court. Lively is trying to get the case tossed out and denies he's responsible for the horrible conditions that LGBT Ugandans live under.

Where The Advocate only touches on his fundraising, Right Wing Watch goes to town,

Lively bragged that he is being targeted by gay activists because his Abiding Truth Ministries is "one of the most feared and hated pro-family organizations in the world ... because we know more about the history, strategies and tactics of their movement than just about anyone on our side." The downside of being so "feared" is that he is now facing a lawsuit stemming from his anti-gay activism in Uganda, which is why Lively was begging for donations:

My friends, SMUG v Lively is truly a David v Goliath battle. I’m running a one-man office on a shoestring budget of less than $120,000 per year, provided almost entirely by donations of $50 and $100 from average people. Our donor base is small, mostly elderly, and very difficult to expand due to the success of the anti-Lively propaganda. While Liberty Counsel has been funding our legal defense, this lawsuit has nevertheless caused us major financial hardship and seriously threatens our future.

Frankly, I question whether ATM will survive the decade without greater support from the individuals scattered across the society who recognize the danger of the LGBT agenda and are willing to stand with us financially against it. That can only happen if the people who already support us encourage their like-minded friends and allies to donate to us.

In a separate "letter to the international pro-family movement," Lively declared that "the Leaders and Activists of the LGBT movement are malicious deceivers and evil-doers, deliberately subverting civilized society and viciously attacking all opponents to advance their selfish and self-destructive interests" and called for anti-gay activists to focus on preventing the passage of antidiscrimination ordinances that protect sexual orientation in places where they don't already exist and repealing them where they do.

On Trial for Crime Against Humanity, Homophobe Scott Lively Begs for Cash | Advocate.com

Outbreak of anti-LGBTI attacks in Uganda | 76 CRIMES

Here are some brief accounts of the past 5 days [October LGBTQI violence] in Uganda.

• On the 17th October, SMUG’s administrator Diane Bakuraira was attacked at the gate of her home. Her attackers told her to stop dressing like a man, while repeatedly punching her in the face.
• On the same day, Jay Mulucha and Apako Williams — known transgender activists — were attacked in the night at a sports bar called Legends, frequented by rugby players and sports fans. Apako and Jay had bottles flung at them, and group of rugby players repeatedly punched them. The bouncers of the bar joined in. Their bleeding bodies were flung against the metal bars at the back of the police van. Instead of arresting the attackers, these known national rugby players were escorted to their cars by the police.
• Beyonce Karungi was attacked on Sunday night, 18th October at her home. She shares this home with four other trans women. They were all threatened, as the attackers (men) threatened to cut off their testicles. On the 21st October on her way to find a place to stay, Beyonce faced another group of men determined to kill her. She says that while she was being assaulted, the attackers kept saying, “Let’s remove her teeth.”
• On the 20th October 2015, Joseph, a trans woman, was attacked by a known blackmailer. Sometime back, Joseph was being blackmailed by a man known to her. She filed a case at the police station and the file remains open as investigations continue. She faces repeated violence and threats.

Outbreak of anti-LGBTI attacks in Uganda | 76 CRIMES

Scott Lively, Due On Trial For “Crimes Against Humanity” Early 2016, Will Be Represented By Kim Davis’s Law Firm

But…he takes care of homeless people. And he’s a Family Man. And he is a Pastor.  And he found a way to put his life together — and then some — after 16 years of struggle. And…

He is one of the most dangerous people walking on the face of the earth today.

He’s due to go to trial near the beginning of 2016. Guess who’s representing him?

The case, filed in 2012, is expected to go to trial early next year in a U.S. district court in Massachusetts….

Lively is represented by Liberty Counsel, a Christian law firm that also represents Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who was recently jailed for her refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

That’s right. Liberty Counsel — the hate group currently supporting Kim Davis.
And when it comes to Kim Davis herself, according to the Religion News Service, Lively complimented her “courage and commitment.”

Right. You know what takes “courage and commitment”? People who have to be in hiding from the laws Lively allegedly helped pass who, nevertheless, go on national television and speak against them.

I have posted quite a bit about Lively and his anti-gay antics, but not much concerning his upcoming trial (my bad).  Quite frankly his trial falls under an area of law - the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) - I have no knowledge of. According to the Center for Constitutional Rights (CRR):

This is the first ATS case seeking accountability for persecution on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity as a crime against humanity. The United States Supreme Court has affirmed the use of the ATS as a remedy for serious violations of international law that are widely accepted and clearly defined. Persecution is defined in international law as the "intentional and severe deprivation of fundamental rights contrary to international law by reason of the identity of the group or collectivity." Lively – a U.S.-based attorney, author, and self-described world-leading expert on the “gay movement” – has traveled to Uganda and other countries, including Russia, and played a key role in the effort to strip LGBTI people of fundamental rights, including the rights to free expression, association, and assembly.

I am sure with Liberty Counsel now at the helm of his defense, we will be hearing about how Lively is such a martyr for the Christian cause.

Scott Lively, Due On Trial For “Crimes Against Humanity” Early 2016, Will Be Represented By Kim Davis’s Law Firm