British council unlawfully discriminated against Franklin Graham by pulling ads for event, judge rules
By Michael Gryboski, Christian Post:
A British judge has ruled that Blackpool Council discriminated against Christians when it banned ads for the Lancashire Festival of Hope with Franklin Graham.
Judge Claire Evans of the County Court of Manchester ruled Thursday that the Blackpool Borough Council and Blackpool Transport Services wrongly censored ads for a 2018 event featuring Graham, son of the late evangelist Billy Graham.
Evans concluded that the Council and transportation officials had violated Graham’s religious rights and “had a wholesale disregard for the right to freedom of expression possessed by the Claimant.”
“It gave a preference to the rights and opinions of one part of the community without having any regard for the rights of the Claimant or those who shared its religious beliefs,” wrote Evans.
“It made no effort to consider whether any less intrusive interference than removing the advertisements altogether would meet its legitimate aim.”
James Barrett, chairman of the Board of Directors for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association U.K., celebrated the ruling in a statement on Thursday.
“This ruling confirms that all Christians in the U.K. have the right to share their beliefs in the public square without being discriminated against or interfered with by public officials and other groups that want to silence them,” Barrett said.
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