Franklin Graham, the head of the evangelical Christian organization erecting a 68-bed field hospital in Central Park for patients battling coronavirus, on Wednesday said all patients would be treated equally regardless of faith, sexual orientation and religion.
Samaritan’s Purse is operating the outdoor facility, which will be staffed by 60 or 70 medical professionals and costs $1.3 million to build and $1.3 million a month to operate. The funding is private.
The organization’s policy requires that all volunteers adhere to its 11-point Statement of Faith, which states that marriage is exclusively the union of one genetic male and one genetic female. Graham has in the past made anti-LGBTQ remarks.
“Anybody who comes to our doors – regardless of their faith, their sexual orientation, their religion, it doesn’t matter – we help everybody the same and we love everybody the same, and I want everyone to know that God loves them, too,” Graham said during an appearance on Newsmax TV’s “Spicer & Co.” Wednesday.
New York State. Sen. Brad Hoylman on Monday called upon Graham to “publicly assure LGBTQ New Yorkers that they will receive the same treatment as anyone else at the Central Park field hospital.”
Holyman also told NBC News that it was a shame that the federal government “has left us in the position of having to accept charity from such bigots.”
Graham told Newsmax he wanted every person the organization helps to “know that God loves them, and that God cares for them and their life is special to him.”
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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