Ted Cruz 'Thrilled' to Announce Endorsement of 'Ex-Gay' Activist

Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz has been raking in so many right-wing endorsements that even the conservative firebrand's own presidential campaign is having trouble keeping track of them, reports Right Wing Watch.

Back in January, noted "ex-gay" activist and founder of the antigay Christian group Mission: America, Linda Harvey announced her support for Cruz, lamenting that "a weak Republican just won't do" when it comes to protecting "the most vulnerable among us -- the unborn."

Harvey's endorsement was cosigned by Phil Burress of Citizens for Community Values Action, which RWW reports is the Ohio chapter of certified anti-LGBT hate group Family Research Council. (Tony Perkins, who leads the national FRC, endorsed Cruz in January.) Also signing on to Harvey's endorsement was Molly Smith, head of Cleveland Right to Life, whose antigay activism has sometimes been too extreme even for fellow pro-lifers.

Less than 24 hours before Ohio voters went to the polls for the state's Republican primary today, the Cruz campaign formally acknowledged Harvey's endorsement Monday, along with other "key Ohio endorsements" from "dozens of Buckeye State Christian and conservative activists."

"I am thrilled to announce such outstanding endorsements from Ohio leaders," said Cruz in his Monday statement. "These are some of Ohio's top conservative leaders and they add to our incredible list of courageous conservatives from all across the Buckeye State."

Harvey is best known for her outspoken advocacy of the debunked and harmful practice sometimes called "conversion therapy," which aims to make LGBT people straight and cisgender (not transgender).

In 2014, Harvey suggested that her latest book, Maybe He's Not Gay, was the perfect holiday gift for young people. "If you were wondering what to get your teen or college student for Christmas, how about giving them the gift of common sense and morality?" Harvey said on her daily radio show in November of that year. "This is the way many people have described my book Maybe He's Not Gay: Another View on Homosexuality."

Harvey has said that there is no such thing as a gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender person, only a "lifestyle," and that politicians, the entertainment industry, and the media, especially LGBT-focused websites, are trying to promote that lifestyle to young people. She has also claimed that LGBT people "hate Jesus" and that transgender actress Laverne Cox is working in league with Satan.

Harvey's name is included on a long list of endorsements from a total of 33 Ohio-based activists and clergy members. Many of the endorsements come from leaders affiliated with anti-abortion groups and local Tea Party chapters, but there's no shortage of antigay activists backing Cruz in Ohio, notes RWW.

Among the conservative activists endorsing Cruz are leaders of Ohio chapters of Concerned Women for America, a board member for Family First PAC, which says it endorses candidates who will "protect marriage," and the Richland Family Coalition, which bills itself as a "confederation of local citizens and churches devoted to reclaiming the traditional family values in the civic arena."