Republican presidential candidate Ted
Cruz has won the endorsements of three additional opponents of LGBT
rights.
Ohio conservatives announced Cruz, a
Texas senator, their GOP pick in a
joint press release issued Monday.
Among those endorsing Cruz were Linda
Harvey of Mission America, Phil Burress of Citizens for Community
Values and Molly Smith of Cleveland Right to Life.
The release directs supporters to the
website of Keep the Promise, a pro-Cruz Super PAC headed by David
Barton. Neither the Cruz campaign nor the PAC have promoted the
endorsements.
Burress and his group are largely
responsible for passage of Ohio's constitutional amendment which
defines marriage as a heterosexual union. The Supreme Court in June
struck down such bans as unconstitutional.
Harvey is a vocal opponent of LGBT
rights.
Last
month, Harvey told listeners of her radio program that endorsing
LGBT protections is “the least compassionate, the meanest and most
hateful thing you can do,” because it will lead to more people
thinking it is okay to be LGBT.
The endorsements come after the
National Organization for Marriage (NOM), the nation's largest group
working to undermine the Supreme Court's marriage ruling, Bob
Vander Plaats, an influential conservative leader in Iowa, and
James
Dobson, founder of the Christian conservative Focus on the
Family, endorsed Cruz for president.