What happens when an evangelist visits gay-friendly Key West? Franklin Graham just found out
About 125 protesters showed up in Key West Thursday night at the local amphitheater to wave rainbow flags and signs about equality. Inside, evangelist Franklin Graham, who calls homosexuality a sin, prepared to preach.
Graham, the religious-right giant and son of the late Rev. Billy Graham, attracted more than 1,300 followers at the event, organizers said.
During his remarks to the crowd, Franklin Graham didn’t mention sexual orientation.
But he did question the effectiveness of American democracy.
“Politically we are a broken system,” Graham said. “We always talk about democracy and we try to push democracy off on other countries. Sometimes you look at the problems we have and you just wonder if it really works and it doesn’t seem to be working today.”
The Charlotte, North Carolina-based Graham, who voted for Donald Trump in 2016 but said he hasn’t decided who to support in this year’s election, told the Key West crowd: “The only hope for this country is not the Republican Party or the Democratic Party. The only hope for this country is God.”
The local protest was peaceful. People holding the rainbow flags and signs welcomed the Graham fans who passed by.
Monroe County Commissioner Heather Carruthers and Key West Mayor Teri Johnston attended. Both elected leaders are openly gay.
“I don’t take it personal at all,” said Johnston, of Graham’s remarks about homosexuality being a sin. “What he really needs to do is spend some time in our community to see how you can live in harmony with a lot of different people.”
Others were emotional about the Graham event, where signs read, “Love means equal rights, dignity and respect,” and “Love is all inclusive.”
“If he’s going to start calling out sinners, let’s go for the adulterers, the bribers and the extortionists and perhaps the other people in Washington,” said attorney Bernadette Restivo.
“I was taught we don’t judge lest we be judged,” Restivo said. “I was hoping he’d read that part of the Bible.”
Before his speech in Key West, Graham said in an interview with the Miami Herald and FLKeysNews that he wasn’t visiting the Southernmost City to preach “against” anyone, but only to encourage people to begin a relationship with God. In the interview, Graham also said he is not anti-gay.
“That’s unfortunate with the gay community,” he said. “If you disagree with them, then they start calling you names. I don’t agree with homosexuality but I recognize they have a right to live their lives and I’m not going to fight them or argue with them.”
But he called homosexuality a sin and said he wants to warn people of the consequences of sin.
“If a person was standing on the edge of a cliff and was getting ready to fall off a cliff and I didn’t warn them, I think I would be wrong,” he said before his appearance.
During the Key West event, which began with two Christian rock concerts, Graham ticked off a list of sins that included adultery, coveting and gossip.
“How about abortion? In God’s eyes, it’s the same as murder,” Graham said, adding that forgiveness for murder is possible.
Graham said he chose Key West as a way to reach people who are running away from problems. He also recalled how his ministry’s outreach program was in the Keys after Hurricane Irma devastated parts of the island chain in 2017.
“I think I have a right to speak here,” he said. “After the hurricane, Samaritan’s Purse was in this community. We had over 2,000 volunteers.
Graham said he had to bring in some of his aircraft to transport the volunteers from the Keys to housing in Fort Lauderdale because there weren’t any places for them to stay in Monroe County.
“There were over 400 families we were able to help.”
This story was originally published January 17, 2020 at 12:56 PM.
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