When Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles posted Tuesday that “homosexuality has no place in America,” it wasn’t the first time he declared a certain group of people didn’t belong in the U.S.
The difference this time: His fellow Republicans called him out, publicly.
“Saying that homosexuals have no place in America is idiotic, but it’s also not reality,” Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., who publicly denounced Ogles’ post, said in an interview Wednesday. “There’s other statements on his Twitter account that I’m sure people find offensive. But in this particular instance, I felt it was important to push back.”
Along with Lawler, former New York Republican Rep. George Santos, who is gay, immediately responded to the post. Even more GOP members denounced Ogles’ post to the press Wednesday, including Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who called it “untoward.”
“We’re supposed to love our neighbor as ourselves. … We’re supposed to treat every single person with dignity and respect, whether we agree with them or not,” Johnson said. “It‘s a Christian virtue, it’s a biblical virtue, it’s also an American virtue. It’s part of who we are — out of many, one. We’re a melting pot.”
