Using Gays as a Political Scare Tactic
A foolproof way to raise money and votes for Republicans
Every election season, Republicans try to get elected by bringing Evangelicals to the voting booths. Their scare tactic: gay rights.
To no one’s surprise, Evangelicals generally hate the notion of gay rights. In the bad old days, Evangelicals attempted to scare their constituents into forbidding gays the right to hold the same jobs and live in the same homes as straight people.
Evangelicals would pass out “voting guides” to those in their church. The guide just happened to show how Republicans would save America by restraining gay rights.
And the scare tactic worked!
Millions of Evangelicals voted for the Republican candidates.
With the Supreme Court’s acceptance of gay marriages, many gays thought they had finally achieved long overdue rights. Evangelical churches, however, were exempted from providing gay marriage rights. In fact, they hold gay marriages as an example of depravity.
Well, the year is almost 2024, and we have a national election approaching.
So, who did Republicans choose to broadcast the scare tactic of alarming Evangelicals about the heinous gays?
Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House.
If the President and vice president of America should die, Mr. Johnson would become the acting President of the United States.
Mike Johnson is a very devout Evangelical who has consistently been against gay rights.
At a recent Republican fundraiser, Mr. Johnson gave a speech entitled, “Does America Need More God Patriots?” Apparently, a “God patriot” cheers for the following quotes by Mike Johnson.
“We live in a depraved culture.”
“Filth that passes for popular culture these days.”
“One in four high school students identifies as something other than straight. What are they taught in school?”
“I fear God may allow our nation to enter a time of judgment for our collective sins.
“We have much to repent for to avoid the judgment we so clearly deserve.”
“I fear America may be beyond redemption.”
Classic appeal to Christian (or should I say, Evangelical) nationalism.
What exactly is Mr. Johnson so fearful of, such that even with repentance, God may still provide America a damning judgment? Apparently, it is America’s filthy, depraved culture — those who do not identify as straight.
There we Americans go again. Using gays as a boogeyman to drum up money and votes among the Evangelicals — and ultimately for the Republicans.
My husband Reggie and I would love to host Mike Johnson at our home. We both, of course, are gay and part of the larger LGBTQ community.
We would graciously welcome Mr. Johnson inside our Christmas home. He would thus be able to see our beautiful Christmas decorations, hear Christmas music in the background, sample our Christmas cookies, and drink eggnog.
I would politely and earnestly tell Mike Johnson that I, too, was an Evangelical for 40 years. Also, I would let him know that I was the vice president of America’s largest Evangelical ministry during the peak of its outreach — Focus on the Family. I would also tell him I have always voted for the Republican presidential candidate.
But I will not be doing so in 2024.
I would make sure that Mr. Johnson feels very comfortable in my home. He can take off his dress shoes and lounge in my Santa socks. Remove your tie, sir, and come sit by the fireplace. We have more to tell you.
Reggie and I would tell him about our deep love of Jesus — and how we are trying to love all others in Jesus’s way. I would gently ask Mr. Johnson if Jesus is our ultimate role model in how to love all people. I would then ask Mike Johnson if his party of Republicans is the best organization for loving marginalized people — exactly as Jesus did.
I would tell Mr. Johnson that my dear LGBTQ friends are not to be feared. Gay men and lesbian women deserve a loving relationship as much as straight people do. I would share with Mike Johnson how my marriage with my husband has been transforming for the better! I also would ask him if he could do something in Congress to cool down the vitriol and false information about my trans friends.
Furthermore, I would ask Mr. Johnson why he believes America is a depraved culture.
And I would ask him, “Sir, do you see me and Reggie as filth?”
Finally, once he’s filled with Santa cookies and eggnog, I would sincerely tell him he is always welcome in our home.
Jesus told us to “love your enemies.” And then Jesus died to prove His point.
I want to be more like Jesus.
Dr. Mike Rosebush (Ph.D., Counseling Psychology; he, him, his;) is the creator and editor of GAYoda, plus a writer for Backyard Church. A short synopsis of Dr. Rosebush’s life can be found at I Lived the Most Unusual Gay Christian Life Ever. He may be contacted at mikerosebush75@gmail.com.
