Franklin Graham, one of the country’s most well-known evangelical Christians, said 2020 presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg should repent for being gay.
Graham’s comments came after Buttigieg, who is mayor of South Bend, Ind., spoke about his faith at a CNN town hall earlier this week.
"It can be challenging to be a person of faith who's also part of the LGBTQ community and yet, to me, the core of faith is regard for one another," said the Democratic hopeful. "And part of God's love is experienced, according to my faith tradition, is in the way that we support one another and, in particular, support the least among us."
"I get that one of the things about scripture is different people see different things in it," he said. "But, at the very least we should be able to establish that God does not have a political party."
Graham said Wednesday he agrees God is not political, but “the Bible defines homosexuality as sin.”
Being gay is “something to be repentant of, not something to be flaunted, praised or politicized. The Bible says marriage is between a man & a woman—not two men, not two women,” Graham tweeted.
Presidential candidate & South Bend Mayor @PeteButtigieg is right—God doesn’t have a political party. But God does have commandments, laws & standards He gives us to live by. God doesn’t change. His Word is the same yesterday, today & forever. 1/3 https://t.co/QHDNY3pwzJ
— Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) April 24, 2019
Mayor Buttigieg says he’s a gay Christian. As a Christian I believe the Bible which defines homosexuality as sin, something to be repentant of, not something to be flaunted, praised or politicized. The Bible says marriage is between a man & a woman—not two men, not two women. 2/3
— Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) April 24, 2019
The core of the Christian faith is believing and following Jesus Christ, who God sent to be the Savior of the world—to save us from sin, to save us from hell, to save us from eternal damnation. 3/3
— Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) April 24, 2019
Buttigieg, who married his husband Chasten in 2018, previously criticized Vice President Mike Pence, who is also an evangelical Christian, for his stances on LGBTQ issues.
“If you have a problem with who I am, your problem is not with me. Your quarrel, sir, is with my creator,” the Democrat said in a speech for the LGBTQ Victory Fund earlier this month.