A Perez Hilton apology: “The “F” word will never be uttered from my lips again”

It seems that after a few nights of sleep, Perez Hilton now feels remorse for using a gay slur. The gossip blogger has posted an apology on his site which some, I’m sure, will see as sincere while others might see it as a wise business move.

You decide:

“People make mistakes. I have made many in my life, but this past week I have made more than I can count on one hand.

I am sorry. And I mean it. No one is forcing me to write this. I am not feeling pressured to say this. I am speaking out because I realize that the last few days have been more hurtful to me – and many others – than the repeated blows I suffered to my head in Toronto this past weekend.

I have been filled with incredible sadness and regret.

I am sorry that any good work I have done for promoting equality may be tainted by me reclaiming a hurtful word – that’s been personally used against me and the gay community – to hurt someone that was verbally attacking me. It was stupid.

The “F” word will never be uttered from my lips again. Just as others use the “N” word to insult and hurt – or as part of their everyday speech – I challenge them to remove it from their vocabulary as well.

I am sorry.

Perez has also been involved in a war of words with the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) which had called on him to apologize. He writes: I am NOT apologizing to GLAAD. I could care less about them, my former employers.I am apologizing to the gay community, to anyone who was hurt by my choice of words, and to all the people who have ever emailed me to thank me for all that I have done to fight for gay rights over the last few years.

Perez who posted nude photos of Oscar winning gay rights activist Dustin Lance Black on his site nearly three weeks ago, writes that he wants to continue to speak out for gay rights. But there is no mention of Lance in this statement, instead we get this: I have reached out to Isaiah Washington, someone I incorrectly labeled a homophobe in the past, despite his own public statements that he was not.

Huh?

And finally, there’s this promise:

I will be donating any money collected from my lawsuit against Polo Molina, road manager for the Black Eyed Peas, to the Matthew Shepard Foundation. And I will continue to speak out for equality and support the great work done by LGBT organizations, such as LAMBDA Legal and HRC.