Ted Cruz can’t seem to decide whether he supports LGBTQ+ people or thinks they’re all a bunch of “sadistic Marxists” who want to do irreparable harm to children.
OK, let’s unpack this…
It all started on Monday when the proudly “unwoke” Texas Senator got into a Twitter spat with Florida pastor/noted homophobe Tom Ascol over Uganda’s new law that imposes the death penalty on people for being gay.
Ascol reshared a tweet Cruz had posted days earlier calling the law “horrific” and “wrong” then quoted Leviticus and asked, “Was this law God gave to His old covenant people ‘horrific and wrong’?”
Cruz responded to by telling Ascol his “biblical analysis is in error.”
“We are talking the laws of man, not the Old Testament laws of God,” Cruz tweeted. “Do you really believe that the US govt should execute every person who is gay??”
Given the senator’s abysmal record on LGBTQ+ issues–he opposes same-sex marriage and nondiscrimination protections for queer people, thinks being gay is a choice, and hates Pride parades–a lot of people were surprised by his sudden change of heart towards a community he’s spent so many years denigrating.
Cue the whiplash.
Because just a few hours later, Cruz was back to trashing the LGBTQ+ community, specifically trans kids and their parents.
“My view is simple—we should protect children,” he tweeted. “No child, no eight, nine, or ten-year-old, has the emotional maturity to make a decision that is life-altering. It is abhorrent & wrong for a bunch of sadistic Marxists to sterilize & mutilate our children.”
He followed that up with another tweet claiming most Republicans are “terrified” to talk about “transgender ideology” which, by our calculation, is wholly inaccurate. It seems like the only things Republicans want to talk about these days are transgender people, corporations that support transgender people, and drag queens, who they believe are some sort of rainbow gateway to transgenderism.
“The dirty little secret is most Republican officeholders are terrified to talk about the radical left’s transgender ideology,” he wrote.
Folx on Twitter were quick to clap back at Cruz’s anti-LGBTQ+ remarks. Here’s what they’ve been saying…
Your views are definitely simple.
— Mike Slodki (@mslodki645) June 5, 2023
No child had ever had sex altering surgery in America , republicans call long hair, makeup deadly surgical methods
— JoeyBonanno (@RealJoeBonanno) June 5, 2023
But if a 10 year old girl gets pregnant she’s definitely mature enough to give birth.
— Susan (@redwitch497) June 6, 2023
— JenResists (@JenResistedAGN) June 5, 2023
Using children to justify hatred is weak and transparent!
If you want to hate, then hate, it’s what conservatives do! Don’t use children as an excuse
— Chris Becker (@Chris_Becker2) June 6, 2023
Protect children against gun violence.
— Emmy Giselle (@EmilyGiesel) June 6, 2023
Ted Cruz is far more interested in manufacturing discontent than in doing anything to fix anything.
— ProudTexan (@ProudTe85763170) June 6, 2023
That’s why, after extensive medical and psychological assessments it’s a decision made by professionals and parents, not by religious zealots and political opportunists like Ted Cruz. How low are they to try to score political points on the backs of these struggling children.?
— debbie does moderna (@debbiemac603) June 6, 2023
If you’re so frightened to talk about it, why is it the number 1 thing y’all are talking about?
There is no “transgender agenda.” Just a minority of ordinary, marginalized citizens, wanting to be left alone to live their lives.
Something unacceptable to Republicans.— MelissaJPeltier (@MelissaJPeltier) June 6, 2023
Do you feel the same about circumcision?
— Ana on the #TrumpIndictmentWatch (@antoneta_silva) June 6, 2023
The amount of time you spend on this issue is bizarre
— M-Theory 🔎 (@m_theoryatx) June 6, 2023
Let parents raise their children and mind your f*cking business
— Heather (@HeatherR411) June 6, 2023
Earlier this year, Cruz announced he is seeking a third term in the U.S. Senate while simultaneously pushing for legislation that would impose term limits on senators, allowing them to serve no more than two six-year terms.
Later this year, he will publish “Unwoke: How to Defeat Cultural Marxism in America”, a 256-page manifesto “against the woke takeover of education, big business, the media, and Hollywood.”