Franklin Graham: Why I am boycotting Wells Fargo
Being gay-friendly is not optional; it is a commandment from Jesus. But being an advocate for the gay lifestyle contradicts God’s word.
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association did not decide to move our ministry bank accounts from Wells Fargo simply because the San Francisco-based bank is “gay-friendly.” Indeed, the bank we transferred our accounts to — BB&T based in Winston-Salem, N.C. — is also widely considered gay-friendly. In fact, it may surprise some to learn that I think every business should be gay-friendly. By that I mean businesses — like individuals — should be friendly to gay customers and citizens. We should be friendly to everyone, even if or when we disagree with them.
Both of these national banks rank high on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index — the organization’s ranking of businesses according to workplace equality for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people. So why did we move from one bank to the other? Because, in our view, Wells Fargo went beyond being gay-friendly to being a public advocate — through a national TV advertising campaign — for a lifestyle we, as a Christian organization, believe to be biblically wrong. (The ad featured a lesbian couple with their adopted child.)
Now, I realize our critics will be quick to point out three things: that our new bank, BB&T, has sponsored a Miami Beach Gay Pride fundraiser; that Wells Fargo was not advocating but merely targeting a segment of the general population for business; and that switching banks for this reason does not seem very gay-friendly.
