South Africa has hit the headlines with aplomb after it was announced that an anti gay US pastor, Steven Anderson, has been banned from entering the country.
Anderson, head pastor of the Faithful Word Baptist Church in Arizona, was due down south to speak at the invitation of a local church and engage in some evangelising, but some comments he has made in the past against LGBT individuals amounted to ‘hate speech’, the South African government has announced.
Home Affairs minister Malusi Gigaba thus announced an application for visa by the preacher has been rejected, having been declared a ‘prohibited person’.
“We have a duty to prevent harm and hatred, in all forms, against LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersex) as against any other person in a democratic state,” the minister said, explaining the rationale behind the decision.
Anderson has a rich history of anti gay, anti women and anti Semitic comments, stemming from his insistence on a literal interpretation of the Christian bible.
He has described gays as ‘sodomites’ and ‘paedophiles’ in the past and rejoiced when 50 gay people were killed at an Orlando nightclub earlier this year, saying there were ’50 less paedophiles’ in the world.’
His ban from entering the country occurred after an online petition was started to stop him entering the country, which gained over 60,000 signatures.