Florida Lieutenant Governor Jennifer
Carroll has apologized for saying that she doesn't look like a gay
woman and suggesting single women cannot be trusted.
Carroll made the comments in the course
of denying claims she fired a staffer who caught her in “a
compromising position” with her travel aide, Beatrice Ramos.
The former aide, Carletha Cole, 49,
made the accusation in the course of defending herself against
charges she illegally leaked taped conversations of Carroll's staff
to a Florida newspaper, Reuters reported. Cole denies she made the
recording.
In court filings, Cole claims she was
fired shortly after she walked in on Carroll and Ramos.
“The problem is that when you have
these accusations that come out, it's not just one person you're
attacking. It's an entire family. My husband doesn't want to hear
that. He knows the type of woman I am. I mean, my kids know the
type of woman I am. For twenty-nine years – I'm the one that's
married for twenty-nine years. The accuser is the one that's been
single for a long time. So usually black women that look like me
don't engage in relationships like that,” Carroll
told reporters.
Carroll apologized in a letter to
Equality Florida Director Nadine Smith.
“It is wrong and inexcusable to make
a comment that hurts people, and that was not my intention. As a
Christian, my faith guides me to love and respect all people. The
false charges that have been lodged against me are no excuse for what
I have said that may have been hurtful to members of your
organization and to other Floridians,” she
wrote.
“Please know that I am committed to
treating every person with the utmost courtesy, respect and dignity
and I hope you will accept my heartfelt apology.”
Smith had criticized Carroll in an
op-ed published on The
Grio: “Instead of simply denying the claims, she
stereotyped black lesbians in order to deflect her own. With that
one quick statement, Lt. Governor Carroll appealed to racial and
homophobic stereotypes that do real harm.”