Billy Graham's Church Pulls Out Of Wells Fargo Bank Over LGBT Commercial
Franklin Graham, son of pioneering evangelical Billy Graham, announced on Friday that the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association would be divesting from Wells Fargo because the bank featured a same-sex couple in its advertising.
"Have you ever asked yourself–how can we fight the tide of moral decay that is being crammed down our throats by big business, the media, and the gay & lesbian community?" he asked.
The 62-year-old evangelical then singled out Wells Fargo, which recently launched an ad featuring a lesbian couple that learns sign language to speak with their newly adopted daughter.
"It has dawned on me that we don’t have to do business with them," Graham continued. "At the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, we are moving our accounts from Wells Fargo to another bank."
He called on followers to "stop doing business with those who promote sin and stand against Almighty God’s laws and His standards."
Graham also suggested a boycott of Tiffany & Co., which recently used a real-life gay couple to advertise engagement rings.
Now 96, Billy Graham has ceded control of the BGEA to Franklin, who has made numerous anti-LGBT and anti-Muslim statements.
He praised Russian President Vladimir Putin's for "protecting children from any homosexual agenda."
While Billy Graham mostly avoided the fear-mongering and hateful rhetoric of other evangelicals, in 2012 he encouraged voters in North Carolina to support a constitutional ban on marriage equality, calling the homosexual "lifestyle" a sin.
Wells Fargo has long been a staunch supporter of the LGBT community, sponsoring the GLAAD Media Awards and dozen of Pride festivals nationwide.
[caption id="attachment_205200" align="alignnone" width="465"]
The Wells Fargo stagecoach at Phoenix Pride (Photo: Wells Fargo)[/caption]
The company also offers partner benefits and trans-inclusive healthcare, and supports an LGBT employee affinity group.
HRC gave Wells Fargo a 100 percent rating on its Corporate Equality Index this year, and it was one of the top 10 companies for LGBT Employees by DiversityInc.
