New House Speaker Mike Johnson Blamed Fall Of The Roman Empire On ‘Homosexual Behavior’

In a resurfaced audio clip from 2008, newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) blamed the fall of the Roman Empire on same-sex relationships.

Johnson told a radio host, “Many historians, those who are objective, would look back and recognize and give 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 previously had “closely collaborated” with a now-defunct group, Exodus International, which promoted LGBTQ conversion therapy.

The highly controversial group was featured in the Netflix documentary Pray Away.

It was shut down in 2013 after 37 years when its president, Alan Chambers, issued an apology for causing “pain and hurt” to the LGTBQ community. 

While Johnson was an attorney for the conservative legal advocacy group Alliance Defense Fund, currently known as Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), between the years of 2006 and 2010, he collaborated with Exodus International on an event known as “Day of Truth.”

“Day of Truth” came in response to a student-led protest called “Day of Silence,” which was designed to spread awareness about harassment of LGBTQ youth.

When Johnson promoted the event in 2008, he said, “Our race, the size of our feet, the color of our eyes, these are things we’re born with and we cannot change… 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.”

Johnson has also previously referred to same-sex relationships as “inherently unnatural” and “harmful.”

When asked about his remarks, Johnson replied that he didn’t “even remember some of them.”

Johnson is second in line to succeed the U.S. president after Kevin McCarthy was ousted on October 3.