Pastor Steven Anderson won’t be heading to Jamaica anytime soon.
The anti-gay preacher who pastors at the Faithful Word Baptist Church in Arizona (listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center) has been banned from the country following a petition started by LGBT activists in Jamaica to prevent him from coming into the country.
BBC is reporting that officials said his statements were “not conducive to the current climate” and that he intended to travel to Jamaica with his 14-year-old son to carry out “missionary work” when he was prevented by airline officials from boarding the plane.
“I had a connecting flight in Atlanta, so as soon as I got to Atlanta, Delta Air Lines told me that they received a notification from Jamaica that I was not going to be allowed to enter,” Anderson told The Gleaner newspaper. “I was kind of surprised that Jamaica would ban me for my views on homosexuality.”
Jay John, the activist who launched the online petition said he was glad that the government was listen to the LGBT community in Jamaica.
In its report, the BBC said Jamaica has laws criminalising gay sex and rights groups have warned that LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people face frequent discrimination.
