Rev. Franklin Graham announced last week that he would pull his accounts from Wells Fargo after the bank aired an ad featuring a gay couple, but the evangelist preacher did not have the best of luck finding a new bank that does not “promote homosexuality.”
Graham told Family Research Council’s “Washington Watch” on Monday that he would switch to BB&T, a bank based in North Carolina. However, as Right Wing Watch pointed out, BB&T is a sponsor of the Miami Beach Gay Pride Parade.
The bank hosted a fundraiser for Miami Beach Gay Pride in February to honor “Legacy Couples,” where the bank also held a wedding ceremony for a gay couple at a makeshift chapel in the bank’s South Beach branch.
Arthur Costa, the regional multicultural markets officer at BB&T told the Miami Herald that the bank supports “individuals and organizations that broaden our perspectives and strengthen the diverse fabric of our communities.”
In a Facebook post on Friday, Graham said he would boycott Wells Fargo in order to “fight the tide of moral decay that is being crammed down our throats by big business, the media, and the gay & lesbian community.”
He told the Charlotte Observer that while he would not target businesses that serve or hire gays and lesbians, he doesn’t believe Christians should give money to companies “that use shareholders’ advertising dollars to promote homosexuality.”
“A bank should be promoting the best interest rates they’re going to give me and what they can do for me as a business. But they should not be trying to get into a moral debate and take sides,” he said.
Representatives at the Billy Graham Evangelist Association could not immediately be reached for comment.
