Mike Johnson Said Same-Sex Marriage Would Lead to People Marrying Their Pets, Wanted to Sentence Abortion Doctors to “Hard Labor”

By now you’ve likely heard that Representative Mike Johnson—the congressman Republicans finally elected as the new Speaker of the House after 22 days of chaos—played a significant role in the plot to overturn the 2020 election, a lowlight on his résumé that is obviously deeply concerning for the future of democracy. Also extremely worrisome? Johnson’s wildly bigoted remarks about homosexuality over the years, and the fact that he supported criminalizing gay sex between consenting adults.

CNN’s KFile reports that prior to his career in politics, Johnson wrote a series of deeply homophobic editorials in his role as an attorney for the socially conservative legal group now known as Alliance Defending Freedom. In one, he wrote:

“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 the same op-ed, Johnson—who now has one of the most powerful jobs in the federal government—added that allowing same-sex couples to marry would “place our entire democratic system in jeopardy by eroding its foundation.” In another, he argued that “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.” He also separately deemed “same-sex deviate sexual intercourse” to be a public health concern, and the following year, he suggested that “homosexual marriage is the dark harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy that could doom even the strongest republic.”

Johnson didn’t just write hateful op-eds for the hell of it; he also wrote an official opposition to Lawrence v. Texas, the Supreme Court ruling that overturned state laws criminalizing homosexual activity amongst consenting adults. Last year, as a member of the House, he introduced a bill seemingly modeled after Florida’s bigoted “Don’t Say Gay” measure. According to Punchbowl News, Johnson took issue with the fact that Tom Emmer, whose candidacy for House Speaker was ultimately doomed, voted to codify same-sex marriage in 2022. (As for where Johnson came down on that vote, we’ll give you several guesses, but you’ll definitely only need one.)

Oh, and not surprisingly, Johnson’s take on abortion is just about as horrifying as his take on gay people: