New Zealand Bans Homophobic Pastor Steven Anderson
- By
- Carlos Santoscoy
- | October 22, 2019
In a video posted on YouTube, Anderson said that New Zealand is the 34th country to ban him from entry.
“I had planned on going to Australia this November,” Anderson said. “Of course, I was banned from Australia. So then I was going to re-direct my plans and do souling and preaching events in both islands of New Zealand. But I just got the letter last night from New Zealand that I am banned from New Zealand. So, now this is the 34th country to ban me.”
The letter Anderson displays states that he is banned because of failure to “meet character requirements.” The authorities specifically cite Anderson's troubles with immigration authorities in other countries.
Anderson suggested that God would punish Australia and New Zealand for acting against him.
“If I were you and I were living in New Zealand or Australia, I’d be on my knees praying to God that he will be merciful and that he would forgive your country for doing this. According to them, I guess preaching what the Bible actually says about Sodomites is ‘a lack of character,'” Anderson 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.