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At RNC Franklin Graham’s Daughter Attacks Trans Girls as ‘Boys’ Who ‘Put Our Little Girls at Risk’

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First Billy, then Franklin, now Cissie. At the Republican National Convention, a third generation of the evangelical Graham family publicly condemned the LGBTQ community. Is this who we want to have the ear of our elected officials?

“Cissie” Graham Lynch is following in the footsteps of her father, far right wing evangelical Franklin Graham, delivering an ugly and hate-filled attack on transgender girls on national television in prime time, when thousands of young, vulnerable LGBTQ children and teens may be watching.

During Tuesday’s Republican National Convention Cissie Graham called transgender girls “boys” who “put our little girls at risk.”

Graham told millions of viewers that “during the Obama Biden administration … Democrats pressured schools to allow boys to compete at girls’ sports and use girls’ locker rooms. Those are the facts,” she claimed, falsely, since transgender girls are girls – and the courts agree. Graham went on to say that President Donald Trump “withdrew the policies that placed our little girls at risk.”

What President Trump, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos did was place transgender boys and girls at risk, by withdrawing guidance protecting them. President Trump would go on to systematically erase every protection for LGBTQ Americans President Barack Obama had put in place.

Just like her father, Cissie Graham falsely frames Democrats and LGBTQ people as faithless, which is not a “fact,” it’s a lie.

She told Republicans and Americans watching that under President Obama religious freedoms “were under attack.”

“But then we the people elected Donald Trump, people of faith suddenly had a fierce advocate in the White House,” she claimed, equating “people of faith” with “right wing Christians.” Trump’s Muslim ban negates her false claim.

Watch:

Written by David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement. Photo via NCRM

Franklin Graham Claims He’s Not ‘Bashing People Because They May Be Homosexual’

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“If you want to continue living like this, it’s the flames of hell for you,” evangelical pastor Franklin Graham has said. But in an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, he swears he’s not homophobic.

Franklin Graham is doing some public relations work for his Samaritan’s Purse conservative Christian non-profit after the organization was met with great concern and warnings for requiring its medical professionals and even its volunteers working at its Central Park coronavirus field hospital in New York City to sign a document agreeing to support Graham’s anti-LGBTQ beliefs.

After Fox News host Laura Ingraham, who has an ugly history of anti-LGBTQ and white nationalist remarks, announced on-air Wednesday that she was sending Samaritan’s Purse a “significant” donation, she asked Graham why the left is concerned about his anti-LGBTQ policies.

“We have a statement of faith, Laura,” Graham said, as Media Matters reports (video below).

“We believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. And that’s — that goes back to the beginning of time to the first man and woman that God created,” Graham claimed. “And this is our standard, and so for people that we hire — we are a Christian organization. We are a religious organization, so we want to hire people of like mind, and we have a statement of faith that we require our employees to sign. And in that is ‘a marriage is between a man and a woman,’ and this is very offensive to some people and the gay community.”

It’s also very offensive to the majority of Americans. Last year Gallup found nearly three out of four Americans (73 percent) believe same-sex relationship should be legal, and more than six in 10 (63 percent) believe marriages of same-sex couples should be legal.

“And listen,” Graham continued. “I’m not homophobic, and I’m certainly not going around bashing people because they may be homosexual.”

Graham literally is going around bashing people because they are gay.

“I believe in that God loves all of us. He created us all, but we also are sinners, and our sins separate us from God. And I want people to know how they can have a relationship with God, and that’s through faith in his son Jesus Christ. So, I don’t bash homosexuals. I want homosexuals to know the truth, that God does love them.”

Graham also wants gay people to know “the truth of the Gospel,” he has said, but as he preaches it.

“I’m not afraid of homosexuals, I’m really not — matter of fact, I love them,” Graham has said. “I love them enough to care to warn them that if they want to continue living like this, it’s the flames of hell for you.”

Last year Graham infamously warned Pete Buttigieg he will suffer “eternal damnation” if he does not “repent” his homosexuality.

