Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee dismiss controversy surrounding 'kill the gays' conference

Republican presidential candidates Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee refuse to address the controversy surrounding a "kill-the-gays" conference both attended earlier this month.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal also spoke at the Iowa conference but has since dropped out of the GOP nominating contest.

The National Religious Liberties Conference was organized by pastor Kevin Swanson, a Colorado-based Christian conservative who has previously called for the death penalty for homosexuality.

Swanson told attendees that he would protest a gay couple's wedding by smearing cow dung over his body and reiterated his call for the government to execute unrepentant gays in the future.

(Related: Kevin Swanson: Gays need time to repent before being put to death.)

At the event, dubbed the "kill-the-gays rally" by Rachel Maddow, Huckabee and Jindal reiterated their opposition to marriage equality, with Huckabee saying that he would ignore the Supreme Court on the issue as president.

(Related: Mike Huckabee vows to ignore gay marriage ruling as president.)

The Des Moines Register reported that spokespeople for Cruz and Jindal have avoided their questions on the subject and Huckabee's campaign mostly ignored the controversy.

"Huckabee's spokeswoman Alice Stewart asked for documentation and was sent a video link," the paper reported. "She responded the next day saying, 'Gov. Huckabee appreciated the opportunity to speak with an audience in Iowa about the importance of standing up for our religious liberties.'"