WATCH: Texas parents blast lawmakers for anti-gay bill that makes their son a ‘second class citizen’

In the video embedded below, the parents of a gay Texas man movingly addressed the state House as it debated a measure outlawing same-sex marriage in the state, even if the courts declare that the practice is legal.

Richard and Jimmie Sue Francis were protesting Texas House Bill 1745, a Republican-sponsored measure that would, according to the Texas Tribune, "give the secretary of state, and not county clerks, sole control over marriage licenses in Texas, and prohibit issuing licenses to same-sex couples even if courts overturn the state’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage."

"I'm Jimmie Sue Francis and I am against House Bill 1745," began Mrs. Francis. "My husband and I have a 47-year-old gay son who is so very proud to be a native Texan."

"I ask each of you to look into your heart," she continued, "and consider the grave circumstances of approving House Bill 1745, which will serve to confirm and make permanent my son's devalued status as an official, government-sanctioned second class citizen in his beloved state."

Richard Francis said, "I go to my church and I hear love and inclusion. I come to my Capitol and I hear hate and exclusion. I can feel that difference...and that bothers me about my government.”

No one's religion, he said, "should ever be used to devalue another human being."

Texas Republicans have filed a companion bill in the state Senate in hopes of heading off any Supreme Court ruling that finds that the states have no constitutional basis to deny same-sex couples the right to marry.

Watch the video, embedded below: