Dr. Laura says she’s sorry. The controversial radio and TV talk show host, aka Laura Schlessinger, apologized on Monday to gays and lesbians for “poorly chosen” words she said have been perceived as hate, The Associated Press reports.
“On the Day of Atonement (the Jewish Yom Kippur holiday), Jews are commanded to seek forgiveness from people we have hurt,” Schlessinger, who is Jewish, said in a newspaper ad. “I deeply regret the hurt this situation has caused the gay and lesbian community.”
The ad, signed by Schlessinger, was included in a Gay Hollywood special edition of Daily Variety today. The special edition examines gays and lesbians in the entertainment industry.
Schlessinger has referred to homosexuality as a “biological error” and “deviant.”
While Schlessinger apologized for the hurt her comments have caused, the good doctor didn’t apologize for the remarks about homosexuality.
The ad failed to placate her critics.
“Laura Schlessinger once again blames others for the impact of her rhetoric, refusing to take responsibility for her precisely chosen, scientifically inaccurate description of gay and lesbian lives,” said Joan M. Garry, executive director of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. “The anger Schlessinger’s words have caused is too great and too profound to simply go away after a qualified admission of some guilt.”
‘DAWSON’S CREEK’ DAD PASSES AWAY: David Dukes, a veteran character actor who portrayed Andie and Jack McPhee’s (Meredith Monroe and Kerr Smith) father on “Dawson’s Creek,” has died. Dukes, 55, was filming “Rose Red” in Tacoma, Wash., on Monday when he collapsed on the set and never regained consciousness. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
Among Dukes credits are “The Winds of War” and its sequel “War and Remembrance,” “The Josephine Baker Story,” “Norma Jean and Marilyn” and “Gods and Monsters.”
