Hate preacher Franklin Graham insists his UK tour will go ahead ‘as originally planned’, despite almost every venue cancelling him
Franklin Graham (LOGAN CYRUS/AFP/Getty)
US hate preacher Franklin Graham has defiantly claimed his UK tour will go ahead “as originally planned”, even though all but one of the venues has cancelled on him due to his anti-LGBT+ views.
The Trump-supporting preacher, who believes gay people are “the enemy” of civilisation and are responsible for a “moral 9/11”, is set to visit the UK during Pride Month in June as part of an eight-day evangelist tour.
That tour was left in tatters when Liverpool ACC, the FlyDSA Arena in Sheffield, Glasgow Hydro, Arena Birmingham, ICC Wales and Milton Keynes Arena all cancelled his planned appearances over concerns of his ‘homophobia’.
The Utilita Newcastle is the only venue so far not to have cancelled, but LGBT+ advocates are continuing to petition organisers to pull the plug.
Despite this, Graham insists he will still be visiting the UK and has asked his followers to pray for him as he fights against the “spiritual warfare“.
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association UK (BGEA UK) said in a statement: “We are still finalising where the Graham Tour will be held, but we want to be clear that the initiative and all associated training courses will take place on the same dates as originally planned.
“We are continuing to consider sites for the main event and when we have determined where the meetings will take place, we will post updates. All Christian Life and Witness courses are proceeding as scheduled.”
Franklin Graham talks with President Donald Trump (Ron Sachs-Pool/Getty Images)
Graham addresses the LGBT+ community
In a Facebook post last week, Graham sought to downplay his beliefs in a “letter to the LGBTQ community in the UK” – which maintains that gay people are sinful and should repent.
He wrote: “It is said by some that I am coming to the UK to bring hateful speech to your community. This is just not true.
“I am coming to share the Gospel, which is the Good News that God loves the people of the UK, and that Jesus Christ came to this earth to save us from our sins.
“The rub, I think, comes in whether God defines homosexuality as sin. The answer is yes. But God goes even further than that, to say that we are all sinners – myself included.”
But he changed his tune as yet more venues cancelled him, and began hitting out at protestors who opposed him. “The other side talk about how tolerant they are and how inclusive they are, but they are the least tolerant, the least inclusive people in the UK,” he said.
He also threatened legal action against Glasgow’s SEC Arena, urging them to reconsider or find themselves in court.
