Anchor apologizes for anti-gay Facebook status after GLAAD outrage

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) called on a Cincinnati Fox station to apologize after news anchor Tricia Macke called MSNBC host Rachel Maddow an "Angry Young Man" on Facebook last month.

Just before 7 p.m. tonight, the news station posted Macke's apology to its Facebook page. The apology reads, "I recently posted comments on my personal Facebook page regarding cable news anchor Rachel Maddow which were insensitive and inappropriate. I apologize to Ms. Maddow and any others who may have been offended by my comments, as they do not reflect my firm beliefs in individual and equal rights, and they certainly do not represent the opinions or position of my employer WXIX-TV."

When some criticized Macke's social media status, she originally made no apologies for the remark, instead reaffirming it. "I am sorry. I should have said antagonistic," she responded to one person. "I knew what I was saying Roger," she said to an apparent friend.

"Tricia Macke undoubtedly tried to insult Maddow because of their political differences, rather than simply because Maddow is gay - but her comments went much further than insulting Maddow's political leanings," said a Nov. 9 statement from GLAAD, which revealed "an anti-gay (or at least anti-gender-nonconforming?) bias underlying her political beliefs."

[Image via Wikimedia Commons]