In response to a Wells Fargo ad featuring a lesbian couple, Rev. Franklin Graham accidentally moved his association’s funds to another LGBT supporting bank.
After watching a Wells Fargo bank commercial which depicts a lesbian couple learning sign language in advance of adopting a deaf girl, Franklin Graham, who runs the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, took to Facebook to air his grievances.
He encouraged his followers to “fight the tide of moral decay” by boycotting Wells Fargo and other such businesses which cater to the LGBT community. He provided Tiffany’s & Co. as another example. The well-known jewelry store has been advertising wedding rings for gay couples. To lead by example, Graham decided to move the wealthy accumulated by the ministry, which was started by his father, from Wells Fargo bank to another. He called it the Christian’s “power of choice”.
Oops
Here’s where the story goes sideways for Graham. He moved his ministry’s money to BB&T, another banking outfit based in North Carolina. The Washington Post reported that Graham said he had done business with BB&T before, and they are “just a good solid bank that’s very good at banking.”
What he must have failed to recognized is that BB&T sponsored a Gay Pride fundraising reception in Miami this year. The bank also recently hosted the wedding reception of a same-sex couple. In fact, BB&T received a high score in the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index and also is the major sponsor in the “Legacy Program,” which pays homage to same-sex couples in committed relationships of more than ten years. However, BB&T did score lower in the index than Wells Fargo.
When pushed, Franklin Graham said the changing of banks will save his ministry money due to lower fees, he has not yet commented on the switch to another LGBT-friendly institution.