Speaker Mike Johnson was seen in unearthed footage from a German news outlet attending a ‘purity ball’ with his teen daughter Â
The Republican made his daughter Hannah take a vow of abstinence, in a bizarre ceremony where he wore a tuxedo and she donned a white dress Â
It comes as the conservative has defended controversial statements including calling same-sex marriage ‘the dark harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy’
Johnson, 51, and his then-13-year-old daughter, Hannah, were seen in unearthed n-tv news footage from 2015 preparing for the controversial dance, as a reporter remarks that it ‘looks like a wedding.’Â
‘But they are not bride and groom – rather father and… daughter,’ the reporter adds, with Johnson seen in a black tuxedo and his young daughter in a white dress. The segment was first reported by ABC News.
The lawmaker’s attendance at the religious event comes after he raised eyebrows following his surprise appointment as Speaker in October, as he has been forced to defend statements including calling same-sex marriage ‘the dark harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy.’
The first ‘purity ball’ was thrown in Colorado Springs in 1998, when activist Randy Wilson had other fathers sign a pledge to protect the virginity of their unmarried teen daughters, according to the New York Times.
The notion then grew in popularity among some conservative Christian groups in the early 2000s, and would typically see a father and teenage daughter dress in formal wedding-like attire.
They would tend to then enjoy a dinner and dancing, before the night ends with the daughter signing a pledge to her father to abstain from any sexual activity until marriage.
Critics of ‘purity balls’ have claimed they are a coercive and unproductive idea that do little besides objectify young girls they intend to ‘protect.’
Johnson was seen in footage shared by Newsnation’s Dan Abrams in attendance at one event in 2015, which was covered for German TV about the rising demand for ‘purity balls’ at the time.
Johnson, his wife Kelly, and Hannah gave interviews to the German news outlet about their reasons for attending, with the 13-year-old seen committing ‘to a lifetime of purity, including sexual purity.’
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