Franklin Graham defends border visit after 20,000 sign petition demanding he stay home

N.C.-based evangelist Franklin Graham responded Saturday to a progressive Christian group’s petition that drew 20,000 signatures against his upcoming border visit.

The petition by the group Faithful America says Graham “hypocritically calls his roadshow the ‘God Loves You Tour,’ but his message is full of vicious anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and deadly MAGA conspiracy theories.

“And it’s almost certainly not a coincidence that he’s hitting the road during a pivotal election year,” the petition says. “After all, he endorsed [Donald] Trump in 2016 and 2020, made numerous statements backing Trump’s Big Lie of a stolen election, and even tried to blame the January 6 attack on ‘antifa.’”

Antifa refers to far-left anti-fascist activists whom then-President Trump blamed for the protests against racial injustice across America in 2020.

The petition had 20,653 signatures Saturday night.

In a statement to The Charlotte Observer, the 71-year-old Graham said everyone is invited to hear him on his tour of border cities in February and March, “including the LGBTQ community.”

He called the petition “disappointing“ and referred to Faithful America as “this so-called Christian group.”

“I’m not coming to any of these cities to speak against anyone,” Graham said. “I’m coming with a message of hope for everyone — and I invite everyone to come.”

Graham had just returned from a week in Israel, where he and his Boone-based Samaritan’s Purse international disaster relief organization dedicated 14 new ambulances to be used by Magen David Adom. That is Israel’s ambulance and emergency services agency.

“I’m an evangelical Christian who loves Israel,” Graham said in a statement. “I believe the Bible teaches that Israel is God’s people. There have been many battles that Israel has had to fight for its freedom.”

“This is now the fifth petition this advocacy group has started against Mr. Graham in recent years,” Mark Barber, media relations director for Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, told the Observer in an email. “They have also done this in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.”

All of the efforts were unsuccessful, he said.

1,000 partner churches

Graham, son of the late evangelist Billy Graham, said in border communities, he’ll read from the Bible, “which tells of God’s love for us. This is Good News for all people, and this is the message that I’m coming to share on the Frontera Tour.”

The Charlotte-based Billy Graham Evangelistic Association unveiled the 10-city, 1,500-mile God Loves You Frontera tour on Thursday. Franklin Graham is president and CEO of the association.

At least 1,000 churches in Texas, Arizona and California are partnering on the tour, according to an association news release.

The tour is scheduled to begin Feb. 24 in Brownsville, Texas, and Feb. 25 in McAllen, Texas, and will extend to the Pacific, ending March 9 in Chula Vista, California.

“Everyone along the border is overwhelmed — the churches, the law enforcement agencies, the residents, those there trying to help, as well as the people coming into our country,” Graham said in a statement announcing the tour.

“There are a lot of hungry hearts and hurting people,” Graham said. “So I’m coming to the border to tell everyone about God’s Son, Jesus Christ, and how He can make a difference in our lives if we put our faith and our trust in Him.”

Brownsville is among the poorest areas in the U.S., Steve Dorman, pastor of First Baptist Church in Brownsville, said in the tour announcement.

“And it is quite transitory, since it is located on the Texas-Mexico border,” Dorman said. “We want everyone in this community to know that God is always with them and loves them, and the Gospel can be a stabilizing force to help them in their lives.”

Backlash against anti-gay rights views

Graham encountered similar backlash on previous tours in Europe over his opposition to gay rights.

In 2018, a transit company in England yanked ads from the sides of its double-decker buses promoting Graham’s “Crusade of Hope” in the seaside resort town of Blackpool, The Charlotte Observer reported at the time. Blackpool Transport cited “heightened tension” over Graham’s remarks critical of the LGBTQ community.

Two years later, a judge ruled that Blackpool and the transit company “discriminated” against Graham “on the ground of religion.”