On Saturday, I repeatedly confronted Holocaust revisionist and anti-gay activist Scott Lively during his lecture at his Draper Park Christian Church in Oklahoma City.
For those unfamiliar with Lively, he founded Abiding Truth Ministries, which was labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. He is author of the heinous book, The Pink Swastika, that blames the Holocaust on gay men. He claims that people are gay because they are molested and promotes the discredited idea that homosexuals recruit children. His latest book, Redeeming the Rainbow, quotes disgraced researcher Paul Cameron of the Family Research Institute. He is considered responsible for fostering a climate of hate in Uganda that led to the infamous Kill the Gays bill.
There were 33 people attending his seminar at the suburban Oklahoma City church. My purpose for going was to monitor his talk and confront his lies. This was not easy, because this hardcore fundie church was hostile territory. There was also a police officer on-hand, which made confronting Lively a dicey task. The last thing I needed was to leave the talk in handcuffs, which would have played to Lively’s bogus narrative that he is a Christian martyr besieged by homosexuals.
My trip inside the Lion’s Den was the final action taken in this city by LGBT advocates and their allies. On Thursday, we held a press conference that was covered by the local newspaper, The Daily Oklahoman. On Friday, I participated in a live-audience edition of Oklahoma: Inside Out called “Speaking Only The Truth,” hosted by the Cimarron Alliance’s amazing Executive Director Scott Hamilton.
In the following audio clip, you will hear me repeatedly confront the lies of Scott Lively. There will be numerous instances where you will beg me to speak out, but I was unable to do so. It is critical that people understand that this was not a debate. It was a lecture by Lively, which made speaking out incredibly difficult. I had to look for openings where I could interject without being ejected or arrested. The civil, but glowering, crowd did not make the task any easier. Nevertheless, Truth Wins Out was there on the scene to ensure that Lively would not be able to spew lies without opposition.
At the moment, I am traveling in the heartland so I cannot provide a specific time code for our verbal tussle, nor give an in-depth analysis of his screed. That will come when I get to a proper desk in which I can write more. In the meantime, I have provided the audio of his talk and our sparring for those who are interested.
