DNC National Press Secretary ⁨Emilia Rowland⁩ released the following statement:

“Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson, Trump’s top minion in Congress, has spent his career championing hateful policies to oppress the LGBTQ+ community and roll back the clock on the rights that LGBTQ+ Americans have fought for years to secure. MAGA Mike has advocated against basic legal protections as fundamental as protections for the right to marriage, has supported a law that would outlaw same-sex couples from adopting children, argued that anti-discrimination laws don’t apply to LGBTQ+ Americans, and associated himself with hateful, homophobic extremists. While Trump and MAGA Mike push an unpopular, anti-freedom, and pro-discrimination agenda, President Biden is fighting for LGBTQ+ rights so that every American can be who they are and love who they love.”

MAGA Mike doesn’t believe in marriage equality and has supported the idea of the Supreme Court revisiting their decision in Obergefell v. Hodges.

CNN: “Mike Johnson’s America: Revisit landmark SCOTUS decisions and use government to ‘restrain evil’” 

“Mike Johnson, the new speaker of the House, voiced support for revisiting Supreme Court decisions that struck down restrictions on the use of contraception, barred bans on gay sex and legalized same sex marriages. … CNN’s review of more than 100 of Johnson’s interviews, speeches and public commentary spanning his decades-long career as a lawmaker and attorney paints a picture of his governing ideals: Imprisoning doctors who perform abortions after six weeks; the Ten Commandments prominently displayed in public buildings; an elimination of anti-hate-crime laws; Bible study in public schools.”

CNN: “On a conservative talk radio show the day the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in June 2022, Johnson underscored Justice Clarence Thomas’s concurring opinion that the high court should reconsider those other landmark rulings. Johnson, citing his years as an attorney against ‘activist courts,’ defended Thomas’ view, insisting that what Thomas was calling for was, ‘not radical. In fact, it’s the opposite of that.’

“‘There’s been some really bad law made,’ he said. ‘They’ve made a mess of our jurisprudence in this country for the last several decades. And maybe some of that needs to be cleaned up.’”

ABC News: “An ABC News examination of public records, news reports and documents shows the extent to which Johnson dedicated earlier phases of his career to limiting gay rights, including same-sex marriage and health care access, and through anti-gay activism on college campuses.

“In 2005, the Family Research Council, an influential right-wing lobbying group, honored Johnson for his work defending Louisiana’s constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.”

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

Johnson argued that anti-discrimination laws don’t apply to LGBTQ+ Americans, supported a law that would outlaw same-sex couples from adopting children, and offered pro-bono legal services to people who wanted to avoid assisting with same-sex marriages. 

CNN: “Johnson argued anti-discrimination laws did not recognize a ‘behavior’ like homosexuality. ‘There are laws on the books that prohibit discrimination against people for their immutable characteristics, their race and creed and that kind of thing,’ Johnson said in a 2009 radio interview. ‘There’s a difference – and the law has recognized a difference – between that and homosexual behavior. As something that you do, not an immutable characteristic of what you are.’”

CNN: “Johnson supported an Arkansas law against same-sex couples adopting children, citing it as ‘good public policy’ in 2008. In 2013, he opposed President Barack Obama’s appointment of an ‘openly homosexual’ ambassador, Wally Brewster, to the Dominican Republic, calling it a provocative move against the Catholic country.”

The Advocate: “House Bill 707, which Johnson has dubbed the “Marriage and Conscience Act,” would bar the state from punishing businesses and people for their views on same-sex marriage through denying or revoking state licenses, tax deductions or contracts, among other methods. Johnson has said the legislation would prevent backlash or retribution over someone’s beliefs.

“Opponents argue that it would mean doctors could deny treatment to same-sex couples, and contractors could refuse to work on a gay person’s home.”

Times-Picayune: “In a memo, the organization outlined how government officials can avoid assisting with same-sex marriages while carrying out their job functions and not running afoul of the law. For example, they said parish clerks who issued marriage licenses should appoint a deputy clerk to do so, should they feel uncomfortable serving same-sex couples.

“State Rep. Mike Johnson, who works for Freedom Guard, wrote the memo and sent it to all Louisiana government officials Tuesday (July 28). He also offered his legal services to officials who oppose same-sex marriage for free.”

In Congress, Johnson introduced a national version of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law.

Business Insider: “Last October, Johnson led over two dozen of his colleagues in introducing the ‘Stop the Sexualization of Children Act of 2022.’

“The bill is essentially the national version of Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Law — dubbed ‘Don’t Say Gay’ by critics.

“The bill prohibits federal funds from being used to promote ‘any sexually-oriented program, event, or literature for children under the age of 10’ and bans federal funding from being used for drag shows or ‘Drag Queen Story Hour.’

“But the bill’s definition of ‘sexually-oriented material’ includes ‘any topic involving gender identity, gender dysphoria, transgenderism,  sexual orientation, or related subjects.

