At the end of October, 51-year-old Mike Johnson was elected Speaker of the US House of Representatives, after receiving the vote of all 220 Republicans present.
The relatively inexperienced Johnson stands far to the right of the party and has made himself known earlier in his career as an opponent of abortion and for having pursued an aggressive anti-HGBT policy.
In the mid-to-late 2000s, he collaborated with a group advocating “conversion therapy,” a discredited practice that claims to change the sexual orientation of gay people.
Wanted “honest conversations”
Several statements from that time have now been circulated again – and are being met with strong criticism, reports include CNNwhich has highlighted several examples.
– It is time for an honest conversation about homosexuality. There is a freedom to change yourself if you want, Johnson told the channel KFUO.
In the program “Talking it over”, the Republican raged against the group Gay lesbian straight education network.
– Our race, the size of our feet, the color of our eyes. These are things we are born with and cannot change. What these groups promote is a type of behavior. Homosexual behavior is something you do, it’s not something you are.
“Rampant Homosexuality”
In the radio program “Don Crow Show”, Johnson, who is today the third most powerful man in the United States, discussed homosexual behavior in history.
– Many historians, those who are objective, would look back and admit that the fall of Rome came not only from the loss of morality but also because of the rampant homosexual behavior that was accepted by society.
The deeply religious Mike Johnson has been a congressman since 2017 and represents a larger electoral district in Louisiana.
In his home state, he has a background as an elected official at the state level, but has also worked as a lawyer within the organization Alliance Defending Freedom, where he made himself known as an opponent of same-sex marriage.