US pastor on trial for role in Uganda anti-gay law

A US court has ruled that a pastor, Scott Lively, will face trials for crimes against humanity for his role in influencing the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA).

President of Abiding Truth Ministries, Scott Lively, a known anti-homosexuality preacher recently described homosexuality as an "infection" and worse than mass murder.

He has also accused gay people of being "agents of America's moral decline," and co-authored “The Pink Swastika” a book which opines that "homosexuals [are] the true inventors of Nazism and the guiding force behind many Nazi atrocities."

A lawsuit was originally filed against Scott Lively in March 2012 by the Centre for Constitutional Rights (CCR) on behalf of umbrella advocacy group Sexual Minorities Uganda accusing him of direct involvement in anti-gay efforts in Uganda and of aiding persecution.

His visit to Uganda in 2009 during which he addressed an anti-gay speech to influential leaders, was heavily mentioned in the charges against him.

He however defended himself saying that he had not done anything wrong in the East African country, except preach the gospel and speak his opinion about homosexuals.

A Boston Court of Appeals last week however denied Lively's petition to have the case dismissed and has transferred the case to the Federal Court.

CCR's 'lawyer, Pamela C Spees, said that the case is "not just based on his speech".

"It's based on his conduct; Belief is one thing, but actively trying to harm and deprive other people of their rights is the definition of persecution," she said.

The Anti-Homosexual-Acts came into force in Uganda in March. Though the country’s correctional system continues make arrests to offenders of the AHA, its Constitutional Court ruled in August that the Act was "null and void" because not enough representatives were in the room for the vote when it was passed by parliament in December 2013.