- Newly appointed House Speaker Mike Johnson once suggested that the fall of the Roman Empire was due in part to widespread homosexuality
- Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, is known for his critical views on same-sex marriage and has consistently opposed federal protections
- Johnson once had a close association with Exodus International, an organization that promoted the discredited practice of LGBTQ “conversion therapy.”
The new Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, once attributed the fall of the Roman Empire to homosexuality.
Johnson made the comments in a resurfaced audio clip from 2008.
In the clip, Johnson suggests that historians may link Rome’s decline in part to a societal decline in morals and widespread homosexual behavior that was tolerated during this period.
In the past, Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, has often disparaged homosexuality.
But in a radio interview he called for the criminalization of gay sex and even went so far as to blame it for the fall of the Roman Empire.
Newly appointed House Speaker Mike Johnson once suggested that the fall of the Roman Empire was due in part to widespread homosexuality
“The fall of Rome was due not only to the deprivation of society and the loss of morality, but also to the rampant homosexual behavior that was tolerated by society,” Johnson said.
One of the main sources of Johnson’s criticism was his stance on LGBTQ issues, as he has been a consistent opponent of federal protections for same-sex marriage.
Johnson was once closely associated with Exodus International, a now-defunct group that promoted LGBTQ “conversion therapy.”
The discredited practice aimed to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity through various means, including prayer and counseling.
Exodus International was a highly controversial “former gay” organization that ceased operations in 2013. The group’s former president, Alan Chambers, apologized for the harm it caused the LGBTQ community.
Antinous was a Greek youth from Bithynia in Turkey and a favorite of the Roman Emperor Hadrian. 19th century illustration
Between 2006 and 2010, Johnson was an attorney for the conservative legal advocacy group Alliance Defense Fund — an organization designated an extremist hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center due to its longstanding opposition to LGBTQ rights.
During his time with the ADF, he worked with Exodus International on an event called “Day of Truth.”
The event was created as a counter-protest to the “Day of Silence,” a student-led demonstration aimed at raising awareness about the harassment and bullying of LGBTQ youth.
“I mean, our race, the size of our feet, the color of our eyes, these are things that we are born with and we can’t change them,” Johnson said during a radio interview while promoting the event in 2008.
“What these adult advocacy groups like the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network are promoting is a type of behavior.” “Homosexual behavior is something you do, it’s not something you are.”
He has also made statements in the past calling same-sex relationships “inherently unnatural” and “harmful.”
“This has directly harmed LGBTQ youth,” Wayne Besen, executive director of Truth Wins Out, told CNN, speaking of Johnson’s ties to the anti-gay group.
“This is someone whose core was to hold anti-gay and ex-gay viewpoints. “He didn’t want to pander to the anti-gay advocates, he was the anti-gay and ex-gay advocate.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson blamed “homosexual behavior” for the fall of the Roman Empire, an audio clip shows