Hate preacher Franklin Graham vows to make his UK tour ‘even bigger’ despite being dropped from every single venue
Anti-LGBT+ hate preacher Franklin Graham. (LOGAN CYRUS/AFP/Getty)
Anti-LGBT+ US hate preacher Franklin Graham has vowed that his UK tour will still go on, and that it will be “even bigger”, despite every single venue cancelling him.
The Trump-loving preacher and son of Billy Graham, who is known for praising Vladimir Putin’s anti-gay laws and blaming gay people for a “moral 9/11“, is set to visit the UK at the start of Pride Month in June as part of an evangelist tour.
His plans are currently in tatters, however, as every single venue he was supposed to perform at has cancelled on him.
The Utilita Arena in Newcastle was the final venue to announce it had axed the preacher, following the lead of venues in Birmingham, Newport, Glasgow, Milton Keynes, Sheffield and Liverpool. A London date, also planned, never even secured a venue.
But now Graham has vowed that not only will the tour still go ahead, but that it will be “even bigger”.
He told the Religion News Service (RNS): “This attack on me is an attack on religious freedom and freedom of speech.
“For any Christian group that wants to rent a venue that believes the Bible is the Word of God, they’re in danger of being canceled.”
Graham also plans to sue all seven venues that have cancelled, and told RNS that he expects to win.
Franklin Graham said the UK tour will find “larger venues”.
In a separate interview, for Premier Christian News, he said: “There are other venues. It’s a little bit of a headache. We’ve certainly talked to other venues and many of them have indicated it wouldn’t be an issue with them.
“Some of the venues that we will probably book will be actually larger venues than we had previously. Give it a few more weeks and we should be in a position to name those venues.”
He added: “We’re coming. Some people may think we have cancelled, we’re not cancelling anything. We’re coming.”
