Now Jamaicans try to block ‘kill gays’ preacher Steven Anderson

After being banned by South Africa, American pastor Steven Anderson is now trying to spread his anti-LGBT hate in Jamaica.

Anderson plans to visit the island nation on January 29 in order to “preach the gospel and preach about Jesus and preach about salvation”, he told The Gleaner.

A petition has been launched calling on the Jamaican government to stop Anderson from entering the country.

Anderson, who heads up the Arizona-based Faithful Word Baptist Church, has stated that killing gay people would free the world from the AIDS epidemic. He also praised the Orlando Massacre as “good news” because “there’s 50 less paedophiles in this world”.

Anderson has continued to preach that governments must execute gay people and tells his followers that women should be subordinate to men and should focus on “getting married and having children”.

Jamaica’s LGBT rights group J-FLAG said it is concerned about the controversial preacher’s visit.

“We hope that the relevant authorities will take the necessary steps to monitor his visit and ensure that messages which promote hate, disrespect and violence are not tolerated,” Jaevion Nelson, the group’s acting executive director, told The Gleaner.

Fellow activist Maurice Tomlinson praised the petition’s creator, Jay John, for “starting this important discussion”. Tomlinson added: “We can’t allow these foreign murder-preachers to keep sneaking into our country and poisoning the minds of our people.”

On September 13, 2016, the then Minister of Home Affairs Malusi Gigaba declared Anderson “a prohibited person in South Africa” after he was presented with a dossier of evidence and petitions signed by more than 60,000 people.

Gigaba cited the protection of LGBTI people from discrimination in the Constitution and the Equality Act, which bans hate speech, as the basis for his decision.

Anderson was also thrown out of Botswana when he tried to start a church there, has been banned from entering the UK and Canada and was told he is not welcome in Malawi.

You can sign the petition against Anderson’s Jamaica visit here.