A Glasgow court has awarded American evangelist Franklin Graham nearly £100,000 in damages after his event booking was cancelled by a venue in the city in 2020.
The Hydro arena pulled the plug on the planned evangelistic outreach event in the face of pressure from the LGBT community because of Graham’s traditional views on marriage and sexuality.
Glasgow’s Sheriff Court strongly defended the religious freedom of Christians in his judgment on Monday in which he wrote that Graham and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) were wrongfully discriminated against by Scottish Event Campus (SEC), operator of the Hydro.
Sheriff John McCormick said that the SEC’s actions were a “thinly veiled exercise in virtue signalling” and that the exhibition centre had “bowed to public pressure, spurred on and whipped up by political leaders online”.
He ruled that the SEC violated the Equality Act 2010 when it favoured the opinions of the people who were protesting BGEA’s event and silenced those who supported it.
In his 280-page opinion, the sheriff wrote, “The law cannot endorse an outcome whereby a mainstream Christian religious gathering cannot be held because some members of the community, however vehemently, disagree with religiously based beliefs to which they take objection.
“Such objectors in a democratic society undoubtedly have a right to freedom of expression and of assembly to protest against other’s religious views.
“What they do not have is a right to silence them or to stop religious assemblies from being held and from making welcome all who would come and hear the Good News preached by Franklin Graham at the Glasgow SSE Hydro Event.”
The sheriff has awarded BGEA damages totaling £97,325 but a further hearing will be held in January to determine expenses.
In response to Monday’s ruling, Graham, who is president and CEO of the BGEA, said the decision was “a clear victory for freedom of speech and religion in the UK”.
“This case was never about financial remedies—it was about the preservation of religious freedom in the UK —particularly the right for Christians to share the Gospel in the public square,” he said.
“I want to thank Sheriff John McCormick for upholding the law and affirming that Christians must be treated fairly and equally.
“This ruling will be a great encouragement for Christians and people of all faiths across the UK and many other parts of the world.”
It is the fifth successful legal challenge by the BGEA against the cancellation of all venues in Graham’s 2020 tour.
The tour was postponed until after the pandemic and held across the UK this year, when nearly 20,000 people attended outreach events across four cities.