An anti-LGBT, anti-Semitic preacher is the first person to ever to be barred from entering Ireland, under orders from Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan.
Baptist pastor Steven L Anderson, who is based in Arizona, was due to deliver a sermon in Dublin on May 26.
He previously said he spent nights praying for Barack Obama’s death and has already been banned from all 26 EU countries in the Schengen Area.
Anderson has also gained notoriety for his extreme anti-gay views and for being a Holocaust denier.
Over 14,000 people had signed a petition from Changing Attitude Ireland opposing Anderson’s visit as he “advocated exterminating LGBT+ people”.
The petition states, ‘Steven Anderson is a Holocaust-denier, Islamophobe and anti-LGBT+ extremist who is scheduled to preach in Dublin, Ireland on May 26, 2019, possibly in an attempt to get people to change their minds on last year’s abortion referendum.’
Minister Flanagan signed the exclusion order on Sunday with immediate effect, under the Immigration Act 1999.
He said, “I have signed the exclusion order under my executive powers in the interests of public policy.”
Main image via Change.org
