Franklin Graham, the evangelical pastor who preached at Donald Trump’s 2017 inauguration, has picked a fight with pop star Taylor Swift, slamming her ongoing support of the proposed Equality Act and accusing her of pushing the "LGBTIQ+ agenda".
The Equality Act, which was in May of this year, seeks to amend the Civil Rights Act to "prohibit discrimination on the basis of the sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition of an individual, as well as because of sex-based stereotypes."
The US senate has received the bill for consideration - and Swift is being vocal in her push for them to back it.
Accepting her trophy for Video Of The Year at this week’s MTV VMAs, won for her single 'You Need to Calm Down', Swift urged fans in the audience to sign .
“The Equality Act basically just says that we deserve equal rights under the law," Swift said.
She added: “It now has half a million signatures, which is five times the amount it would need to warrant a response from the White House.”
However, Graham, who has , wasn't having a bar of it.
“Shame on Taylor Swift for using her platform to try to push the socialist left’s so-called Equality Act, which has nothing to do with equality, but is about pushing the LGBTIQ+ agenda down the throats of the American people,” he wrote in a post on .
“When she received an award for her LGBTIQ+ pride-themed music video at the MTV awards last night, she did a pitch for the Equality Act. This bill is the most crushing threat to religious liberty in our nation’s history.
“In addition to allowing perverted men access to women’s private spaces like dressing rooms and restrooms, and allowing biological males to take over girls’ and women’s athletic competitions, this bill would do a lot more damage.
“It’s about trying to force those of us who don’t agree to accept and approve the LGBTIQ+ lifestyle, and I’m not going to accept that.”
The White House has in response to Swift’s comments at the VMAs, claiming: “The Trump administration absolutely opposes discrimination of any kind and supports the equal treatment of all.
“However, the House-passed bill in its current form is filled with poison pills that threaten to undermine parental and conscience rights.”
