'Homophobia is vile and destructive,' Weiner says. Weiner apologizes after voter's slur

New York City mayoral hopeful Anthony Weiner apologized Thursday after an encounter with a woman that was picked up by a reporter in which the voter called his openly gay opponent Christine Quinn “a dyke.”

“Homophobia is vile and destructive and something I have fought against for the entirety of my career, including being a vocal supporter of gay marriage since 1998 and standing up on the floor of Congress for transgender Americans,” Weiner said in a statement tweeted out by campaign spokeswoman Barbara Morgan.


“I admonished the woman amid a large crowd on a street corner and by no means believe that anything about her comment was appropriate. If the impression is that I did, I apologize because behavior like this will absolutely not be tolerated in my administration.”

( QUIZ: Do you know Anthony Weiner?)

The encounter, described by Washington Post reporter Jason Horowitz, featured Weiner asking an older woman if she was a registered Democrat.

“I am,” she said, according to the paper. “And I’m not voting for uh, what’s her name? The dyke.”

“OK. I just need you to sign the petition to get me on the ballot,” Weiner said, according to Horowitz, who added that the candidate “then noticed the incredulous reaction of a reporter” and said to the woman, “and you really shouldn’t talk that way about people.”

The woman replied, “Oh, I’m sorry.”

“It’s OK,” Weiner said, per Howoritz. “It’s not your fault.”

Before the apology was tweeted out, Weiner told reporters who asked him about the exchange, “Well, let me make it clear that when I heard the person make that remark— by the way it was in a scrum of literally dozens of people around me on a street corner — when I heard the woman make that remark, I immediately admonished her not to say anything further…I have no memory of saying anything beyond that to the woman.”