Pete Hegseth Supports Pastor Who Says Gay Sex Should Be Illegal And Women Shouldn’t Vote
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth reposted a video clip from a CNN interview featuring Pastor Doug Wilson, a leader of Christ Church in Idaho, and praised it with the caption, “All of Christ for All of Life.” In the video, Wilson says the United States should return to a time when sodomy laws criminalised gay sex, argued women should not vote, and promoted a vision of government run by Christian doctrine. Hegseth reshared the Canon Press version of the interview rather than CNN’s link.
Pressed by CNN’s Pamela Brown, Wilson described himself as a Christian nationalist and said he wants towns, states, the nation, and the world to be Christian. He said women should not hold roles “involving authority over men,” endorsed household voting led by husbands, and claimed “women are the kind of people that people come out of,” adding that “it doesn’t take any talent to simply reproduce biologically.” He also believes that women should not be allowed to vote. Voting, he says, should be done as a household, which should be run by the husband.
Who Hegseth is today.
Hegseth, a former Fox News host and US Army veteran, was nominated by President-elect Donald Trump on 12 November 2024 and confirmed on 25 January 2025 in a 51–50 Senate vote, with Vice President JD Vance breaking the tie. He now leads the US Department of Defence (DOD).
Since taking office, Hegseth has pursued policies that align with his public stance against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), which stands for diversity, equity and inclusion, and against transgender service. After an executive order on 27 January 2025, the Pentagon issued guidance that bars new transgender enlistments. In June, he ordered the US Navy to remove gay rights icon Harvey Milk’s name from a ship. These moves have prompted legal challenges and national scrutiny.
What Hegseth says about women in the military.
Hegseth has said on the Shawn Ryan Show that, “we should not have women in combat roles,” arguing mixed units complicate fighting and reduce lethality. He has also talked about sacking senior leaders he deems tied to DEI, saying “any general… involved in any of the DEI woke s— has got to go.” At his confirmation hearing, he attempted to soften his framing, saying he supports women serving but not in ground combat roles.
The “germs aren’t real” clip keeps following him.
A 2019 Fox And Friends segment resurfaced during his nomination in which Hegseth said, “I don’t really wash my hands ever… germs are not a real thing. I can’t see them, therefore they are not real.” He later said he was joking, but the quote is accurate and on tape.
During confirmation, Hegseth acknowledged paying a $50,000 settlement to resolve a 2017 sexual assault allegation, which he says was a consensual encounter. Separate affidavits alleged alcohol abuse and abusive behaviour; he and his ex-wife deny physical abuse. At DNA, we think the public deserves clarity when the person in charge of the world’s largest military faces credible claims.
Wilson’s Christ Church recently opened a Washington, DC location and is intertwined with Canon Press, the outlet whose clip Hegseth reshared. The CNN piece details the church’s aims and the pastors’ statements about women, voting, and the law. Why share that with approval while running the Pentagon? That is the core question.
When the Defence Secretary amplifies calls to criminalise LGBTQIA+ lives and cut women out of civic life, it goes straight to readiness, recruitment, and basic rights.
