New US House Speaker Mike Johnson once called gay sex ‘inherently unnatural’ and said it should be illegal
"Your race, creed, and sex are what you are, while homosexuality and cross-dressing are things you do" Johnson wrote in the 00s
Mike Johnson, the New Speaker of the House of Representatives In the US, once wrote that homosexuality was “inherently unnatural” and that same-sex marriage would lead to legalised pedophilia.
The hard-right Christian conservative assumed office yesterday (Wednesday 25 October 2023) with the complete support of House Republicans.
He is also known to oppose marriage equality, abortion rights and more funding for Ukraine, and has a record of scepticism around climate change.
The 51-year-old from Louisiana is the former attorney and spokesman for socially conservative legal group Alliance Defense Fund, now known as Alliance Defending Freedom.
“Your race, creed, and sex are what you are, while homosexuality and cross-dressing are things you do” – Mike Johnson
Writing in his local Shreveport newspaper in the 00s, Johnson called homosexuality a “dangerous lifestyle” that could destroy “the entire democratic system.” He also wrote that it would lead to legalised pedophilia, according to CNN.
In another article, he said that “your race, creed, and sex are what you are, while homosexuality and cross-dressing are things you do.”
He furthermore added: “This is a free country, but we don’t give special protections for every person’s bizarre choices.”
Johnson also wrote of his opposition to the Supreme Court ruling in Lawrence v.s Texas, which decriminalised gay sex state-wide.
In a 2003 op-ed available to view here, Johnson wrote: “States have many legitimate grounds to proscribe same-sex deviate sexual intercourse.”
“By closing these bedroom doors, they have opened a Pandora’s box,” he then added.
In another op-ed, the Donald Trump-backed Speaker said: “Homosexual relationships are inherently unnatural and, the studies clearly show, are ultimately harmful and costly for everyone. Society cannot give its stamp of approval to such a dangerous lifestyle. If we change marriage for this tiny, modern minority, we will have to do it for every deviant group. Polygamists, polyamorists, pedophiles, and others will be next in line to claim equal protection. They already are. There will be no legal basis to deny a bisexual the right to marry a partner of each sex, or a person to marry his pet.”
In 2004, he said: “Experts project that homosexual marriage is the dark harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy that could doom even the strongest republic.”
In US politics, the Speaker maintains order, manages proceedings and governs the administration of business in the lower chamber of Congress.