FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., May 5 (UPI) -- Officials are trying to find out who used a public address system at a South Florida airport to read a Biblical quotation that says homosexuals deserve death.

The passage from Leviticus was read several times over a loudspeaker in the baggage area in a terminal at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported.

Broward County Mayor Josephus Eggelletion Jr. said if the reader proves to be a county employee, he will be fired.

"We welcome all people of all races ... all ethnicities, all religions and sexual orientations," he said. "We have a very large gay population, and we are sorry this occurred."

The microphone for the public address system is accessible to the general public. But anyone using it must know the codes to activate the various airport loudspeakers.

The passage in question is: "If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death."