According to the Christian Post, Graham said he is “grateful to God for this decision,” viewing the ruling as “a clear victory for freedom of speech and religion in the UK.” Graham further stated the lawsuit was not about receiving a settlement but “about the preservation of religious freedom in the UK.”
On Monday (October 24), a Scottish court ruled in favor of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) in a lawsuit against Scottish Event Campus Limited (SEC), which canceled an evangelistic event at the Hydro Arena in Glasgow featuring Franklin Graham in 2020 on the grounds of Graham’s stated beliefs about human sexuality and Islam.
Sheriff John N. McCormick ruled that SEC would be obligated to pay over $111,000 (£97,000) for violating the UK’s Equality Act.
SEC was one of seven UK venues that canceled BGEA events, part of Graham’s “God Loves You” tour, in January 2020 after facing pressure from LGBTQ+ advocates. Multiple groups argued that Graham’s public remarks regarding LGBTQ+ issues and the Muslim faith constituted dangerous hate speech.
Graham, who is the son of legendary evangelist Billy Graham and president of BGEA, has often publicly rebuked LGBTQ+ values and has referred to the Muslim faith as “wicked and evil.”
In his Monday ruling, McCormick wrote, “Briefly put, if it is correct that the event was evangelistic, based on religion or philosophical belief, then it follows that the decision to cancel was a breach of the Equality Act 2010 in that the event was cancelled as a commercial response to the views of objectors.”
