Ted Olson Likens U.S. Senator Ted Cruz's Anti-Gay Views To Racism During Civil Rights Movement

Burnt Orange Report ^ | June 30, 2014 | Omar Araiza

[2ndDivisionVet]

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz is taking heat for his anti-gay views and vocal opposition to marriage equality by none other than a fellow Republican figure. Prominent Republican lawyer, Ted Olson, who is a strong supporter of LGBT rights, thought Cruz's comments on marriage equality were "very, very sad."

Cruz had a lot to say to the crowds at the Texas GOP convention about the "threat" that is gay marriage. His speech appeared on an article of The New Yorker (emphasis mine):

"Marriage is under assault," Ted Cruz said to the crowd. "It is under assault in a way that is pervasive. We're seeing marriage under assault in the courts, including, sadly, the Supreme Court of the United States. It struck down the California marriage laws. California had a referendum. They asked the voters of California, 'Do you want marriage to be a traditional marriage between one man and one woman?' And the voters of California -- those crazy right-wing kooks -- said, 'Yes, now that you mention it, we like marriage to be between one man and one woman!' Went to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the U.S. Supreme Court said, 'You can't say that,' and struck it down. You want to know what judicial activism is? Judicial activism is judges imposing their policy preferences on the words of the Constitution."

Olson thought Ted Cruz's comments on gay marriage made the junior Senator sound like he was stuck in the past. Specifically, in the 1960's, when supporters of interracial marriage bans spewed the same arguments Cruz now reiterates against gay marriage.

Remarks by Olson and video below the jump.

Ted Olson's remarks on Ted Cruz (emphasis mine):

It's the same sort of thing that people said forty-some years ago when the Supreme Court overturned the laws of 17 states, supported by two-thirds of the population of the United States, that made it a felony to marry someone of a different race. That case, called Loving v. Virginia, is a landmark in the jurisprudence of the SC, striking down as unconstitutional a law that would have prevented the president's mother and father from getting married and being in Virginia at the time that he was born.

It's a sad thing when people don't understand that the people cannot vote away the rights of minorities, that people cannot engraft into their constitution provisions that discriminate against a segment of our society - whether that be persons of a particular race or nationality, or laws that discriminate against women. We've had hundreds and hundreds of laws that have discriminated against women over the years that the Supreme Court has struck down. Ted Cruz is just plain wrong about that and it's unfortunate because that is not and should not be the future of the Republican Party.

Let's hope one-term Cruz will get the hint.

Olson later appeared on Huffpost Live arguing LGBT rights is the civil rights issue of our times. Take a look below:

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)

[Viennacon]

[MUDDOG]

Ernst Röhm would've liked that.

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

You got that right. What a disgrace he has become.Its got to be the water,drugs or boose.

[GeronL]

They need to stop calling Ted Olsen a Republican

[kaehurowing]

I think Ted went over the edge because of that.

[Alberta's Child]

Barbara Olson was Ted's third wife, so without being judgemental I think it's pretty safe to say that his ideas about the sanctity of marriage aren't quite the same as those who would call themselves "the Religious Right" in this country.

[billhilly]

I think Ronald Reagan had two wives, and Ted Olson was his lawyer. How do you read those tea leaves?

[ilgipper]

Is Ted Olson gay now? This crusade of his is bizaroo-world.

[Ann Archy]

Barbara Olsen is ROLLING OVER IN HER GRAVE!!!

[Ann Archy]

Guessing that his STEP KIDS from his THIRD MARRIAGE are GAY!!!

[bimboeruption]

I read those tea leaves like this...When Mike Reagan came and spoke to our Tea Party, he gave us the scoop on his Dad’s first marriage.

He told us that it was Jane Wyman who wanted the divorce, not Reagan. He said his father tried to keep the marriage together, but she no longer wanted to be married to him.

It broke his heart.

[billhilly]

Since you are relating things from your own experience, here is mine. My wife and I were invited guests to Barbara and Ted Olson’s wedding. We were friends of both.

[Yardstick]

Unlike race which is a characteristic of the physical body, society experiences a person's sexuality through their behavior. And society has the right to take behavior into account when making law. This makes homosexuality and race fundamentally different when it comes to how society defines marriage. The same logic does not apply to both. Thus it's entirely possible for Cruz to make a valid argument against homosexual marriage that would have been invalid if made against interracial marriage. The fact that he's making it does not make him a bigot or retrograde; it makes him correct.

[Texas Songwriter]

Barbara Olsen would not agree

[bimboeruption]

She was a likable woman. Of course my only encounters with her were through my TV.

[Menehune56]

Barbara Olson's successor and Ted's fourth and current wife Lady Booth Olson is apparently quite the die-hard liberal and lifelong democrat.

[Alberta's Child]

I’m not reading the tea leaves at all, except to suggest that Ted Olson’s idea of what constitutes a “marriage” is a hell of a lot different than mine.

[Alberta's Child]

I’m not the least bit surprised to hear that. I think a lot of career Beltway @ssholes have leftist spouses.

[mtrott]

Just lost all respect for Olson. It is no way analagous to racism. One’s race is an immutable characteristic of human beings and should never be used to discriminate. Alternatively, one’s sexual behavior is a personal choice, despite claims that individuals are born gay. The bottom line is that society has a right to define marriage as a union between a man and woman.

[ought-six]

Ted Olson is a social liberal. However, he is a very, very good lawyer.