Christian conservative Franklin Graham
has criticized President Barack Obama for hosting an LGBT Pride
reception at the White House.
At Wednesday's event, Obama said that
he is closely watching the decisions of the Supreme Court, one of
which could lead to nationwide marriage equality, and noted that
there has been an “incredible shift in attitude across this
country” on the issue.
“When I became president, same-sex
marriage was legal in only two states,” Obama told the crowd.
“Today, it's legal in 37 states and the District of Columbia. A
decade ago, politicians ran against LGBT rights. Today, they're
running towards them. Because they've learned what the rest of the
country knows: That marriage equality is about our civil rights, and
our firm belief that every citizen should be treated equally under
the law.”
Graham, the son of evangelist Billy
Graham and head of the Billy Graham Evangelist Association, responded
in a Facebook post, saying that Americans need to repent for electing
an LGBT-inclusive president.
“President Barack Obama was right
about one thing in the speech he gave at a Gay Pride event he hosted
in the White House yesterday. He said, 'There has been an incredible
shift in attitudes across the country.' That’s true – but it is
definitely not a shift for the good of America. The shift in
attitudes he refers to is the moral decline we are seeing manifest
daily around us. Accepting wrong as right – accepting sin as
something to be proud of. Yes, that's definitely a shift. Should we
be surprised that he thanked the LGBT community for all that they had
helped him accomplish during his time as president? He said, 'A lot
of what we've accomplished over these last six and a half years has
been because of you.' He also noted there were two states where gay
marriage was legal when he took office, but now there are 37. The
President is leading this nation on a sinful course, and God will
judge him and us as a nation if we don't repent,” Graham
wrote.
(Related: Franklin
Graham: My new bank is gay friendly, not an advocate for gay rights.)