Evangelist Franklin Graham, who earlier this year had all eight of his planned United Kingdom appearances canceled by the venues after pressure from the LGBT community, is now facing similar backlash in Germany.
Following in the footsteps of his late father, the Rev. Billy Graham, the younger evangelist was scheduled to bring the gospel to Germany at the Cologne Lanxess Arena on June 20. But Sven Lehmann, a member of the country’s federal parliament, the Bundestag, sent an open letter to the venue urging it “not to stage the hate preacher,” UK’s Premier Christian News reported.
“Graham has repeatedly been against homosexuals,” Lehmann wrote. “In 2015 he called for a boycott of an LGBTI-friendly company and explained a year later that Homosexuals are ‘enemies’ of Christians provided that they do not ‘regret’ their sexual orientation.”
Additionally, the Cologne Lesbian and Gay Day (KLUST) alleges Graham’s biblical view regarding “homosexuality as sin” creates a “breeding ground on which violence against lesbians and gays thrives.”
Several German churches, however, support the Billy Graham Evangelist Association’s Festival of Hope and are calling the claims against Franklin Graham “defamatory.” The Evangelical Free Church of Cologne said in a statement the intent of the gathering was solely to present the life-changing message of the gospel, which “resists radicalism…
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