A US evangelist is set to appear at the ICCWales this month, two years after the venue cancelled his last appearance over concerns about his views on homosexuality. American evangelist and missionary Franklin Graham has called homosexuality a "sin" on a number of occasions, spoken against banning conversion therapy and has also been critical of the Islamic faith.
Mr Graham was originally booked to appear at the Newport venue in June 2020, but that event was cancelled by ICCWales after a number of people including Newport MS Jayne Bryant and LGBTQ+ charity Pride Cymru raised concerns over his views. At the time the venue said it had "been made aware of a number of views held and comments made by the Graham organisation which are incompatible with our own values of equality, diversity and inclusivity", prompting it to pull the event. Venues in Liverpool and Sheffield also cancelled planned appearances by Mr Graham in 2020.
However the conservative reverend, a close ally of former President Donald Trump and the son of the evangelist Billy Graham, is now returning to the UK and is scheduled to bring his God Loves You to the ICCWales on May 21. The event, which is free of charge, is billed on Mr Graham's website as offering guests a "personal message of hope and an exciting evening of live music."
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Franklin Graham has previously labelled homosexuality and gay marriage "a sin". In April 2019 he tweeted 2020 US Democratic election candidate Pete Buttigieg - who is openly gay - saying the Bible "defines homosexuality as sin, something to be repentant of, not something to be flaunted, praised or politicized." He has repeated the assertion that homosexuality is a "sin" on several occasions, and in 2017 spoke against a bill proposing to ban conversion therapy.
Following news of the 2020 event Pride Cymru wrote to ICCWales - which cost £83 million to build and opened in September 2019 - "expressing concerns" over the booking while Newport West MS Jane Bryant said Mr Graham "has a long record of preaching hate, prejudice and intolerance" and added: "We should not be welcoming people like Franklin Graham to Newport."
However, it appears Mr Graham's latest appearance in Wales will go ahead as planned. The ICC Wales told WalesOnline it had "received assurance" from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA), which is running the tour, that Mr Graham "will not breach any UK laws" and "will not be speaking out against anyone, or any group of people."
An ICCW spokesperson said: "ICC Wales has received assurance from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) that the content of the God Loves You Tour – UK will not breach any UK laws and that The Reverend Franklin Graham will not be speaking out against anyone, or any group of people, and that his message will be one of God’s love and non-discriminatory.
"With this assurance, the God Loves You Tour – UK has been rescheduled for a number of major UK event venues in 2022, including an event at ICC Wales on May 21.
"When staging any event, ICC Wales does not endorse or oppose the views expressed during that event, or by any particular individual or group, including event organisers, producers, participants or sponsors. ICC Wales offers a world-class venue for events of all types and the venue’s commitment to diversity, inclusion and tolerance applies to all."
