'Self-appointed spokespeople for heterosexual marriage': How Kelly Johnson is 'just as weird as her husband'

12 November 2023

During a recent interview with Fox News' Kayleigh McEnany, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said he was willing to 'take any arrows — that's fine —but don't talk about my wife, for goodness' sake."

His wife, Kelly Johnson, sat next to him during that interview.

In a Sunday, November 12 report from The New York Times, congressional correspondent Annie Karni writes, "if Mrs. Johnson has become a target, it is because Mr. Johnson has helped put her there, by holding up their partnership as the embodiment of his belief that heterosexual marriage is 'the building block of society.'"

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Like her husband, the Times reports, Mrs. Johnson, "is also an evangelical Christian and a licensed pastoral counselor," and together, "they have acted as self-appointed spokespeople for heterosexual marriage," and even have "championed more legally binding marriages that make it difficult to divorce."

According to the report, the couple appeared on Good Morning America in 2005 to discuss why they chose to adopt a "Covenant marriage," which the report notes "is available in Louisiana, Arizona and Arkansas," and "was designed to prevent quick marriages and quick divorces; couples who enter into the arrangement cannot get a divorce for two years, and only under certain circumstances."

Since sharing a nearly 600-word 2019 Facebook post, according to the Times, the speaker dedicated to Mrs. Johnson for their 20th wedding anniversary calling her "his muse and the great joy of his life," Amy Noles, a friend of Mrs. Johnson's, said, "He's been in D.C. for several years now, and she's been taking care of the four kids at home. She has to do that so he can go to D.C. and do what he needs to do. He supports her as much as he can."

Regarding Mrs. Johnson's beliefs, Noles emphasized, "People who don't subscribe to those same beliefs vilify her for believing that. Because you believe something doesn't mean that you hate the person who does whatever it is you’ve spoken out against. You love the sinner and not the sin."

The Times reports:

In a page on her counseling website, which she deleted days after Mr. Johnson was elected speaker last month, Mrs. Johnson said she believed any form of sexual activity outside of marriage, including '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.' All employees of her company were required to abide by and agree to the statement, according to the operating agreement.

The Times also notes:

Mrs. Johnson took down her site because she felt the statement had been misinterpreted and become the subject of scorn, according to a person familiar with her thinking who described it on the condition of anonymity. The section in question, that person said, followed guidance sent out by the National Christian Counseling Association, which warned biblical counselors that they could be open to legal action if they did not include a disclaimer such as the one on Mrs. Johnson’s site. She could be sued, the association said, for refusing to counsel gay people if she did not post it.

The report notes that comedian Stephen Colbert has said, "Mrs. Johnson was, 'if possible, just as weird as her husband' and that her counseling company 'offensively and outrageously' equated being gay with bestiality."

However, the person familiar with Mrs. Johnson's website insisted the speaker's wife did not intend to "compare bestiality with homosexuality, but simply to state that according to biblical scripture, any sex outside of a heterosexual marriage is considered sinful in God's eyes."

Mrs. Johnson often shared her views on the religious "Truth Be Told" podcast "she co-hosted with her husband until his" speakership appointment, the Times notes, in which she would express "her deep concern about a 'woke agenda' in schools across the country and the rising rates" of queer students.

"These are clearly unprecedented, unsettled and very dangerous times for our children," Mrs. Johnson said.

A champion of "culture wars," in addition to promoting heterosexual marriage, the longtime counselor "opened an anti-abortion booth called 'Eyes for Life' at the Louisiana State Fair where she gave out tiny models of a fetus to drive home her message," while working with Louisiana Right to Life in 2018.

The Times notes the speaker "has co-sponsored legislation to ban abortions starting from the time a fetal heartbeat is detected, as well as a 15-week abortion ban."

Mrs. Johnson told McEnany, "I believe that God has placed him here; that's biblical. I believe God has him here for just this time."

The New York Times' full report is here (subscription required).

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