All Scheduled UK Venues Cancel Franklin Graham Tour Events

Country: United Kingdom

Date of incident: February 6, 2020


On January 24th, the ACC Liverpool Group announced that it would no longer hold the previously-scheduled Graham Tour Event due to objections from LGBT activists over Graham's past statements about homosexuality. Graham responded by saying “I’m not coming to the UK to speak against anybody, I’m coming to speak for everybody. The Gospel is inclusive. I'm not coming out of hate, I'm coming out of love.” As of February 11th, the other venues that cancelled events were: International Convention Centre Wales in Newport, Glasgow SEC, Sheffield Arena, Arena Birmingham, and Stadium Milton Keynes.

The Liverpool Group's public statement read:

"Over the past few days we have been made aware of a number of statements which we consider to be incompatible with our values.

In light of this we can no longer reconcile the balance between freedom of speech and the divisive impact this event is having in our city. We have informed the organisers of the event that the booking will no longer be fulfilled.

We are proud to represent all communities and will continue to move forward with our aim as a business to drive profile, major events and economic impact for Liverpool City Region."

Despite the cancellations, Graham has said he is not calling off his  tour of the country and has instead asked his supporters to "pray that the doors remain open for the Gospel."

Sources: The Federalist, Christian PostChristian Post, CNN and BBC