“That’s led the Human Rights Campaign to condemn the bill as the ‘latest cruel attempt to stigmatize and marginalize the community.’”

Johnson sued New Orleans for allowing gay people to access their partner’s health care benefits.

Advocate: “Six residents have sued the city of New Orleans over its law giving health care benefits to city workers’ gay partners, arguing that the ordinance violates provisions in state law that uphold traditional marriage. The city council enacted the law in 1999, giving benefits to city workers’ domestic partners, who are defined as couples who live together and “share one another’s lives in an intimate and committed relationship of mutual caring…

“‘These are people who believe in the sanctity of marriage,’ said Mike Johnson, of Shreveport, who filed the suit.”

Johnson has allied himself with homophobic extremists.

CNN: “Speaker of the House Mike Johnson wrote the foreword and publicly promoted a 2022 book that spread baseless and discredited conspiracy theories and used derogatory homophobic insults.

“Johnson’s endorsement of the book extends beyond the foreword: In 2022, he actively promoted the book on his public social media platforms and even dedicated an episode of his podcast he co-hosts with his wife to hosting McKay.

“During the podcast episode, Johnson expressed his belief in the book, stating, ‘I obviously believe in the product, or I wouldn’t have written the foreword. So I endorse the work.’

“The book repeatedly disparages Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, calling the former mayor a ‘queer choice’ for the Cabinet position and saying he had ‘queer sanctimony’ and was ‘openly, and obnoxiously, gay.’ At one point, the book labels him ‘Gay Mayor Pete Buttigieg.’”

Politico: “Mike Johnson is a board member of a Christian publishing house that called ‘monkeypox’ a penalty for being gay”

“For the last decade, Johnson has been a member of the board of Living Waters Publications, a Christian ministry and publishing house. The speaker has interviewed founder and CEO Ray Comfort on his and his wife’s now-deleted podcast.

“Last year, Comfort narrated a Living Waters video, titled ‘Monkeypox and God: Is It a ‘Gay Disease’?’ in which he quoted Biblical scripture saying that those who engaged in homosexual acts would get ‘in their own bodies the inevitable and appropriate penalty for their wrongdoing.’ (The virus was previously known as monkeypox, but last year the World Health Organization changed the name to mpox, saying the term monkeypox could be seen as stigmatizing and racist.)

“In a Living Waters article published in March, Comfort also bemoaned the fact that Christians could no longer call homosexuality ‘morally wrong.’ ‘There was a time in America when we could say these things without any real repercussions,’ he noted.”

House Republicans pushed more than 40 anti-equality provisions across 12 fiscal year 2024 appropriations bills. 

House Equality Caucus, Press Release: “‘This Congress, extreme MAGA Republicans are using the appropriations process to further their radical agenda and attack the LGBTQI+ community,’ said Equality Caucus Chair Mark Pocan (WI-02). ‘Motivated by bigotry and the desire to appeal to the GOP extremist base, more than 40 anti-equality provisions across the 12 appropriations bills were passed. Last week, they went even further and cut millions of dollars in funding for member’s community projects that would have tackled LGBTQI+ homelessness and housing insecurity. I condemn these discriminatory attacks and remain committed to ensuring none of these awful provisions make it into the final funding bill that becomes law.”

The Blade: “Data shows weak support for anti-LGBTQ riders on defense spending bills”

“Democrats’ majority control of the Senate, while narrow, will create a difficult path for passage of the 40 anti-LGBTQ provisions House Republicans have attached to the 12 separate spending bills, along with other GOP amendments such as those restricting reproductive rights and diversity initiatives.

“With respect to riders targeting the LGBTQ community in the National Defense Authorization Act, which passed the House last week, the Data for Progress poll found 60 percent of respondents ‘agree that anti-LGBTQ+ measures should not be included in bills focused on military spending’ while 63 percent said transgender service members should have access to medically necessary healthcare.”

MAGA Republicans in the House have made disgusting comments about and supported cruel policies attacking LGBTQ+ people.

Tahlequah Daily Press: “Questions were fielded from listeners on Feb. 6, and Brecheen, a Republican who represents Oklahoma’s District 2, laid out his concerns for Oklahoma. Brecheen ultimately said many of today’s problems harked back to the 1960s, when sexual immorality was embraced by the culture.

“‘Then in the 1990s, the culture went into the homosexual movement, and now into the transgender movement, and right is no longer right and wrong is no longer wrong,’ he said.”

The Hill: “Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) introduced a bill Friday that would make providing gender-affirming medical care to transgender minors a felony, punishable by up to 25 years in prison.

“The measure would also prohibit using federal funds for gender-affirming health care, including in Affordable Healthcare Act plans.

“Under Greene’s bill, anyone who ‘knowingly performs any gender-affirming care on a minor’ is guilty of a class C felony, carrying a punishment of 10 to 25 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000, Greene’s office said.”