Ted Cruz’s Opposition to Uganda’s Anti-Gay Law Won’t Erase His Own Anti-LGBTQ+ Rhetoric

Texas Senator Ted Cruz condemned Uganda’s heinous anti-LGBTQ+ law in a tweet on Monday. Yet, when it comes to LGBTQ+ rights, Ted Cruz is throwing stones from his glass house.

On Monday, Cruz called out Uganda’s new anti-LGBTQ+ law in a Twitter post describing the new law as “horrific & wrong.” The Anti-Homosexuality Bill, signed on Monday by President Yoweri Museveni, imposes lifetime imprisonment for those who engage in homosexual acts, among other repercussions like the death penalty. 

“Any law criminalizing homosexuality or imposing the death penalty for ‘aggravated homosexuality’ is grotesque & an abomination,” the former Republican presidential candidate wrote. “ ALL civilized nations should join together in condemning this human rights abuse. #LGBTQ,” 

While Cruz is certainly right to call out one of the harshest anti-LGBTQ+ laws in the world,  that doesn’t erase his own long history anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric, of which he has plenty to choose. 

In 2015, Cruz introduced two anti-LGBTQ+ bills as a means to hinder marriage equality across the nation. As reported in Bloomberg, the bills “would establish a constitutional amendment shielding states that define marriage as between one woman and one man from legal action”, as well as “bar federal courts from further weighing in on the marriage issue until such an amendment is adopted.” 

In 2022, Cruz stated that the ruling for same-sex marriage was “clearly wrong” on his podcast. Additionally, he confirmed on his podcast that he would vote against a bill that would codify same-sex marriage protections into federal law. The Texas Senator said that the bill would be an infringement on religious liberties. Lasty, in the same year, Cruz defended Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s legislation to block gender-affirming care for minors.

Cruz doesn’t get any rainbow brownie points for calling out Uganda’s anti-LGBTQ+ law until he calls his own hypocrisy around LGBTQ+ rights in the United States. 

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