Newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks after his election at the Capitol in Washington, DC, on Oct. 25, 2023.Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson. While he is recognized within some Washington circles for his deeply conservative stances, Johnson, who was most recently the House GOP conference's vice chair,
"There is clearly no 'right to sodomy' in the Constitution," Johnson wrote in a 2003 column in a Louisiana newspaper. "And the right of 'privacy of the home' has never placed all activity with the home outside the bounds of the criminal law."In 2005, during nationwide Day of Silence protests aimed at addressing anti-gay bias in schools, Johnson and the ADF spearheaded a counterprotest dubbed the "Day of Truth.
He was also instrumental in drafting legislation like the Stop the Sexualization of Children Act, which was introduced in late 2022 but never brought to the floor and would have prevented the use of federal money to "develop, implement, facilitate, or fund any sexually oriented program, event, or literature" for kids under 10, with proponents of the proposal saying it would keep inappropriate material from children.
Johnson said he hoped the event would be "peaceful and respectful" while not shying away from castigating homosexuality, stating, "You can call it sinful or destructive -- ultimately it's both." "These are people who believe in the sanctity of marriage," Johnson said in 2003, according to reports. He filed the complaint on behalf of six New Orleans residents over its law giving health care benefits to city workers' gay partners.