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August 2, 2012

Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll
Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll

Florida Lt. Governor Apologizes for Anti-Gay Remark

Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, who has been accused by a co-worker of having a lesbian tryst in her office with an aide, has apologized for the making anti-gay comments when asked about the alleged incident.

Carroll responded to the allegations by telling a Tampa, Fla., television station on July 14 that “usually black women that look like me don’t engage in relationships like that.”

Her comments prompted an immediate response from Equality Florida, a St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community, which launched a petition drive. Carroll wrote a one-paragraph letter to Nadine Smith, executive director of Equality Florida to apologize.

“I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincerest apologies to anyone I may have offended with my recent comment. It is wrong and inexcusable to make a comment that hurts people and that was not my intention,” Carroll said in the letter on her official government stationery. The letter was dated July 26, 2012.

Smith, who spoke on the telephone with Carroll, praised the lieutenant governor for her apology.

“Apologies by elected leaders for public mistakes are rare, and it is to the lieutenant governor’s credit that she has taken this step,” Smith said.

The National Black Justice Coalition, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that also supports gay and lesbian rights, however, launched a campaign with the twitter hashtag #whatablacklesbianlookslike. The twitter site posted 30 photos of black women who are same-gender loving “sisters.”

Carletha Cole, 51, a former aide to Carroll, charged in court documents as part of a criminal case that she caught Carroll and her travel aide in a compromising position. Cole, a senior program analyst, has since been fired.

“The false charges that have been lodged against me are no excuse for what I have said that may have been hurtful to members of your organization and to other Floridians,” Carroll wrote in the letter to Smith.

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