Several linked religious organizations are now adding to Franklin Graham’s call to boycott Wells Fargo for a commercial depicting a same-sex couple. Though the Reverend Graham has been roundly ridiculed for his call to boycott businesses that support marriage equality, and specifically for showing his disgust with Wells Fargo by switching to BB&T — a key supporter of Florida’s Gay Pride events — other religious extremist organizations are now piling on, demanding that Christians walk away from Wells Fargo unless and until the company reverses its support for LGBTQ customers.
Franklin Graham complained about the Wells Fargo commercial on June 5.
“Have you ever asked yourself–how can we fight the tide of moral decay that is being crammed down our throats by big business, the media, and the gay & lesbian community? Every day it is something else! Tiffany’s started advertising wedding rings for gay couples. Wells Fargo bank is using a same-sex couple in their advertising. And there are more. But it has dawned on me that we don’t have to do business with them. At the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, we are moving our accounts from Wells Fargo to another bank.”
Now the American Family Association (which makes the Southern Poverty Law Center’s list of extremist groups ) is adding its call to boycott Wells Fargo, citing three reasons:
- Wells Fargo has been showing support for LGBT rights since 2003 — “one of the first companies to do so,” the AFA notes.
- James Dobson and his organization, Focus on the Family, have already pulled their funds from Wells Fargo, in 2005.
- The same new commercial that Franklin Graham dislikes to intently.
One Million Moms, a group directly connected to the AFA, and known for attempting to control television programming by threatening boycotts of every company that advertises on anything they find remotely in opposition to their beliefs, is also calling for a boycott of Wells Fargo.
They posted a link to the AFA’s Wells Fargo boycott information on the One Million Moms Facebook page this week, between calls to boycott new shows on ABC Family ( Becoming Us ) and Fox ( Lucifer ).
What exactly has Wells Fargo done in its new commercial to offend so many religious groups, and inspire so many demands for boycotts? You can watch the tear-jerkingly sweet commercial below.
As states debate the right of same-sex couples to adopt, Wells Fargo expressed an opinion not in-line with that of these groups — support of their customers, regardless of sexuality.
Image via: Wells Fargo