Janice Daniels is not yet a month into her as mayor of Troy, and she is already causing controversy after a status update slamming gay marriage on what appears to be her personal Facebook page went viral Friday afternoon.

The June 25 status update reads: "I think I am going to throw away my I Love New York carrying bag now that queers can get married there." The post was tucked among other posts and photos about Daniels' mayoral campaign, as well as personal photos and status updates. As the status, which was first discovered by Keep Troy Strong on Thursday, made its way around Facebook, Twitter and the web, hundreds of people shared and commented on it.

In a report Friday evening by MLive, an Ann Arbor-based news site, the mayor is quoted as saying: "I probably shouldn't have used that kind of language, but I do believe marriage should be between one man and one woman." According to MLive, Daniels also criticized Keep Troy Strong, which first spread word of the Facebook post, for having a vendetta against her administration. The site supported a Troy library millage approved by voters in July and backs a planned transit center, each of which which Daniels opposed.

Craig Covey, an Oakland County Commissioner and former mayor of Ferndale, posted a comment on his Facebook page: "No mayor, of any city, particularly one as large and diverse as Troy, should ever use vulgar slurs to insult an entire community. She needs to apologize to the entire region for this nasty posting." Covey added on the Troy Patch Facebook page: "The new mayor of Troy needs to understand that she now has a responsibility to all the people of Troy. Troy is a large, important, diverse community and she needs to apologize to the citizens of Troy, including its gay residents, as well as the visitors, employees, and businesses in the city. Then she needs to apologize to the entire region."

Earlier, one of the first Facebook shares of the post was by Equality Michigan: "We are shocked and appalled and call on the Mayor to apologize, and to endorse a non-discrimination ordinance in her city that protects gay and transgender residents of Troy from the harm that such language breeds."

Denise Brogan-Kator, executive director of Equality Michigan, who also shared the status update Friday afternoon, wrote: "I find it discouraging that a leader of people can have such disregard for the lives of people she serves. Many of us use the word 'queer' as a way to reclaim a word that has historically been used to hurt us, by the majority. Clearly, from the context, this is NOT what Mayor Daniels intended.

"I am truly shocked at such disregard for the effects that such language has had on our community. Either she doesn't know – which is remarkable, given the news about the rise in violent crimes committed against the gay and transgender community – or she intended it. Either way, I find it shameful." "Anyone that aspires to hold public office," Brogan-Kator added in a phone conversation Friday evening, "has a responsibility to keep their communications and opinions of classes and people respectful – and I think this crossed the line – and at a bare minimum think she needs to apologize to the gay and transgender population in the city of Troy and in Michigan."