LGBTQ+ group rips Houston candidate's alleged 'homophobic dog whistle' campaign message about rival

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- An alleged controversial campaign text has a Houston City Council candidate facing backlash and losing endorsements.

The president of the Houston LGBTQ+ Political Caucus said the text was sent out last week by the Cynthia Reyes-Revilla campaign, and is "a homophobic dog whistle."

Reyes-Revilla and Mario Castillo are in a runoff for the Houston City Council District H position.

"I was honestly surprised when I saw the mailer that had been sent out," Austin Davis Ruiz, who's openly gay, said, pointing out the text featuring a side-by-side of the two candidates' families.

The side featuring Castillo and his husband allegedly called the candidate "not a man of faith," in addition to saying the district needed a councilman with "the right values."

Reyes-Revilla's side touts her "Christian family values."

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"The issues we should be focused on in a city council race should be about fixing potholes, recycling pick-up, and flood mitigation," Ruiz said. "It shouldn't be about somebody's sexuality or religion, or lack there of."

Reyes-Revilla lost endorsements from Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez and Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia since the alleged text was sent.

However, she said in a Facebook post that she would no longer be accepting their endorsements.

ABC13 reached out to both Reyes-Revilla and Castillo's campaigns but received no reply.

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