“Inherently Unnatural’”: Speaker Mike Johnson Says US Is “Irredeemable” Because a Quarter of High School Students Are LGBTQ+

Jo ShawNov 26, 2023

Minute Read

In an article first reported by Rolling Stone, House Speaker Mike Johnson has come under severe scrutiny for calling the US “dark and depraved.” He made the statement because there was an increase in young students identifying as part of the LGBTQ community.

Johnson Interviewed by the World Prayer Network

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Johnson had been reportedly speaking on a call with the World Prayer Network in early October. The show was hosted by the co-founder of the World Prayer Network, Jim Garlow, who is also the CEO of a Christian organization, Well Versed.

Bringing Biblical Principles of Governance

Well Versed states on its website that it “brings biblical principles of governance for government leaders” and that “human institutions are failing.”

Culture Is So Dark and Depraved

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Johnson reportedly stated on the call with Garlow, “The culture is so dark and depraved that it almost seems irredeemable at this point,” Johnson further declared, “One in four high school students identified as something other than straight.”

City Destroyed by Gay People

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Johnson then stated, “We’re losing the country.” In a separate article by LGBTQ Nation, they reported that Johnson talked about Sodom, which the article explained was “a city in the Bible that was destroyed by God.” The article continued to explain, “Many evangelical Christians claim that it was destroyed because there were gay people in the city.”

Johnson Was Referring to Youth Survey

Johnson allegedly asserted his statements, citing the CDC’s 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System survey data. According to the survey, 75.5% of high school students identified as heterosexual. The survey highlighted that 12.2% identified as bisexual, and 3.2% identified as gay or lesbian. Additionally, 5.2% were questioning their sexuality, 3.9% identified as “other.” A small number responded that they didn’t comprehend the question at 1.8%.

Scarborough Calls Out Johnson

In light of Johnson’s comments calling US culture “dark and depraved,” MSNBC’s Morning Joe show called out the House Speaker.

The Jeremiah of Our Times

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When asked about Johnson’s comments on the LGBTQ community, Joe Scarborough angrily stated that Johnson was a hypocrite. He said, “Then suddenly this great prophet, this Jeremiah of our times, went quietly silent, as mobs rushed the People’s House where he was, and battered and abused police officers with American flags.” “The hypocrisy,” he added.

A History of Harsh Anti-gay Language

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CNN reported back in October that the “Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has a history of harsh anti-gay language from his time as an attorney for a socially conservative legal group in the mid-2000s.”

Homosexuality Is a Dangerous Lifestyle

The CNN article stated, “In editorials that ran in his local Shreveport, Louisiana paper, The Times, Johnson called homosexuality an ‘inherently unnatural’ and ‘dangerous lifestyle’ that would lead to legalized pedophilia and possibly even destroy ‘the entire democratic system.’”

No Special Protections for Bizarre Choices

The article pointed to another piece that Johnson wrote, “Your race, creed, and sex are what you are, while homosexuality and cross-dressing are things you do.” “This is a free country, but we don’t give special protections for every person’s bizarre choices.”

Johnson Fought to Criminalize Homosexuals

The article further highlighted that at the time his pieces were published, Johnson was an attorney and spokesman for Alliance Defending Freedom. At his time with the organization, the article stated that he had “authored his opposition to the Supreme Court ruling in Lawrence v. Texas – which overturned state laws that criminalized homosexual activity between consenting adults.”

It’s a Public Health Concern

The article then pointed to Johnson’s op-ed written in 2003, where he called homosexuality a health concern and stated, “States have many legitimate grounds to proscribe same-sex deviate sexual intercourse.”

Johnson Didn’t Remember Editorials

As reported by CNN, Johnson was asked to respond to his editorials during a Fox News interview with Sean Hannity. “I don’t even remember some of them,” Johnson said in the interview.

Marriage Is One Man and One Woman

Johnson explained to Hannity, “I was a litigator that was called upon to defend the state marriage amendments. If you remember back in the early 2000s there was over 35 states somewhere in that number that the people went to the ballot in their respective states and they amended their state constitutions to say marriage is one man, one woman.”

Defend the Case in Court

“Well, I was a religious liberty defense lawyer and I was called to go in and defend those cases in the court,” Johnson added.

Johnson Loves All People

Unbelievingly, Johnson said, as CNN reported, that “he genuinely loves all people ‘regardless of their lifestyle choices’ and that he respects the rule of law.”

Strong Echoes of Trump’s “Vermin” Remarks

Users had angry words in response to Trump’s comments. One user posted, “This has very strong echoes of Trump’s “vermin” remarks. This is literally genocidal talk from the Speaker of the House. By calling the society “irredeemable” because people are discovering themselves and finding freedom from heteronormativity and compulsory sexuality,”

What Some Crusade Zealot Serial Killer Would Say

The user went on to say, “he is literally quoting language of what some crusade zealot serial killer would say, as if to “purify the Earth” by killing us “wicked” LGBTQIA+ people. This rhetoric is dangerous.”

He Will Use His Power to Harm Those He Has Decided “Deserve” It

Another user responded to the comment by stating, “It isn’t just rhetoric. Just so we are clear. Mike Johnson is the current speaker of the House, wielding a very significant amount of power that comes with the title. The reality is this person talks like this in a public setting, there is a 100% chance he WILL use his power to harm those he has decided “deserve” it. This person shouldn’t be in any position of power over others at all. Yet here we are, 3rd in line for the Oval office. It’s disgusting.”