Anti-Gay US Preacher Banned From Entering Jamaica

 An anti-gay U.S. preacher known to deny the Holocaust and his call for stoning gay people to death has been denied entry to Jamaica. 

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Steven Anderson, from the Faithful World Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona, was about to board a flight to Kingston, Jamaica when he was told he wasn't allowed to enter the Caribbean island. Anderson was traveling to Jamaica to speak at the University of the West Indies which later rescinded his invitation. 

“The decision was made by the chief immigration officer because the pastor’s statements are not conducive to the current climate," the spokesperson for the Ministry of National Security said, the Guardian reported.

Jay John, an activist, launched an online petition urging the Jamaican government to bar Anderson. The online appeal garnered over 39,000 signatures. 

"This is a positive outcome in which I am very pleased," John said, according to the Guardian. "I am glad that leadership was shown in protecting LGBTQ Jamaicans, women and other minority groups which Steven Anderson has attacked over the past." 

"I’m pretty surprised," Anderson said in a video posted on YouTube, "because I’ve seen a lot of stuff online that said that Jamaica is ‘the most homophobic country in the world.'

"So, it’s pretty weird that I would be banned from Jamaica because of my views on homosexuality."

Anderson was slammed for his comment, "50 less pedophiles in the world" after the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando in June 2016.