“God’s Word defines homosexuality as sin,” Graham added, criticizing the former Indiana mayor for kissing his husband in public. It’s “something to be repentant of, not something to be flaunted, praised, or politicized.”

Graham’s use of the Bible as a weapon is very selective, as NCRM reported last year.

In 2018 he claimed now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s alleged attempted rape was just something “he did as a teenager” – apparently no repentance required – unlike being gay, according to Graham.

He has also called an alleged child abuser (the details are horrific and sickening) a “great patriot.” Apparently no repentance required there, either.

And Graham has defended Trump’s affair with porn actress Stormy Daniels as “nobody’s business” — although he insisted in 1998 that Bill Clinton’s “sins are not private.”

Watch Graham and Ingraham on Fox News via Media Matters:

Written by David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement. Image via NCRM

Franklin Graham Is Behind NYC’s Central Park COVID-19 Field Hospital

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Volunteers are asked to “support” Graham’s anti-LGBTQ beliefs, while a New York state senator warns the organization not to discriminate.

North Carolina’s infamous anti-LGBTQ activist, Franklin Graham, a religious extremist who is closely tied to President Donald Trump, is behind the emergency COVID-19 field hospital in New York City’s Central Park. Graham founded and runs the evangelical ministry Samaritan’s Purse, whose mission is neither healthcare nor disaster relief, but “to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

It’s unclear how a far right wing anti-LGBTQ Christian evangelical organization was allowed to build a 68-bed field unit that will be managed by a top New York City hospital, Mount Sinai, which has Jewish roots and whose president is openly gay – both of which violate Graham’s mission.

Gothamist notes that Graham has “a track record of using humanitarian missions to proselytize an evangelical agenda.”

The New York Times once described Samaritan’s Purse as an “American evangelical relief group that is using private donations and United States government money to help victims of two earthquakes,” and reported it “has blurred the line between church and state as its volunteers preach, pray and seek converts among people desperate for help.”

Graham wants only Christian medical staff, including doctors, to work in his field hospital.

According to Samaritan’s Purse, volunteers are asked to support Graham’s extreme anti-LGBTQ beliefs.

“The primary mission of Samaritan’s Purse is to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and we seek volunteers who have the same mindset. We ask that volunteers review our Statement of Faith and agree to support the ministry guidelines of Samaritan’s Purse.”

His Statement of Faith includes this belief:

“We believe God’s plan for human sexuality is to be expressed only within the context of marriage, that God created man and woman as unique biological persons made to complete each other. God instituted monogamous marriage between male and female as the foundation of the family and the basic structure of human society. For this reason, we believe that marriage is exclusively the union of one genetic male and one genetic female.”

New York State Senator Brad Hoylman on Monday warned Graham to not discriminate.

Graham has also sent his “mobile ministry center” to NYC.

Written by David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement. Image via NCRM

Franklin Graham Cries ‘Discrimination’ as UK Venues Ban Him Over His ‘Divisive’ Anti-LGBTQ Extremism

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We’re used to it here in the US, but in other countries, Franklin Graham’s hateful rhetoric does not fly at all.

Franklin Graham‘s planned tour of the UK has run in to a snag: It appears few in the UK want him there. The far right evangelical Christian leader with strong ties to President Donald Trump had announced a UK tour starting in June, but as word spread venues started canceling on him, or pulled out of negotiations. At issue: Graham’s anti-LGBTQ extremism.

ACC Liverpool, a convention center adjacent to the John Lennon Peace Monument has blocked Graham, calling him “divisive” and saying he is “incompatible” with their values.

“Over the past few days we have been made aware of a number of statements which we consider to be incompatible with our values,” the ACC Liverpool said in a statement, as The Guardian reports. “In light of this we can no longer reconcile the balance between freedom of speech and the divisive impact this event is having in our city. We have informed the organizers of the event that the booking will no longer be fulfilled.”

The mayor of Liverpool supports the decision:

A London venue has also backed out of negotiations in the wake of “an All Out petition calling on The O2 to refuse to host Graham, with the petition gaining more than 8,500 signatures by early Tuesday morning,” Newsweek reports.

