Quayle Aide Offers Apology for His Quip About Lesbians

Vice President Dan Quayle’s press secretary apologized Friday for a joke about lesbians that he told on the heels of another such joke related by Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey, a Democratic presidential hopeful.

“My attempt to do a favor to Bob Kerrey by distracting attention from his predicament has obviously failed,” David Beckwith said in an interview Friday. “So I’m retracting my joke. It wasn’t very funny, anyway.”

Beckwith told the joke Wednesday at a fund-raiser for Quayle and President Bush. Referring to Kerrey’s faux pas, Beckwith said: “The good news is that the lesbians are upset with Kerrey. The bad news is that they’ll be coming our way to support us.”

Kerrey, who has since apologized, related his joke in a private conversation at a political roast last week. It was picked up by a television microphone but never broadcast.

Beckwith’s comment incensed gay activists, some of whom asked Rep. Bill Green (R-N.Y.) to intervene. Green, a gay-rights supporter, said he was circulating a letter to GOP colleagues asking Quayle to prevail on his aide to make public amends.

Beckwith, in a telephone conversation with the Associated Press, said his gay and lesbian friends had not found his remark particularly humorous. Later, he called back to add, “It was not my intent to offend anyone and if I offended anyone, I apologize.”