Anti-Gay Pastor Scott Lively Shows Up at Mass. Gubernatorial Forum

Scott Lively, the Springfield, Mass.-based pastor who allegedly had a part in creating anti-gay laws in Uganda and Russia, is running for Massachusetts governor as an independent and attended a Boston gubernatorial forum on LGBT issues Tuesday night.

At the forum, held at the Boston Public Library and sponsored by Massachusetts-based LGBT rights group MassEquality and WGBH, Lively was asked about addressing domestic violence in the LGBT community, Mass Live reports.

"Why should we be propping up homosexual relationships instead of encouraging people into healthy normal...relationships?" Lively asked.

Mass Live reports that someone from the mostly pro-gay audience yelled, "move to Uganda." According to the news site, the eight candidates ignored Lively for the most part and focused on their own views supporting LGBT rights.

The Democrats candidates at the forum include state Treasure Steve Grossman, Attorney General Martha Coakley, former Medicare and Medicaid administrator Don Berwick, former Homeland Security official Juliette Kayyem and biotech exec Joe Avvelone. The independent candidates include venture capitalist Jeff McCormick, health care executive Evan Falchuk and Lively. Republican Charlie Baker, former health care executive and 2010 gubernatorial nominee, did not attended due to a scheduling conflict.

According to the Lowell Sun, Lively opposed almost every pro-LGBT position the other candidates supported. He said he was "in this race to advance a biblical world view."

"As governor I would ban LGBT propaganda to children," he added.

McCormick, who sat next to Lively and answered a number of questions after the pastor, was apparently frustrated with Lively and eventually said, "I should win an award after this. Someone owes me a martini."

The other candidates largely disagreed with Lively's views.

"Those of us who support LGBTQ rights are on the right side of history, and no amount of wishful thinking by someone who imagines that if only we wished hard enough these issues would go away, it's just not the way reality works," Kayyem told Mass Live after the forum. "In some ways, ignoring the commentary was the best approach."

Most of the other candidates shared the same views on LGBT rights, including support on legislation that would prohibit discrimination and require public facilities to have public accommodations for transgender people.

In his closing statement, Lively quoted a passage from the Bible, stating that homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Lively has been a longtime anti-gay activist and has traveled around the world to spread his anti-gay message. He's preached in Latvia and Siberia but the pastor is currently in the middle of lawsuit that alleges he persecuted Uganda's LGBT community by working with some Ugandan government officials and Ugandan religious leaders to help create laws denying LGBT people human rights based on their sexuality.

Though its been reported Lively does not support Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality bill, which sentences gays to death for "aggravated homosexuality," he says he believes gays should be shunned from public life and their "recovery" carried out in private.

In September, Lively also claimed that he is responsible for Russia passing its controversial "homosexual propaganda law." Earlier this month, he praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling him a "defender of true human rights."

Despite the allegations made against him and his prominent anti-gay history, Lively announced late last year that he will run for Massachusetts governor as an independent.

His campaign motto is: "Qualified. Experienced. Electable."

You can watch forum in full below:

Photo by Tim Pierce, located at Creative Commons: https://www.flickr.com/photos/qwrrty/15724183046