Ted Cruz's father: It's 'appalling' that Houston has a gay mayor

Video: Raw audio: Rafael Cruz slams Houston Mayor Annise Parker

In a video posted by a local political action committee, Texas Sen. Cruz's father condemns Houston for having an openly gay mayor.

The footage was posted last week by a group called "NO on Houston Prop 1 PAC," an organization in opposition of the city's controversial HERO ordinance, which among other things would extend protections to transgender people.

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Ted Cruz's father blasts Houston mayor Rafael Cruz, father of Texas Sen. and Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, said in a video, "“I’ll tell you what, it is appalling that in a city like Houston, right in the middle of the Bible Belt, we have a homosexual mayor.”

See more of Rafael Cruz's most controversial comments ... less Ted Cruz's father blasts Houston mayor Rafael Cruz, father of Texas Sen. and Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, said in a video, "“I’ll tell you what, it is appalling that in a city like Houston, ... more Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 29 Caption Close Ted Cruz's father: It's 'appalling' that Houston has a gay mayor 1 / 29 Back to Gallery

Rafael Cruz, 76, is a Cuban immigrant and evangelical preacher who in recent months has hit the campaign trail in support of his son, according to the Wall Street Journal, which called the elder Cruz, "a practiced speaker who brings evangelicals to their feet and a powerful weapon for his son in one of the fiercest battles within the Republican nomination contest: the fight for voters on the religious right."

In Houston, the HERO ordinance has become a rallying cry for much of the religious right, which alleges it is being marginalized by policy that forces Christians to subvert their religion by honoring lifestyles they do not condone.

At a September 10 luncheon in Houston, the elder Cruz told supporters that religious conservatives made up a majority of voters but simply failed to turn out to polls.

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"If the righteous are not running for office, if the righteous are not even voting, then what is left? The wicked electing the wicked. And we get what we deserve," he said in the video. "I'll tell you what, it is appalling that in a city like Houston, right in the middle of the Bible Belt, we have a homosexual mayor."

"Why? Because too many people have been sitting in their pews or sitting at home with this business about separation of Church and state. Did you know that separation of church and state is not in the Constitution or in the declaration? It's a lie."

Also in his talk, Cruz cited guidance by David Welch, a prominent Houston pastor who has led the movement to repeal the HERO ordinance since fall 2014.

"The main thrust of Rafael's message is that Christian, don't vote. That is what he finds 'appalling," said Cruz for President campaign national spokesman Rick Tyler. "The Houston mayor is the same mayor who attempted to subpoena the sermons and sermon notes of Houston pastors who preached about biblical marriage."

The elder Cruz is a former Cuban revolutionary who once sought to join leader Fidel Castro's militia, but instead fled the reign of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista, immigrated to the United States and reformed his left-leaning attitude, The Guardian reports.

Tyler said that Cruz was 18 years old when he fought for Castro, and "he did not know that Castro was a leftist and was profoundly disillusioned when it became known after Castro took power."