04-06-2021
After a legal fight that lasted several years, evangelist Franklin Graham has won an important case for religious freedom in the UK.
Manchester County Court Judge Claire Evans has ruled that the 2018 Lancashire Festival of Hope with Franklin Graham was discriminated against when ads promoting the event were pulled from buses in Blackpool, England in an effort to ban him from preaching the gospel.
During September 2018, the Blackpool Borough Council and Blackpool Transport Services Limited removed bus advertisements displaying the words Time for Hope, citing that members of the community complained about Graham s association with the festival.
The transportation company said they received feedback from members of the community who were concerned over the evangelist s religious beliefs on marriage and sexuality.
Judge Claire Evans of the County Court of Manchester ruled that the Blackpool Borough Council and Blackpool Transport Services wrongly censored ads for a 2018 event featuring Franklin Graham, son of the late evangelist Billy Graham. Evans concluded that the Council and transportation officials had violated Graham's religious rights and “had a wholesale disregard for the right to freedom of expression possessed by" Graham and like-minded Christians.
Court blasts Blackpool Council for discriminating against Christians
Court blasts Blackpool Council for discriminating against Christians
3 minutes ago
billygraham.org
Blackpool Council has been criticised by a judge after she ruled that it discriminated against Christians by banning bus adverts for the Lancashire Festival of Hope with Franklin Graham.
The adverts, which simply displayed the message ‘Time for Hope!’, were controversially removed by the Council and Blackpool Transport Services Limited over Graham’s biblical views on marriage and sexuality. It followed this up by lighting up Blackpool Tower with the colours of the rainbow flag to show support for LGBT activists.