Australian Christian Lobby sets up new fundraiser for Folau

The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) kicked off a new crowd-sourcing campaign for Israel Folau after the former Wallabies star’s GoFundMe page was shut down.

Crowd-sourcing platform GoFundMe shut down the page due to a breach of terms on Monday after Folau received more than 700,000 Australian dollars in donations in a controversial bid to raise money for his legal battle against Rugby Australia (RA).

Folau’s spokesperson claimed there is “a continuing campaign of discrimination” against the former Australia international, who had his contract terminated by the governing body last month, following a social media post in which he said homosexuals were destined for hell unless they repented their sins.

However, the fundraising is not over after the ACL contributed 100,000 Australian dollars to a new campaign – ‘Religious Freedom – which has raised more than 350,000 Australian dollars.

So, been chatting with @IzzyFolau and we fixed it… https://t.co/FZ1UkcZa4n #standwithizzy

— Martyn Iles (@MartynLloydIles) June 24, 2019

“Recently the online fundraising platform GoFundMe shut down Israel Folau’s legal defence fund and turned away hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations,” ACL managing director Martyn Iles said.

“On behalf of the Australian Christian Lobby, I have spoken to Israel Folau to let him know that ACL will be donating $100,000 to his legal defence, because it’s right and it sets an important legal precedent.

“I have also offered to host his online appeal for funds here on our website and he has accepted our offer. All gifts you give on this web page will be deposited into a trust account to pay for Israel Folau’s legal case.

“So, please give generously today to help Israel Folau stand for your religious freedom.”

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