A second venue has cancelled a booking by an American evangelical preacher after concerns were raised about his promotion of homophobic views.
Franklin Graham, Donald Trump’s most prominent evangelical ally, had been due to visit Sheffield Arena in June as part of an eight-city tour of the UK. Sheffield City Trust (SCT), which runs the venue, announced on Wednesday that it had cancelled the booking.
The ACC Liverpool had already cancelled an event featuring Graham, saying his views were incompatible with its values. In Glasgow, the board of the Scottish Events Campus was understood to be meeting on Wednesday to consider cancelling an event there.
Graham is also due to appear in Newcastle, Milton Keynes, Cardiff, Birmingham and London.
LGBT+ campaigners in Sheffield wrote to the city trust calling for the visit to be cancelled, saying Graham had repeatedly publicly promoted homophobic beliefs, “including but not limited to branding homosexuality a sin”.
The trust’s chair, David Grey, initially said he had met faith groups from the city and taken advice from South Yorkshire police, and he supported the “right to free speech and freedom of expression whilst promoting equality and freedom from hatred and abuse”.
But the trust backed down after pressure from Sheffield city council. The local authority said it had pointed out that the booking could breach a legal agreement between the two bodies.
The council leader, Julie Dore, said: “Franklin Graham, who has demonstrated his intent on creating divisions with his discriminatory and repulsive views, could affect the long-established values that we all hold so dear in Sheffield.”
The trust said it had been an “exceptionally challenging” period. “Throughout it all we have been steadfast that we do not endorse the views of Franklin Graham. The matters for consideration were the aspect of freedom of speech, any breach of the law or potential public order implications,” Grey said.
Following the Liverpool cancellation, Graham issued an open letter denying he would be promoting “hateful speech”.
He wrote: “A letter to the LGBTQ community in the UK. It is said by some that I am coming to the UK to bring hateful speech to your community. This is just not true. I am coming to share the gospel, which is the good news that God loves the people of the UK and that Jesus Christ came to this earth to save us from our sins.”
