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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (589912)	10/14/2010 3:34:51 PM
From: longnshort	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1577883

Valerie Jarrett apologizes for remark about gay teen Valerie Jarrett stepped into a highly contentious debate. \| AP Photo Close By ABBY PHILLIP \| 10/14/10 10:50 AM EDT Updated: 10/14/10 12:35 PM EDT White House Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett apologized Wednesday morning for referring to a gay teen who committed suicide as having made a “lifestyle choice.” The comments were made to Washington Post reporter John Capehart in an interview Wednesday in which she discussed the recent spate of teen suicides linked to bullying because of sexual orientation. Jarrett praised the parents of Justin Aaberg, a Minnesota teenager who killed himself, for “doing a good job” supporting their son, but she inadvertently stepped into the highly contentious debate about whether homosexuality is innate or a conscious decision. “These are good people. They were aware that their son was gay; they embraced him, they loved him, they supported his lifestyle choice,” Jarrett told Capehart. “But when he left the home and went to school, he was tortured by his classmates.” Blogger Michael Petrelis slammed Jarrett for the reference, accusing her of taking “talking points from Tony Perkins and the Family Research Council,” a socially conservative organization that condemns homosexuality. Jarrett, in an e-mail to Capehart, said that she “misspoke” when she described Aaberg’s sexual identity as a lifestyle choice. “I meant no disrespect to the LGBT community, and I apologize to any who have taken offense at my poor choice of words,” Jarrett said. “Sexual orientation and gender identity are not a choice, and anyone who knows me and my work over the years knows that I am a firm believer and supporter in the rights of LGBT Americans.”