Josh Hawley

Josh Hawley says he is a proud Christian Nationalist.

Uggghhhhh.

The Missouri senator, who’s very, very masculine, by the way, went on a tiresome diatribe this week at a national conservative conference about replacing Pride flags with bibles and blah, blah, blah.

He began with a forthright explanation of his atavistic agenda. “Some will say I’m calling America a Christian nation. And so I am. Some will say I’m advocating Christian nationalism. And so I do,” he said. “My question is: Is there any other kind worth having?” (We say “yes,” for what it’s worth!)

Though Hawley’s ideas are repulsive, at least we can give him some credit for honesty. The quick-footed senator is being upfront with his intentions, unlike when he cheered on the January 6 rioters and then fled for safety.

Unsurprisingly, it didn’t take Hawley long to explicitly target the LGBTQ+ community in his speech. He pledged to bring Christianity into public schools and rip down the Transgender Pride flag from federal buildings… where it doesn’t fly.

“They want the religion of the pride flag. We want the religion of the Bible,” he bloviated. “I have a suggestion: Why don’t we take down the trans flag from all the federal buildings from which it’s flying, and instead, inscribe on every federal building our national motto: In God We Trust?”

The gay-hating pol is the latest high-profile Republican to champion the anti-American idea of integrating Christianity into the curriculum for public schools. Louisiana’s vehemently antigay governor, Jeff Landry,  recently championed a law requiring all Louisiana public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments, a blatant violation of the sacred separation of church and state.

Shortly thereafter, Oklahoma’s state superintendent directed all public schools to teach the Bible, including the Ten Commandments. (Both laws were immediately challenged, and could make their way up to the ultraconservative Supreme Court.)

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Hawley, like many religious zealots, proclaims to glean all of his life teachings from the Bible… despite the fact he attended Stanford and Yale Law School.

He also, apparently, ignores the direction to “thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Discriminating against queer people is a central part of Hawley’s platform.

Since being elected to the Senate in 2018, he’s railed against legislation to protect same-sex marriage, opposed efforts to expand protections for LGBTQ+ workers and called for trans women to be banned from sports.

In political speeches, he keeps talking about his apparent fantasy of tearing down Pride flags and forcing kids to read the Bible.

“We ought to take the Pride flag out of schools and put the Bible back in,” he said last month in his forced baritone. “We ought to take the trans flag down from all of our federal buildings and over every federal building in America write the words ‘In God We Trust.’”

Hawley, the author of Manhood, The Masculine Virtues America Needs, never hesitates to stroke his religious bonafides and exert his masculinity. But his performative efforts often backfire.

When NFL kicker Harrison Butker went viral for a commencement speech in which he implored female college grads to start families and head to the kitchen, Hawley rushed to his side… literally. Amidst the controversy, Hawley shared a photo of the two “alpha men” sitting quite close to each other, in tight-fitted clothing.

As many LGBTQ+ folx on social media pointed out, Butker and Hawley don’t look like hard-right Republicans; but rather, two guys heading into Boystown for a wild night out.

At Queerty, we are obviously against any sort of shaming… unless you are an antigay Christian conservative who demonizes LGBTQ+ people, peddles problematic and outdated gender ideologies, and trafficks in hate. Then, you reap what you sow, sister!

And Hawley reaps ridicule.

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