As vehemently as he defended his anti-gay comments last week -- in one case even referencing George Washington and Abraham Lincoln -- we figured it would only be a matter of time before Yuma Mayor Al Krieger broke down and apologized.
We were right.
"As mayor, I must respect the lifestyle choices of others, no matter how disagreeable they are with my personal beliefs or my personal moral standards," Krieger told the Yuma Sun over the weekend. "I apologize for my comments at the Memorial Day service at Desert Lawn cemetery on Memorial Day."
In case you missed it, Krieger got some heat last week over statements he made regarding gays in the military.
Krieger, who is obviously no fan of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, had this to say about gay people serving in the armed forces: "I cannot believe that a bunch of lacy-drawered, limp-wristed people ... could do what those men have done in the past," referring, of course, to homosexuals.
Krieger later told reporters the comments "came from the heart" and that he's "reluctant to compare [himself] to George Washington or Abraham Lincoln, but I did get some feedback on what I said, and I don't believe I said anything different from what they would have said."
As our colleague Sarah Fenske pointed out last week, we couldn't find any gay-bashing in the Gettysburg Address. Although, we suppose the whole "all men are created equal" part might be open for interpretation -- ya know, assuming you're a gay-bashing, southern Arizona mayor.
