Politician who would kill his kids if they were gay

In the wake of an unprecedented three-week void without a House speaker, Republicans on Wednesday elected Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson. While he is recognized within some Washington circles for his deeply conservative stances, Johnson, who was most recently the House GOP conference's vice chair, remains relatively obscure beyond the Capitol.

But prior to joining Congress inhe spent years building his career and profile by denouncing gay people and fighting against gay rights, which he staunchly opposes, citing his Christian faith and views on liberty. 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 comments from over fifteen years ago, long before he became a lawmaker and while acting as an attorney and spokesman for the Alliance Defense Fund ADFa Christian advocacy group, Johnson described homosexuals as "sinful" and "destructive" and argued support for homosexuality could lead to support for pedophilia.

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He also authored op-eds that argued for criminalizing gay sex. Induring nationwide Day of Silence protests aimed at addressing anti-gay bias in schools, Johnson and the ADF spearheaded a college campus counterprotest dubbed the "Day of Truth. Before his congressional career, Johnson wore multiple hats: as a conservative talk radio host, a columnist, a college professor and a constitutional law seminar instructor, as well as a brief stint as a state lawmaker.

Elected to the House inJohnson was part of the Republican surge that accompanied former President Donald Trump's rise to power. While in Congress, Johnson served on Trump's legal defense team during his two Senate trials on impeachment charges and he voted against bipartisan legislation to codify same-sex marriage.

He was also instrumental in drafting legislation like the Stop the Sexualization of Children Act, which was introduced in late but never brought to the floor and would have prevented the use of federal money to "develop, implement, facilitate, or fund any sexually oriented program, event, or literature" politician who would kill his kids if they were gay kids under 10, with proponents of the proposal saying it would keep inappropriate material from children.

Critics dubbed the bill a federal "don't say gay" measure, however, because they argued its provisions would be broadly used to restrict other kinds of LGBTQ content since "sexually oriented" was defined as including anything to do with gender identity, sexual orientation "or related subjects.

Johnson's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News. According to records, Johnson's time working for the ADF went as far back as Supreme Court advocates working to preserve the fundamental freedoms of speech and religion for all Americans" and pushed back on the Southern Poverty Law Center.

At the counterprotest involving Johnson, ADF distributed T-shirts emblazoned with "The Truth Cannot be Silenced" and cards to students, expressing their refusal to support what they deemed "detrimental personal and social behavior," in reference to homosexuality, according to reports on the event.

Johnson said he hoped the event would be "peaceful and respectful" while not shying away from castigating homosexuality, stating, "You can call it sinful or destructive -- ultimately it's both. In response, Johnson told media outlets, "No one is for bullying and harassment.

But that's cloaking their real message -- that homosexuality is good for society. According to another news report, Johnson said being gay was "morally wrong and physically dangerous. While working as a senior counsel for the ADF, Johnson fought for an amendment in Louisiana to ban gay marriage, which was approved by voters in -- part of a wave of such restrictions that passed that year nationwide -- and he filed suit against a New Orleans law that provided benefits to same-sex partners of city employees.

A state appellate court ultimately upheld the benefits. He filed the complaint on behalf of six New Orleans residents over its law giving health care benefits to city workers' gay partners. While arguing against granting the benefits to same-sex couples, Johnson made anti-gay comments suggesting support for homosexuality could lead to support for pedophilia.

That's the danger," Johnson said. Let's stop here and draw the line here, because then it leads to sexual anarchy. Inthe Family Research Council, an influential right-wing lobbying group, honored Johnson for his work defending Louisiana's constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

Before the state Supreme Court, according to one news report at the time, Johnson told the justices that "the amendment has one purpose: to protect marriage from attack. Later, while serving in the Louisiana state house, Johnson proposed a so-called religious freedom bill that supporters said would protect people from having to betray their spiritual convictions but which critics and LGBTQ advocates said would make it easier to discriminate against them.

He pushed back against those attacks. Johnson, on Wednesday, was unanimously elected as House speaker by his fellow Republicans.