N.J. legislator apologizes for Facebook post calling Philadelphia Eagles ‘gaybirds’

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JERSEY CITY, N.J. — A New Jersey legislator has apologized for a post on a social media site that referred to the Philadelphia Eagles as “gaybirds” and the Dallas Cowboys as “cowgirls.”

Assemblyman Charles Mainor, D-Jersey City, told the (Jersey City) Jersey Journal that he wrote only part of a message posted on his Facebook wall during Sunday night’s game between the New York Giants and the Green Bay Packers.

The post, which has since been deleted, said “We are not going to just lay down, we come to play. Who the hell do you think we are the DALLAS COWGIRLS OR THOSE GAYBIRDS FROM PHILLY... NO WE ARE THE NEW YORK GIANTS.”

Mainor said he wrote most of the post at a party and a friend added the “gaybirds” portion, but he took full responsibility because it was under his name. He said he hoped constituents do not take the comment as meaning he does not support gay rights.

“I have very, very close relatives who are gay,” he said. “I have nothing against them. I’m far from that.”

AP