The Franklin Graham-led Festival of Hope in Blackpool, England, saw an estimated 9,000 people attend and more than 200 churches participate, despite opposition from city officials and LGBT activists.
Protesters outside the Winter Gardens – where the Festival was held in September — pointed to Franklin Graham’s stance against same-sex marriage and his statements calling homosexuality a sin.
The city’s 518-foot-tall Blackpool Tower was lit up in rainbow colors and also displayed a rainbow flag to show the city’s solidarity with LGBT people, according to The Guardian. Some urged the city to stop the festival, but the city council said it had a contractual obligation to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
A handful of protesters outside the Winter Gardens handed out pamphlets with quotes from Graham. Accompanying them was a 12-foot-tall mannequin dubbed “Big Jesus,” which is owned by the LGBT-affirming congregation, Liberty Church. The Big Jesus figure wore a rainbow sash and held rainbow-colored balloons.
“Franklin Graham maintains wholehearted support for Trump and has a belief that God put Trump in the White House. To me, in the light of the many Trump policies that have harmed the most vulnerable in society, Graham’s support for Trump questions his credibility as a Christian leader,” Nina Parker of Liberty Church told The Guardian….
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