Graham is accusing his UK opponents of discrimination – while falsely suggesting all Christians support him and his beliefs.

“We feel that we are being discriminated against because of our religious beliefs,” Graham said. “Cancelling venue contracts based on the demands of one very vocal group, without consideration for the views and rights of the Christians who contracted for the venue, including the views of thousands of other Christians who support it and who would be negatively impacted, does far more to harm and divide society than simply letting the events go on as planned.”

He also called it “wrong for venue managers and local officials to make a decision that disadvantages Christians,” as if all LGBTQ people are not Christian.

Graham, who says Satan is behind LGBTQ advocacy, had more strong words in response to the lockout, in an open “letter to the LGBTQ community in the UK.”

“The rub, I think, comes in whether God defines homosexuality as sin. The answer is yes,” he told his 8 million Facebook followers. “But God goes even further than that, to say that we are all sinners — myself included. The Bible says that every human being is guilty of sin and in need of forgiveness and cleansing. The penalty of sin is spiritual death — separation from God for eternity.”

“I invite everyone in the LGBTQ community to come and hear for yourselves the Gospel messages that I will be bringing from God’s Word, the Bible. You are absolutely welcome,” he claimed.

Written by David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement. Image via NCRM

Is Chick-Fil-A Really Changing Their Stance On Anti-LGBTQ Donations?

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We have reason to believe that the religiously-guided chicken sandwich chain is being given more credit than they deserve. If you read this article, you’ll see why.

Back at the beginning of this week, you couldn’t escape discussion of the fact that Chick-Fil-A would no longer donate to anti-LGBTQ donations. That, in fact, was the headline of the article CNN ran on Monday, November 18: “Chick-fil-A will no longer donate to anti-LGBTQ organizations.”

This was cause for both joy and sorrow. Advocate proclaimed this decision by the chain a victory for LGBTQ activists. Meanwhile, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who earlier this year signed the “Save Chick-Fil-A” bill to force San Antonio’s airport to accept a Chick-Fil-A franchise, publicly declared his intention to boycott the fast-food chain over their decision. A lot of social media users proclaimed themselves to have made the same decision on Twitter.

But what’s really going on here? Did Chick-Fil-A really ever commit to making no more donations to groups with anti-LGBTQ policies? As you could probably predict, it’s way more complicated than that. What Chick-Fil-A said in the statement all these articles were based on was that they were “introducing a more focused giving approach… Staying true to its mission of nourishing the potential in every child, the Chick-fil-A Foundation will deepen its giving to a smaller number of organizations working exclusively in the areas of education, homelessness and hunger.”

As a result of this change in policy, they would be focusing donations in the immediate future on the education-focused Junior Achievement USA and the homelessness-focused Covenant House International. Those donations and $25,000 donations to local food banks on the occasion of each new Chick-Fil-A location opening would be the the sole donations the fast-food chain would make in 2020.

This wasn’t done specifically to end donations to anti-LGBTQ groups. Indeed, as a result of this decision, Chick-Fil-A ended donations not just to the three anti-LGBTQ organizations they’d previously donated to, but to over 80 organizations that had received donations from the chain in the previous year.

In a statement quoted by Fox Business, Tim Tassopoulos, President and COO of Chick-Fil-A, said that the new fundraising decisions were based on more strictly targeted goals. “Our goal is to donate to the most effective organizations in the areas of education, homelessness and hunger,” he stated. He further refused to rule out any future donations to anti-LGBTQ organizations.

“No organization will be excluded from future consideration – faith based or non-faith based,” stated Tassopoulos.

Therefore, despite the effect of their changed donation policy being that they will give no money to anti-LGBTQ groups in 2020, there’s no reason to see this policy change as indicative of any change in their anti-LGBTQ stance. That’s true regardless of whether or not they plan to give any more money to anti-LGBTQ organizations like the Fellowship of Christian Athletes — who, let’s not forget, has received over $2 million from Chick-Fil-A in the past two years.

