Mike Johnson Elected House Speaker

Last Wednesday, Mike Johnson (R-LA) was elected speaker of the house, with only Republican votes.
An evangelical conservative, Johnson is extremely anti-LGBTQ+, having introduced legislation similar to “Don’t Say Gay” bills passed in Florida and other states.

Johnson’s bill, the “Stop the Sexualization of Children Act of 2022,” would have prohibited federal funds for schools with any “sexually-oriented” programming — which was defined to include “any topic involving sexual orientation, gender identity, gender dysphoria, or related subjects.”

Johnson was first elected to the Louisiana House in 2015, serving just under two years before a runoff election sent him to Congress in 2017. His involvement in Louisiana politics, however, started far earlier.
In 1997, a 25-year old Johnson advocated aggressively for covenant marriages. Covenant marriages, a legally distinct marriage that makes it extremely hard to get a divorce, are legal only in three states: Louisiana, which passed covenant marriage in 1997, followed by Arizona in 1998 and Arkansas in 2001. In those states, covenant marriages make up about 0.5% of marriages.

In 2003, Johnson defended Louisiana’s same-sex marriage ban before the state’s Supreme Court.

In 2004, in an op-ed for the Shreveport Times, Johnson wrote the following in support of a gay marriage ban:

“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 another 2004 Shreveport Times op-ed, Johnson responded to Superbowl ads including queer folks by writing:

“Experts project that homosexual marriage is the dark harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy that could doom even the strongest republic.”

In 2005, in another Shreveport Times op-ed, Johnson wrote the following in opposition to LGBTQ+ employment protections:

“All of us should acknowledge the real emotion and strife of the homosexual lifestyle… but our government can never provide its stamp of approval or special legal sanction for behavior patterns that are proven to be destructive to individuals, to families and to society at large.

“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. Where would it end? This is one Pandora’s box we shouldn’t open.”

In another 2005 Shreveport Times op-ed, Johnson invoked abortion and Hitler while writing in opposition to Terri Shiavo being taken off life support. In a persistent state for seven years after a heart attack in 1998 — a battle between Shiavo’s husband and parents over taking her off life support ensued, before her feeding tube was ultimately removed. Johnson wrote:

“The prevailing judicial philosophy is no different than Hitler’s. Because the life of an unborn child (or a disabled Terri Shiavo [sic], or the elderly and infirm) may be difficult or inconvenient or even costly to society now means it can be terminated… This disregard for life has been fostered by the courts. During business hours today, 4,500 innocent American children will be killed. It is a holocaust that has been repeated every day for 32 years, since 1973’s Roe v. Wade.”

In 2020 Johnson authored an amicus brief seeking to overthrow the results of the 2020 election. He also promoted conspiracy theories about voting machines, calling the election in Georgia “rigged.”

Johnson’s wife, Kelly Johnson, operates Onward Christian Counseling Services, which at least in part is conversion therapy.

Conversion therapy is widely condemned by medical organizations. The American Psychological Association encourages legislation outlawing the practice, and has a dedicated page showing that conversion therapy isn’t therapy, doesn’t work, and causes harm: bit.ly/FCNP1123ct.

On their website, OCCS says they oppose abortion “from conception through natural death,” and that “We believe and the Bible teaches that any form of sexual immorality, such as adultery, fornication, homosexuality, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, pornography or any attempt to change one’s sex, or disagreement with one’s biological sex, is sinful and offensive to God.”

Tell Your Friends in Franconia-Springfield

A Republican judge recently disqualified a Democrat-endorsed school board candidate from the ballot in Fairfax County, despite appearing on the ballot and thousands already having voted, because she wrote her street number wrong on a single page.

UPDATE: Marcia St. John-Cunning has won a lawsuit, and voters may now select her as printed on their ballots.

This is Your (Urgent) Weekly Reminder

Voter turnout is low in Falls Church, even for an off-year election. Roe v. Wade has been overturned, and Virginia is only remaining southern state that hasn’t implemented abortion restrictions in response.

Queer people, and trans youth in particular, are under attack. “Gender Refugees” are fleeing conservative states for healthcare access.

Nearly 3,400 Virginia voters (not 270, as claimed by the Youngkin administration) have been illegally removed from voter rolls — all of whom had voting rights restored by former Gov. Northam.

This is not the time to sit on the sidelines. Please vote early by 5:00 p.m. Saturday, or at your polling location this Tuesday.