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Franklin Graham calls for boycott of Tiffany's, Wells Fargo

By Jim Bradley
By Jim Bradley

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Evangelist Franklin Graham is calling for people to boycott corporations that are friendly to the LGBT community. 

"Let's stop doing business with those who stand against almighty God's laws," Graham said in a Facebook post. 

Graham aimed his ire at Wells Fargo, which is currently airing a television ad that shows a lesbian couple about to adopt a daughter. 

Graham calls it "moral decay... that's being crammed down our throats." 

Graham said he has pulled the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association's money from Wells Fargo banks and urged others to do the same. 
       
Local gay rights supports are calling Graham's comments disappointing but expected. 

"We know Franklin Graham is a character given to bombastic excesses," said the Rev. Jay Leach, pastor of the Unitarian Universalist church in South Charlotte.

Chad Sevearance, who heads the LGBT Chamber of Commerce, said he believes that the comments are an attempt to ramp up rhetoric as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to take up the same-sex marriage issue. 

"I think it's a calculated response from the other side," Sevearance said. "It's the same type of response that we would have on our side. We have boycotted things, obviously."

Graham's call for a boycott had over 100,000 "likes" on Facebook by Monday afternoon. Leach doubts that it will have a long-term impact. 

"Will (Graham) get traction on this temporarily? I think there's every possibility that he will," Leach said. "But long term, this will be remembered in the same way as people who thought women shouldn't vote."

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