In response to the pandemic, in New York City, Samaritan’s Purse set up a 14-tent, 68-bed emergency field hospital in Central Park, one that is staffed by more than 70 doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers.

LGBTQ lobbying groups, however, launched an attack on evangelical leader Graham and his outreach organization, accusing him and his group of “putting New Yorkers’ lives on the line” by having Christians who hold to one man-one woman marriage to care for victims of the coronavirus.

Ross Murray, senior director of LGBTQ lobbyists GLAAD Media Institute, wrote on March 31:

I don’t trust Franklin Graham to help those in need in the LGBTQ community. I’ve seen far too many anti-LGBTQ activists like Graham ignore the suffering of LGBTQ people. In this instance, Graham is capitalizing upon a crisis to inflict more pain and suffering on an already marginalized population. He has stated, loudly and proudly, too many times that the LGBTQ community is a threat for me to want to place my life, or the lives of people l love and care about, in his hands.

Graham responded to the attacks on Facebook, explaining that, while Samaritan’s Purse paid staff is asked to subscribe to a statement of faith that includes belief in one man-one woman marriage, the organization has “never asked any of the millions of people we have served to subscribe to anything.”

He continued:

In other words, as a religious charity, while we lawfully hire staff who share our Christian beliefs, we do not discriminate in who we serve. We have provided billions of dollars of medical care and supplies, food and water, and emergency shelter without any conditions whatsoever. Our Christian faith compels us—like the biblical Good Samaritan—to love and serve everyone in need, regardless of their faith or background.

(Excerpt from Breitbart. Article by Dr. Susan Berry.)