Franklin Graham in a previous appearance on Fox News

Evangelical hate preacher Franklin Graham has insisted that he’s not homophobic because he’s “not going around bashing people”.

The right-wing pastor has a long history of extreme anti-LGBT+ beliefs which include blaming gay people for a “moral 9/11” that’s causing the country to “implode”.

His shocking views resurfaced as his charity began staffing the makeshift coronavirus hospital in New York, with a requirement that all volunteers sign a pledge opposing same-sex marriage and agreeing that LGBT+ people face “eternal damnation”.

Last week Franklin Graham justified his homophobic policy by comparing gay people to drug addicts – but incredibly, he’s still maintaining that he’s not actually homophobic.

Speaking to Laura Ingraham on Fox News, he said he just wants people to “know the truth”.

“I’m not homophobic and I’m certainly not going around bashing people because they may be homosexual,” he said.

“I believe that God loves all of us, he created us all but we also are sinners and our sins separated from God and I want people to know how they can have a relationship with God and that’s their faith in his son.

“I don’t bash them. I want them to know the truth. That God does love them,” he added.

“And he died for their sins and they would refund and put their faith and trust in him, God would forgive their sins like you forgive me. I’m a sinner too. I’m different than anybody else. I’m a sinner that was saved by God’s grace.”

While it’s good to know that Franklin Graham’s conscience is clear, it may surprise him to learn that preaching a message of intolerance towards the LGBT+ community does in fact constitute “bashing”, to use his terms.

But just in case he needs any clarification, repeatedly describing homosexuality as “sinful”, declaring that gay people are “the enemy”, praising Vladimir Putin’s anti-gay laws, warning that homosexuals “take people’s children” and claiming that that God kills gays most definitely makes you a Grade A homophobe.