The preacher son of US evangelist Billy Graham is threatening to sue eight British arenas that cancelled his shows after protests from the LGBT community.
Franklin Graham, 67, a vocal supporter of US President, Donald Trump, describes homosexuality as a ‘sin’ and is in favour of ‘gay conversion therapy’.
The ACC Liverpool conference centre was the first to cancel one of his planned events saying last month that his views were ‘incompatible’ with their values and the Sheffield Arena followed soon after.
Since then venues in Glasgow, Newcastle, Cardiff, Birmingham, Milton Keynes and London have all followed suit.
But Graham said today his lawyers were fighting back claiming the venues had breached contracts and had discriminated against him because of his religious beliefs.
He also remains unrepentant on his ‘homophobic’ views and even claimed that the Queen would agree with him.
He told the Guardian: ‘We had contracts signed and, in some cases, deposits paid. I haven’t broken any laws.
‘We are being denied because of religious beliefs and our faith. It’s a freedom of religion issue and also a free speech issue.
‘We have attorneys trying to get the venues to reverse their decisions. We certainly have a legal position we’re standing on.’
The controversial preacher, who followed in the footsteps of his late father Billy, refused to back down on his views about gay marriage – and even claimed the Queen would agree with him.
He told Premier Christian News: ‘I believe the Bible teaches that marriage is between a man and a woman. That’s the Church of England’s position.
‘I think Her Majesty the Queen, that’s her position and it’s the position of the Church, pretty much worldwide. This is what the Bible teaches and that’s what I believe.’
Graham had been due to tour the UK in May but says he is confident of securing alternative venues, some bigger than those that had cancelled.
He said: ‘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.’
Source: Daily Mail
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