The new Speaker of the House, 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 might consider the decline of Rome as partially related to a societal loss of morals and widespread homosexual behavior condoned during that period.
In the past, Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, has frequently disparaged homosexuality.
But it was during a radio interview he could be heard advocating for the criminalization of gay sex and went so far as to partially blame it for the fall of the Roman Empire.
The newly appointed Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, once suggested the fall of the Roman Empire was partly due to widespread homosexuality
‘Some credit to the fall of Rome to not only the deprivation of the society and the loss of morals, but also to the rampant homosexual behavior that was condoned by the society,’ Johnson said.
One of the primary sources of Johnson criticism has been 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 ‘ex-gay’ organization that ceased operations in 2013. The group’s former president, Alan Chambers, issued an apology for the harm it had caused to the LGBTQ community.
Antinous was a Greek youth from Bithynia, Turkey and a favorite of the Roman emperor Hadrian. Illustration from 19th century
Between 2006 and 2010, while Johnson was an attorney for the conservative legal advocacy group Alliance Defense Fund – an organization labeled as an extremist hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center because of its long-standing opposition to LGBTQ rights.
While with the ADF, he collaborated with Exodus International on an event called the ‘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 we’re born with and we cannot change,’ Johnson said during a radio interview, while promoting the event held 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 that you are.’
He has also made statements in the past characterizing same-sex relations as ‘inherently unnatural’ and ‘harmful.’
‘This directly harmed LGBTQ youth,’ Wayne Besen, the executive director of Truth Wins Out told CNN, speaking of Johnson’s associated with the anti-gay group.
‘This is someone whose core was promoting anti-gay and ex-gay viewpoints. He wouldn’t pander to anti-gay advocates, he was the anti-gay and ex-gay advocate.’