Meal from Chick-Fil-A
Photo via Chick-Fil-A

No less an anti-LGBTQ authority on the evangelical right than Franklin Graham confirmed this with a post on his Facebook page Thursday. Beginning the post with the question, “Has Chick-Fil-A caved?” Graham went on to describe a phone call he’d had with Dan Cathy, CEO of Chick-Fil-A — the one whose commentary back in 2012 made everyone aware of the fast-food chain’s anti-LGBTQ beliefs and policies.

“Dan was very clear that they have not bowed down to anyone’s demands, including the LGBTQ community,” Graham wrote in the post. “They will continue to support whoever they want to support. They haven’t changed who they are or what they believe. Chick-fil-A remains committed to Christian values. Dan Cathy assured me that this isn’t going to change. I hope all those who jumped to the wrong conclusion about them read this.”

Did you jump to the wrong conclusion? Did you think maybe you could stop ordering your chicken sandwiches from Popeyes and go back to the fast-food chain that claims to have started it all?

Look, it’s your money, and no one at GayRVA is going to tell you how to spend it. But what we will tell you is that, if you were avoiding Chick-Fil-A due to their anti-LGBTQ stances before, you have no reason to stop doing so now.

Top Photo via Chick-Fil-A

Franklin Graham Is Upset About Taylor Swift’s Support Of The Equality Act

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Graham accused Taylor Swift of “pushing the LGBTQ agenda down the throats of the American people” with her pro-Equality Act MTV speech.

Evangelical Christian Franklin Graham is back attacking the LGBTQ community, this time taking social media swings at the Equality Act and singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. The legislation, which passed the House but will never see the light of day under Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, would basically just expand the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include protections for LGBTQ people.

But not according to the far right wing North Carolina-based religious extremist.

Graham was angry over the award-winning Swift’s comments urging the White House to support the Equality Act, when she spoke at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs).

“Regardless of who we are, regardless of how we identify, at the end of this video there was a petition – and there still is a petition for the Equality Act, which basically just says we all deserve equal rights under the law,” Swift said on stage, irking Graham.

“Shame on Taylor Swift for using her platform to try to push the socialist left’s so-called Equality Act, which has nothing to do with equality, but is about pushing the LGBTQ agenda down the throats of the American people,” Graham wrote on Facebook, using the same language as President Trump frequently uses.

Evangelical Christian Franklin Graham is back attacking the LGBTQ community, this time taking social media swings at the Equality Act and singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. The legislation, which passed the House but will never see the light of day under Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, would basically just expand the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include protections for LGBTQ people.

But not according to the far right wing North Carolina-based religious extremist.ADVERTISING

Graham was angry over the award-winning Swift’s comments urging the White House to support the Equality Act, when she spoke at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs).

“Regardless of who we are, regardless of how we identify, at the end of this video there was a petition – and there still is a petition for the Equality Act, which basically just says we all deserve equal rights under the law,” Swift said on stage, irking Graham.

“Shame on Taylor Swift for using her platform to try to push the socialist left’s so-called Equality Act, which has nothing to do with equality, but is about pushing the LGBTQ agenda down the throats of the American people,” Graham wrote on Facebook, using the same language as President Trump frequently uses.

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“When she received an award for her LGBTQ pride-themed music video at the MTV awards last night, she did a pitch for the Equality Act,” Graham continued, falsely calling it “the most crushing threat to religious liberty in our nation’s history.”

Graham, in typical fashion, claims the Equality Act would allow “perverted men access to women’s private spaces like dressing rooms and restrooms,” and allow “biological males to take over girls’ and women’s athletic competitions.”

He then wrongly claims the Equality Act is “about trying to force those of us who don’t agree to accept and approve the LGBTQ lifestyle,” and he warns defiantly, “I’m not going to accept that.”

Graham and his supporters should know being LGBTQ is not a “lifestyle,” and supporting equality is not socialism.

Here’s Taylor Swift’s performance of “You Need To Calm Down” on this year’s MTV VMAs. This one’s for you, Franklin.

Written by David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement. Image via Facebook