Mike Johnson Once Lied That Pastors Nationwide Were Being “Prosecuted And Fined” Over Same-Sex Marriage

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports:

During a 2016 Louisiana Senate hearing on an anti-marriage equality measure, the bill’s author, then state Rep. Mike Johnson, found himself in a bit of a political pickle. The bill’s blanket protections for clergy refusing to marry someone because of their religious beliefs had Black and brown lawmakers concerned it would open the door not only for discrimination against same-sex couples but interracial ones as well.

“We have specific examples from New York and New Jersey to Idaho, Texas, Pennsylvania, where clergy and religious organizations have been prosecuted, fined, punished, simply for quietly and respectfully abiding by their sincerely held religious beliefs,” Johnson countered. That, however, does not appear to be true. In fact, according to civil rights activists who monitor issues involving marriage equality, there have in fact never been any such examples.

Read the full article. No paywall.

In 2016 Speaker Johnson claimed clergy were being prosecuted for not performing same sex marriages. No such cases appear to exist https://t.co/QlwiFbVEkG

— Gambit (@The_Gambit) October 27, 2023