Soon after Texas Senator Ted Cruz spoke
Wednesday night at the Republican National Convention (RNC), the
Huffington Post posted an op-ed claiming that he had suggested
that he cares about gay people.
Nick Wing, senior viral editor at the
Huffington Post, questioned the senator when he said, “Whether
you're gay or straight, the Bill of Rights protects the rights of all
of us to live according to our conscience.”
After noting Cruz's long record
opposing LGBT rights, Wing challenged Cruz's sincerity.
“This view from the senator might be
news to many gay people in the U.S.,” Wing
wrote.
Cruz, however, was not making a gesture
toward gay rights. More likely, he was poking at it. He was saying
that Americans have a right to discriminate against gays based on
their religious freedom. Cruz hit this line in the middle of a long
montage of freedoms lost, and it received loud cheers from the crowd
in Cleveland's Quicken Loans arena.
Elsewhere in his speech, Cruz said that
freedom means allowing states to adopt laws that reflect “local
values,” a possible reference to marriage equality or the current
fight to allow transgender students to use the public bathroom of
their choice.
“And freedom means recognizing that
our constitution allows states to choose policies that reflect local
values. … New York different than Iowa,” Cruz said to applause.
“That's the way it's supposed to be: diversity.”
While Cruz endorsed presidential
nominee Donald Trump's proposed wall to keep out immigrants, he
failed to give a full endorsement of Trump.