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Steven Anderson, well-known for his , spearheads the New Independent Fundamental Baptist Movement (New IFB), whose ministers spoke at the gathering. But it was the inclusion of Anderson鈥檚 lesser-known associates that revealed the breadth of the New IFB鈥檚 growing influence.

The New IFB is a group of 22 domestic and eight international churches led by Anderson鈥檚 colleagues and acolytes. Those evangelists often rival his rhetoric in their depictions of LGBTQ people as rapists and pedophiles who are a danger to society and worthy of death.

Bruce Mejia, an acolyte of Anderson鈥檚 from Los Angeles, called for mass executions of LGBTQ people by civil authorities at the conference. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 advocate Christians to go out and be vigilantes and try to put these f---聽to death,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e want the government to do it.鈥�

Anderson聽pastors Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona. He gained national attention for , where 49 people were killed and 53 injured in an attack at an LGBTQ nightclub in Orlando. Anderson鈥檚 violent rhetoric against LGBTQ people has gotten him banned from 32 countries, including most recently , where he鈥檇 planned to preach in late May.

The 鈥淢ake America Straight Again鈥� conference came two days after the third anniversary of the Pulse attack, and 聽in Detroit, where the killer targeted the victims because they were part of the LGBTQ community.

The speakers at the conference were:

鈼� Roger Jimenez, pastor of Verity Baptist Church in Sacramento, California

鈼� Aaron Thompson, pastor of Sure Foundation Baptist Church in Vancouver, Washington

鈼� Tommy McMurtry, pastor of Liberty Baptist Church in Rock Falls, Illinois

鈼� Bruce Mejia, leader of Faithful Word Baptist Church LA in Los Angeles, California

鈼� Steven Anderson, pastor of Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona

鈼� Patrick Boyle, pastor of Revival Baptist Church in Clermont, Florida

At the conference, held June 14-16 in Orlando, Florida, speaker after speaker railed against the LGBTQ community. Preachers repeated long-discredited myths such as linking homosexuality to pedophilia and child abuse, and said LGBTQ people should be barred from adopting or fostering children. Like Grayson Fritts, their New IFB colleague in Knoxville, Tennessee, they called for the government to kill LGBTQ people.

聽is the pastor of All Scripture Baptist Church and a detective with the Knox County Sheriff鈥檚 Department. He made headlines this month after delivering a June 2 sermon 聽that police officers in 2019 should be arresting LGBTQ people so they can be put to death. (Fritts had already 聽from the sheriff鈥檚 department prior to the sermon, and will leave the department July 19; until then he鈥檚 on paid sick leave.) Following the publicity around Fritts鈥檚 statements, 聽to host an event for Fritts and his church.

Jimenez, the Verity pastor, set the tone for the conference when he compared homosexuality to bestiality. He emphasized a myth popular in the anti-LGBTQ movement: that homosexuals are pedophiles and a danger to children. He claimed public school systems are working to convert kids to homosexuality.

Thompson, of Sure Foundation Baptist Church, asserted that the government should never have legalized adoption and foster parenting for same-sex couples. He also attacked Drag Queen Story Hour聽events that have become common in public libraries nationwide, calling that movement a strategy for homosexuals to recruit children.

McMurtry, of Liberty Baptist Church, had hoped for physical confrontation at the conference. Before heading to Florida, he 聽to 鈥減ray that if they do any protests, that it gets violent, they have Stand Your Ground in Florida, so we鈥檙e allowed to fight back. I say bring it.鈥�

During the conference, McMurtry linked LGBTQ people to child abuse and disease, saying, 鈥淓ven when they鈥檙e diagnosed with AIDS, they鈥檙e still doing their perversion. 鈥� And if they want kids, they鈥檙e going to do whatever they鈥檝e gotta do to get those kids, whatever they can.鈥�

Mejia, who oversees the Los Angeles satellite of Anderson鈥檚 Faithful Word Baptist Church, preached on 鈥渨aging war against the sodomites.鈥� 鈥淓very generation has a war that they have to partake in,鈥� he declared. 鈥淭his is our war.鈥�

The climax of Mejia鈥檚 sermon came when he pulled a rainbow flag out and ripped it in half, yelling, 鈥淚鈥檓 so sick and tired of them parading this thing around us,鈥� to loud cheers from the audience.

Anderson insisted that one of the gay rights movement鈥檚 primary goals is to lower the age of sexual consent, and falsely claimed the Netherlands鈥� age of consent is 12. .

Anderson asserted that 40 percent聽of pedophiles are homosexuals, even though they account for only 2 percent聽of the population.

Both numbers are false: A 聽estimated the U.S.鈥檚 LGBT population at 4.5 percent, and, as noted in 聽by the Stop Abuse Campaign, 鈥淭he research is clear, the sexual orientation of an adult is not a factor in the analysis of child abuse. The, the , the 聽and the all have policy statements stating there is no correlation between homosexuality and child abuse.

As Anderson left Revival Baptist Church Saturday afternoon, he briefly聽 outside the church before walking away and yelling, 鈥淕et AIDS and die!鈥�

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