New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner is apologizing after a voter used a gay slur to refer to his opponent, Christine Quinn, who is a lesbian.
In the encounter observed by the Washington Post, Weiner was campaigning and asked a woman if she was a registered Democrat.
"I am," she said. "And I'm not voting for uh, what's her name? The dyke."
Weiner said, "OK. I just need you to sign the petition to get me on the ballot."
According to the Post, Weiner then noticed a reporter's incredulous reaction and added "and really, you shouldn't talk that way about people."
After she apologized, according to the Post, he said "that's OK. It's not your fault."
Weiner's campaign spokeswoman tweeted an apologetic statement from him Thursday, saying "homophobia is vile and destructive."
"I admonished the woman amid a large crowd on a street corner and by no means believe that anything about her comment was appropriate," he said. "If the impression is that I did, I apologize because behavior like this will absolutely not be tolerated in my administration."
Quinn told reporters Friday that Weiner had called her and "clarified the interaction."
"I think it is incredibly important for all New Yorkers, but particularly those in public life, to make very clear that in this city -- the most diverse city in the world, the city where the LGBT civil rights movement was born -- that that type of language cannot be tolerated," she said. "And I was grateful for him to call and clarify that."
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