An NBC television affiliate in Texas has apologized for airing a radio station's segment asking listeners if acceptance of gay people will be “the fall of America.”

Gay rights groups the Courage Campaign and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) said they were appalled by the question.

KTBB radio host Garth Maier asked listeners on Wednesday: “Will the acceptance of homosexuality be the fall of America?”

Tyler-based NBC affiliate KETK devoted 8 minutes of its news program to air portions of the radio segment.

In making his case, Maier noted that the Obama administration has appointed a record number of openly gay officials, that the president recorded a video message to troubled gay teens considering suicide as part of the It Gets Better campaign, and claims by a recent survey that 10 percent of teenagers are openly gay. (The video is embedded in the right panel of this page.)

On Friday, both stations issued apologies for asking the question.

KTBB Radio President Paul L. Gleiser called the question “poorly worded at best and inappropriate altogether at worst” in his apology.

“The way our Talkback question was posed might be seen as asking, 'Do homosexuals, by their very existence, threaten to bring down America?' We believe that such a question, posed in such a manner, is likely to generate more heat than light,” Gleiser said in a statement posted at the station's website.

KETK General Manager Dave Tillery appeared on-camera to issue his apology.

“We have discussed these comments with KTBB and agree that the question was poorly worded,” Tillery said. “For that, they have apologized. And since the question also appeared on our air, we are sorry for any offense that was taken.”