Leading the charge to boycott businesses “who promote sin” by advertising toward gay people, evangelical leader Franklin Graham has transferred millions of dollars out of one bank into another.
But as Maddow was happy to report, his plan backfired in the best way possible.
Franklin Graham, son of evangelical pastor Billy Graham and president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, has called on Christians to “fight the tide of moral decay that is being crammed down our throats by big business, the media, and the gay [and] lesbian community”.
In a Facebook post, he urged his followers to boycott Tiffany’s for having advertised wedding rings for same-sex couples, as well as Wells Fargo, which recently aired a TV ad, which showed two gay women learning sign language to prepare for the adoption of a deaf daughter.
But their new bank, North Carolina-based BB&T, is one of the sponsors of this year’s Miami Beach Gay Pride Parade, host of a Miami fundraiser for gay “legacy couples”, and has a high rating from the LGBT activists of Human Rights Campaign.
BB&T spokesperson Brian Davis said the bank
… embraces diversity regardless of their race, gender, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity. We do not take formal positions on non-banking or social issues.”