Rafael Cruz, Senator Ted Cruz's
(R-Texas) father, has criticized laws prohibiting “ex-gay”
therapy to minors, arguing that “sexual orientation is a choice.”
California was the first state to make
it illegal to attempt to alter the sexual orientation of a minor from
gay to straight. New Jersey has since followed and several
additional states are now considering similar legislation.
“Sexual orientation is a choice, it's
not a civil right,” the
elder Cruz told a National Religious Broadcasters audience. “The
Left is trying to redefine the issue as a civil right, not as a
personal choice. They have gone to the extent to even try to make it
illegal for counselors to administer to these people that have
certain sexual tendencies to try to work with them from the
Christian, biblical standpoint.”
Cruz, an evangelical pastor who
emigrated to the United States from Cuba, has previously argued that
gay
rights are part of a Communist plot.
(Related: In
Iowa, Ted Cruz reiterates opposition to gay marriage.)