Presidential hopeful Ted Cruz accused some of his fellow GOP contenders of being afraid to take on gay and lesbian rights advocates over Indiana's controversial religious-freedom legislation, which LGBT groups have dismissed as discriminatory.

Christian Post reported the comments the Texas senator made at the conservative Watchman on the Wall conference last week.

A Bill Clinton-era federal law similar to the one considered in the Hoosier State "received the support of such famed right-wing nut cases as Ted Kennedy, Chuck Schumer and Joe Biden," Cruz quipped. But "I'll point out that some of the Republicans running in 2016 were nowhere to be found when Indiana was being fought," he added.

The senator has sought to portray himself as the sole social conservative in the increasingly crowded field vying for the Republican nomination. Earlier this month, he warned on a radio show that "mandatory gay marriage" might be on its way, the Houston Chronicle reported.

"The modern Democratic Party has gotten so radical and so extreme in its devotion to mandatory gay marriage that they've decided there's no room for the religious liberty protected under the First Amendment," he said. "We are seeing today profound threats to religious liberty in America, the greatest threats we've ever seen."

A spokesman later told the newspaper that the Tea Party candidate had been referring to the nationwide legalization of same-sex marriage, a move favored by many Democrats and a potential outcome of a landmark case currently pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. He did not mean to suggest that Americans were going to be obliged to be a part of such unions.

A few days earlier, Cruz had clashed with Kevin Steele, a reporter for southeast Texas ABC affiliate KMBT, who had asked the senator whether he felt personal animosity against gay Americans, Real Clear Politics recalled.

"Do you have a personal animosity against Christians, sir?" the presidential candidate shot back. "Your line of questioning is highly curious; you seem fixated on a particular subject."