When we hear about Mike Johnson’s adopted son, we notice that Hhe doesn’t seem to be in any of the family pictures. He was adopted when he was fourteen. Maybe he is the one taking the picture. Maybe he doesn’t like being in pictures. Maybe we should respect his privacy as Johnson alluded to in the article linked above.

This is an uncomfortable talking point. Admonishing our own is never a joyous experience, but it is one that has to be done every once in awhile. There always seems to be a trail that follows those with prolific anti-gay rhetoric. I think that is when Shakespeare said, “doth protest too much.”

It is in this vain that progressives and gay rights activists seem to be going after Johnson. Perhaps it is just a group of people that watch a little too much Investigative Discovery in their spare time. Years ago there was a similar story involving Matt Gaetz. He apparently adopted a boy from Cuba. Considering how sleazy and sexualized Gaetz is, there was plenty of speculation about what was really going on there.

That same speculation is happening now. Johnson has made a career of ant-gay and anti-lesbian rhetoric and championed legislation that would promote those views. He has opposed legislation that would support those groups. His wife dangles in the gay conversion therapy that feels so repugnant. One thing leads to another and the amateur sleuths assume Johnson is gay and trying to repress it. They are assuming the boy was a furtherance to that end.

I’m really not sure which is worse. On the one hand, you have a young man that really doesn’t want to be in the limelight and you are openly attempting to out him against his wishes. The fact that none of it could be true cannot be understated. You also have a legislator that has said and done some pretty questionable things above board and you are spending your time trying to catch him in some sort of hypocrisy below board.

Is Mike Johnson secretly gay? I really don’t know and I really don’t care. What I do care about is what he will actually do as speaker of the house. I care that he attempted to push the big lie forward and actually did things behind the scenes to make it happen. I care that this fact didn’t seem to be a disqualifying point for his House colleagues. I care that he is already going back on his word to push through aid for Ukraine at the same time as they pass aid for Israel.

I care about a looming shutdown in November that no one has done anything about since they passed the last continuing resolution. I care that he is seen as an improvement over Jim Jordan just because he doesn’t yell as much and seems able to find his sport coat on a daily basis.

What I don’t care about is whether or not he is a closeted homosexual. Maybe that fuels his homophobia and far right views. Maybe it drives him to go whole hog on the evangelical thing. I care what you do. I care how your actions affect those around you, me, and everyone else. Whether there is a deep seeded reason for those actions matters not to the people suffering the consequences of those actions. I’ll let the psychologists and psychiatrists worry about repressed feelings, self-loathing, and all of the other buzzwords we like to throw around these days. Let’s focus on the real stuff and let others worry about the imaginary stuff.