Australia has banned homophobic pastor
Steven Anderson from the Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe,
Arizona.
Anderson said in a video posted on
YouTube that Australia is the 33rd country to ban him from
entry.
“So I’ve been planning a trip out
to Australia to preach for Pastor Kevin Sepulveda at New Life Baptist
Church in Sunshine Coast and also I was gonna be preaching at New
Life Baptist Church in Sydney, Australia,” Anderson said in the
video. “But I just got word back today that, basically, I’m
banned from Australia. My ETA [Electronic Travel Authority] was
denied by Australia. I’m not going to be permitted to enter the
country.”
Anderson added that he now plans to
visit New Zealand.
“Pastor Kevin Sepulveda is planning
on coming and hopefully bringing a crew from Australia. That is if I
don't get banned from New Zealand,” he said.
Anderson first made headlines in 2014
when he told his congregation that an AIDS-free world is possible “if
you execute the homos like God recommends.” In various interviews
he added that the Bible commands the government to execute gays.
The following year, he cheered the
deaths of 49 people who died in a mass shooting in a gay nightclub in
Orlando, Florida. In June, Anderson appeared at a “Make America
Straight Again” conference in Orlando. The three-day event opened
one day after the third anniversary of the Pulse nightclub massacre.