Gov. Bill Richardson is coming under fire for a gay slur he made during a radio interview more than a year ago.
The site Gay News Watch reported Tuesday on
Imus used the word “maricón” – which is most commonly translated as “faggot” – in telling
“You can just answer this yes or no and this will answer that question. Would you agree that Bernard is a maricón?” Imus asked
The incident went largely unnoticed, and
While he was pushing the Legislature, the governor was privately in discussions with gay-rights activists about the Imus incident. Many speculated at the time that
When he appeared before the group in
“This country is tired of the politics of hatred and division,”
Is this hypocrisy? Accusing someone else of doing something inappropriate that you’ve also done, even though you haven’t apologized for your own misdeed?
Why is all this coming up now? Because, as
“I would never knowingly say or do anything to hurt the GLBT community – a community that I have worked hard for and supported my entire career,” Gay News Watch reported the governor as saying. “In the Spanish I grew up speaking, the term means simply ‘gay,’ not positive or negative. It has been brought to my attention that the word also has a hurtful or derogatory connotation, which was never my intent. If I offended anybody, I’m sorry.”
“My record on GLBT issues speaks for itself. I have certainly done more to help and support the GLBT community than any other presidential candidate, and more than most other politicians,” it read. “The timing of this smacks of politics – it comes as I am gaining momentum and moving up in the polls.”
Gay News Watch reported that every official definition of the Spanish word has a negative connotation, and means a lot more than “not positive or negative.”
Not coming clean at the start, or at least in March, by apologizing was a bad move. Failing to publicly apologize while also making a sudden and unexpected push for domestic partner benefits creates the appearance that the governor was trying to buy forgiveness as a way to avoid publicly asking for it. Releasing a statement now that is, to some degree, an apology, but is really more of an excuse and a pointing of the finger at political powers that oppose him, is a horrible move.
Everyone makes mistakes. Why don’t more politicians realize that the best way to move past them is come clean at the start? Voters like to know their leaders are human, but they also like to know they’re humble and honest. They’re generally very forgiving when politicians come clean on their own, without their misdeeds first being exposed by the media or others.