Speaker Mike Johnson frets that high schoolers increasingly identify as LGBTQ in fundraising email: 'We have much to repent for'

• Speaker Mike Johnson is fretting about the growing rate of LGBTQ identification among young people.
• He lamented that high school students increasingly identify as "something other than straight."
• "I fear America may be beyond redemption," he wrote. "We live in a depraved culture."

In a fundraising email sent on Sunday, House Speaker Mike Johnson lamented that growing numbers of young people are identifying as LGBTQ.

"1 in 4 high school students identifies as something other than straight," Johnson declared in the email, a copy of which was first obtained by Punchbowl News. "What are they being taught in school?"

According to 2021 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 25.7% of high school students do not identify as straight, with 3.2% identifying as gay or lesbian, 11.9% identifying as bisexual, and 9% identifying as something else, or questioning.

The fundraising email, entitled "Does America need more God, Patriot?" was sent via the National Republican Campaign Committee, the primary campaign arm of House Republicans.

While it's been no secret that Johnson is an evangelical conservative who has previously supported the criminalization of gay sex, he has sought to project a more moderated version of those views since his sudden ascent to the role of speaker of the House.

In his first interview as speaker, he told Fox News host Sean Hannity that he accepts same-sex marriage as the law of the land.

"I respect the rule of law, but I also genuinely love all people, regardless of their lifestyle choices," Johnson said at the time. "This is not about the people themselves."

But the fundraising email, bearing the imprint of the highest-ranking elected Republican in the country, sets a far more aggressive tone towards LGBTQ people and what Johnson characterizes as a "depraved culture."

"Our culture has fallen so far since the founding of our country, and it's just getting worse. I fear America may be beyond redemption," Johnson wrote in the email, lamenting the "filth that passes for popular culture these days."

"Let's face it- we live in a depraved culture. I didn't want to believe it at first, but I fear God may allow our nation to enter into a time of judgment for our collective sins," Johnson continues, later writing: "We have much to repent for if we want to avoid the judgment we so clearly deserve."

The email may also irk some in the party who wish to see a more conciliatory stance towards LGBTQ people.

Charles Moran, the president of the Log Cabin Republicans, told Business Insider last month that he's giving Johnson the benefit of the doubt for now and that he's been encouraging by Johnson's public statements since becoming speaker.

"His office has committed to me that that's his framework for viewing things moving forward. So as long as he sticks to that, I'm okay," Moran, a leading gay conservative, said at the time. "It's not maybe as 'ideal' as we wanted, but we've got to see if this works."