Republican who claimed the Nazi Party was run by gay people is running for governor of Massachusetts

A Republican politician who is campaigning to become the governor of Massachusetts once wrote a book claiming that the Nazi Party was run by homosexuals.

Scott Lively will face Charlie Baker in September's primary for the state after gaining enough support at the Republican Party convention in Massachusetts last week.

However, he has a very patchy record when it comes to equality and homophobia. In 1995 he wrote a highly controversial book called The Pink Swastika.

In the book, he claimed that the German National Socialist Party led by Adolf Hitler was run by "militaristic" homosexuals who instigated the Holocaust.

Of course, Lively's claims are utterly ridiculous and have been widely criticised and debunked by historians since the publication of the book.

His list of controversies does not end there either, as Lively is the founder of an anti-LGBT+ group, Abiding Truth Ministries, and has called for homosexuality to be made illegal.

In 2009 he spoke at a conference in Uganda which led to an increase of persecution towards gay people in the African nation. Bustleadd that he also played a role in developing Russia's gay propaganda law.

He also believes that abortions should be made illegal and has written on his own campaign website.

Life is the first and greatest gift we have.

I embrace the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death, and unconditionally oppose the murder of unborn children through abortion.

I support the recriminalisation of abortion.

Worryingly and despite all this, Lively still managed to pick up votes from 626 of 2,000 delegates at the convention, more than the 15 per cent required to be entered on to the ballot.

Massachusettes political consultant Anthony Cignoli is quoted by Mass Live as saying:

When you've got the nation's most popular governor at the top of the ballot, certainly it's strange that Scott Lively would be able to get from the Republican convention-goers that kind of support and that kind of a vote.

Did these convention-goers, these delegates, go there specifically for him, was this an effort that was orchestrated and to the credit of his campaign?

Or is this indicative of what the base of the Republican Party regulars are?

However, it is thought that Lively's campaign will not gain much traction beyond this point as Baker has been the governor of the state since 2015 and still attracted 70 per cent of support at the convention.

HT Newsweek

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