In March 2008, as part of a public lecture on Sectarianism and Secularism, Devine drew controversy when he spoke about a perceived "gay lobby" attending Holocaust memorials "to create for themselves the image of a group of people under persecution." He identified this as part of a "giant conspiracy". Devine explained, ""Like Mel Gibson, who said, 'I'm going to pick a fight', so am I...The homosexual lobby has been extremely effective in aligning itself with minority groups. It is ever present at the service each year for the Holocaust memorial, as if to create for themselves the image of a group of people under persecution"."