Samaritan’s Purse Rejected Me Because I’m Gay

COVID-19, Franklin Graham, and homophobia

Franklin Graham — Caricature, by DonkeyHotey on Flickr. Creative Commons license (CC BY 2.0)

I read a story online this morning that I didn’t believe

I read that Franklin Graham’s celebrated Samaritan’s Purse charity was setting up a tent hospital in New York City’s Central Park to care for overflow COVID-19 patients from Mt. Sinai and other overwhelmed facilities. I read that all volunteers, including medical professionals, would have to agree to a “statement of faith” condemning LGBTQ people if they wanted to work in the tent hospital.

Group Behind Central Park Coronavirus Tent Hospital Asks Volunteers To Support Anti-Gay Agenda

I told myself the story was hype

I couldn’t believe any major charity in the face of a global crisis would reject qualified volunteers who are LGBTQ or who support LGBTQ people. I figured Samaritan’s Purse had a problem with old or inaccurate information on their website.

I volunteered just to see what would happen