Religious right activist E.W. Jackson this week announced his bid for the U.S. Senate.

Jackson, an outspoken opponent of LGBT rights and the founder of Exodus Faith Ministries in Chesapeake, is hoping to win the Virginia Republican primary to challenge incumbent Senator Tim Kaine, a Democrat, in 2018.

Other Republicans hoping to unseat Kaine are Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chair Corey Stewart and Virginia state Delegate Nick Freitas.

In 2013, Jackson unsuccessfully ran for lieutenant governor of Virginia.

On Monday, Right Wing Watch published a long list of Jackson's most outrageous comments, including stating that “demonic” former President Barack Obama has “unleashed hell on this country” and hates America, claiming that the left wants to see Christians and conservatives dead and asserting that transgender reality star Caitlyn Jenner is insane.

In a 2012 interview with Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, Jackson said that gay men and lesbians have “perverted” minds and are “very sick people psychologically, mentally and emotionally.”

“Homosexuality is a horrible sin, it poisons culture, it destroys families, it destroys societies; it brings the judgment of God unlike very few things that we can think of,” he said.

During his 2013 campaign, Jackson denied calling gays “sick,” telling News Channel 8 that he's “a person who respects every individual.”