The Notebook author Nicholas Spark’s sorry for ‘anti-gay’ emails
Nicholas Sparks has issued an apology after emails he sent in 2013 were seen as ''anti-gay''.
The Notebook author appeared to be banning an LGTBQ club at Christian school Epiphany School of Global Studies, which he founded in 2006.
The 53-year-old took to Twitter to say sorry for his words, which he said were taken out of context.
He said, ''When in one of my emails I used language such as “there will never be an LGBT club” at Epiphany, l was responding heatedly to how the headmaster had gone about initiating this club.''
— Nicholas Sparks (@NicholasSparks) June 17, 2019
He continued, ''Like most schools, Epiphany has procedures and policies for establishing any student club. My concern was that if a club were to be founded, it be done in a thoughtful, transparent manner with the knowledge of faculty, students and parents – not in secret, and not in a way that felt exceptional. I only wish I had used those exact words.''
He added, ''Similarly, when I referred to a prior headmaster addressing the presence of gay students “quietly and wonderfully,” I meant that he supported them in a straightforward, unambiguous way – NOT that he in any way encouraged students to be silent about their gender identity or sexual orientation.''
Nicholas says he now sees how his choice of phrase could have hurt members of the LGBT community.
— Nicholas Sparks (@NicholasSparks) June 13, 2019
He said, ''As someone who has spent the better part of my life as a writer who understands the power of words, I regret and apologise that mine have potentially hurt young people and members of the LGBTQ community, including my friends and colleagues in that community.''
The emails were first published by The Daily Beast and were released as part of an ongoing lawsuit with the former headmaster, Saul Benjamin, over an alleged pattern of ‘harassment, racism, and homophobia.'
Nicholas denies the claims.
