Dustin Gardiner

The Republic | azcentral.com

Phoenix City Councilman Michael Nowakowski is facing a firestorm of criticism after a video surfaced online Tuesday apparently showing him objecting to same-sex marriage and transgender people being allowed to use the restroom of their choice.

Nowakowski, a Democrat who previously has supported lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights, made the comments last month while speaking to a group of Christian pastors about a controversy over public prayer at council meetings. Nowakowski's comments veered into issues affecting the LGBT community.

'Change it back to the way it should be'

“I never thought I would see the day that men and men would be married," Nowakowski said. "Or where people were allowed to go into the same bathroom as my daughter. This world is changing, and it’s time for us to take the leadership and change it back to the way it should be.”

Nowakowski apologized for his comments in a statement Wednesday evening. He said it is often difficult for him to personally reconcile LGBT issues as a practicing Catholic, but his voting record shows he supports protecting the rights of LGBT people.

"I apologize that my comments, regardless of the context, offended anyone," Nowakowski said. "My reference in the video to 'returning to the way it should be' was in regards to prayer at City Council meetings, not to roll back LGBTQ rights. I understand why my statement in the video was misconstrued, and I apologize."

The video was posted on a Facebook page Feb. 1, two days before the council voted to end a spoken prayer at the start of its meetings. No changes to the city's practice of holding an opening invocation at meetings had been made at that time. Nowakowski did not immediately respond to a request to clarify his statement.

The video appears to have been filmed in a meeting room at City Hall. It drew public attention after a version of it was posted on YouTube on Tuesday.

Nowakowski has publicly backed same-sex marriage and the city's 2013 non-discrimination ordinance, which created sweeping civil-rights protections for LGBT residents and could allow transgender people to use the restroom that matches their gender identity. Nowakowski missed the council vote on that ordinance because he was traveling, but expressed his support for it.

After a court ruling legalized same-sex marriage in Arizona in 2014, Nowakowski released a statement, saying, "Love is love. Who are we to say otherwise or to judge on how individuals feel? ... This ruling sends a clear message that Arizona is not a discriminatory place and will hopefully help the healing process from past legislative actions.

"It is about an individual's right to be, live and love how they choose. As long as someone is a good community partner, I do not see the harm in celebrating individual choices."

Mayor, LGBT group condemn comments

Nowakowski's comments in the video were quickly condemned by Mayor Greg Stanton and Equality Arizona, one of the state's most prominent LGBT rights groups. Maricopa County Supervisor Steve Gallardo and council members Laura Pastor, Kate Gallego and Daniel Valenzuela also criticized his words.

"I am shocked that a council member who represents so many LGBT individuals in the heart of our city would hold such homophobic views," Stanton said in a statement. "I condemn these ignorant comments in the strongest terms, and hope and pray the councilman will open his heart and begin to appreciate the diversity of the people he represents.”

Equality Arizona, which endorsed Nowakowski when he ran for re-election in 2011, responded in a Facebook post that called Nowakowski's comments "an outrageous statement of bigotry that exposes his previous statements of support for equality as lies."

The group's board of directors is expected to discuss the issue, including the possibility of targeting Nowakowski in a recall election, at a meeting Wednesday night. They've also scheduled a Thursday morning news conference at the Phoenix Pride LGBT Center downtown in Nowakowski's council district.

Rebecca Wininger, co-chair of Equality Arizona's policy committee, said the group is baffled because Nowakowski has voiced his support for gay rights "in public to get votes and donations and support" and then is "spouting something completely different” behind closed doors.

“I think what we want is the truth," she said. “If Councilman Nowakowski’s faith really does prohibit him from embracing equality in the gay community, I think that’s something we and his voters need to know."

Former Councilman Tom Simplot called on Nowakowski to resign his elected office, saying, "It’s very clear who he is as a person now." Nowakowski and Simplot are potential rivals in the next race for mayor.

Pastor in video agrees with Nowakowski's remarks

The video was originally posted on the Facebook page of Teodoro Medellin, co-pastor of Army for Christ Ministries in southwest Phoenix.

Medellin, reached by phone, said in Spanish he only had faint recollections of the meeting with Councilman Nowakowski. “It was some time ago,” he said. Medellin said he did not post the video on his page and did not know who did. Medellin also said he had not seen the video.

Medellin said he agreed with Nowakowski’s remarks. “He was saying good things,” Medellin said. “God created man and woman so they can have a family. I believe what God says is the word. It doesn’t matter what the laws are, but what God said.”

According to his Facebook page, the video was posted on Feb. 1, two days before the Feb. 3 meeting where the council voted to replace the spoken invocation before council meetings with a moment of silence — a move aimed at prohibiting a group of Satanists from giving the prayer. The post contains a note in Spanish stating Nowakowski wants the community of ministers to show up at that City Council meeting.

Council members recently voted to restore a spoken prayer at council meetings, but the invocation would have to be given exclusively by chaplains for the police and fire departments.

While the video of Nowakowski's comments has been online for more than a month, a version of it was reposted Tuesday by Leonard Clark, a city activist who labeled Nowakowski's comments an "anti LGBT hate statement." Clark said he learned about the original video after a friend sent him a link.

Republic reporter Richard Ruelas contributed to this article.