U.S. Law Suit Against Uganda Anti-LGBT Laws

There is a law suit that is being held in Springfield MA against a U.S. citizen who is backing the Uganda law to make being LGBT punishable by life in prison.

Sexual Minorities Uganda v. Scott Lively
Center For Constitutional Rights

On March 14, 2012, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Sexual Minorities Uganda, a non-profit umbrella organization for LGBT advocacy groups in Uganda, against Abiding Truth Ministries President Scott Lively. Filed in the United States District Court in Springfield, Massachusetts, the suit alleges that Lively’s involvement in anti-gay efforts in Uganda, including his active participation in the conspiracy to strip away fundamental rights from LGBT persons, constitutes persecution. This is the first known Alien Tort Statute (ATS) case seeking accountability for persecution on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Status

Oral Argument on the Defendant's Motion to Dismiss is set for Monday, January 7, 2013, at the federal courthouse in Springfield, Massachusetts.

This should be a very interesting trail, if you want to attend today’s court session there is a link to the directions to the courthouse in the article.

Here is a little background on the case…

Uganda gay group sues US minister over anti-gay bill
BBC News – US & Canada
15 March 2012

A Ugandan gay rights group has filed a lawsuit against a US minister accusing him of involvement in a campaign to persecute gay people in Uganda.
[…]
The case is based on a statute they say allows foreigners to file civil lawsuits against Americans for alleged violations of international law.

To mark the legal action, about 70 protesters marched from the US district court in Springfield, Massachusetts on Wednesday.

Mr Lively was one of several US evangelicals who visited Uganda in 2009 shortly before a bill was drafted that made certain homosexual acts punishable by death.

That bill has since been amended with a life prison sentence instead of the death penalty, but gay groups in Uganda say they have faced increasing threats since its introduction.

Mr Lively, who leads Abiding Truth Ministries, said he never told the Ugandan legislature to implement the death penalty and has informed them he disapproved of the punishment.

As I said this could be a very important case of international law and could very well set a precedent on how US citizen who interfere with another country politics on human rights can be sued.