Mike Johnson Defends Radical Anti-LGBTQ+ Views

New GOP Speaker Mike Johnson was never an ally of the LGBTQ+ community, but he has defended this by suggesting that anyone who disagrees with his views should “Go pick up a Bible.” There was conjecture that he would mellow after joining Congress, but clearly, this did not happen.

As a “Bible-believing Christian,” Johnson is adamant that LGBTQ+ individuals are “inherently unnatural” and believes that marriage equality is a threat to our system of government. He served as an attorney for The Alliance Defending Freedom, a radical anti-LGBTQ+ legal organization. Johnson was also a cosponsor for the federal “Don’t Say Gay” law, known officially as “Stop the Sexualization of Children Act,” which removed teaching on gender dysphoria, non-heterosexual sexual orientation, and “related subjects.”

Johnson also stated last year that church and state are interconnected, saying, “If anybody tries to convince you that your Biblical beliefs or your religious viewpoint needs to be separated from public affairs, you should politely remind them to review their history, and you should not back down.” Johnson is wildly incorrect about this; history and the literal foundation of the U.S. are not on his side here.

The first amendment says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” This means no religion should be outlawed because someone in power believes something else, nor should religion be the very point behind lawmaking.

Mike Johnson and many other politicians freely ignore this amendment and make damaging decisions for our human rights. No person should be able to decide what other people do at all. Human beings were born with autonomy for a reason. Removing someone’s ability to express and be themself is akin to ripping the wings off of a butterfly: it’s deranged and should absolutely not be tolerated.