Former New York City Council Speaker
Christine Quinn has apologized for calling actress Cynthia Nixon an
“unqualified lesbian” for governor of New York.
Nixon on Monday announced she's
challenging New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in September's Democratic
primary and held her first campaign event the following day.
Quinn, who is openly gay, criticized
Nixon's gubernatorial run.
“Cynthia Nixon was opposed to having
a qualified lesbian become mayor of New York City,” Quinn
said, a reference to Nixon's endorsement of New York Mayor Bill
de Blasio over her in 2013. “Now she wants an unqualified lesbian
to be the governor of New York. You have to be qualified and have
experience. She isn't qualified to be the governor.”
Nixon, who is best known for playing
Miranda Hobbes on the HBO dramedy Sex and the City, is raising
three children with her wife Christine Marinoni and identifies as
bisexual. She is an outspoken critic of Cuomo's policies on public
education.
In an interview aired on NY1's Inside
City Hall, Quinn apologized for the dig, explaining that she was
not attacking Nixon's sexuality.
“I was trying to make a comparison
between the two of us,” Quinn
said. “It came out wrong and I apologize for that. But I do
not apologize for saying that Cynthia Nixon is unqualified to be
governor because she is unqualified to be governor.”
Quinn is a vice charwoman of the New
York Democratic Committee.