Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (D) apologized for supporting legislation that banned same-sex marriage.
In an interview with LGBT news outlet Watermark Online, Crist was asked about his support for adding a ban on same-sex marriage to Florida’s constitution.
“I’m sorry I did that,” Crist said in the report published Thursday. “It was a mistake. I was wrong. Please forgive me.”
Watermark then pressed Crist to elaborate on his position and discuss moving to support same-sex marriage.
“I made a mistake. I’m not perfect… please don’t hold me to that standard. And I’m sincerely sorry. I understand when it’s necessary to say I was wrong. That‘s the journey I’m on… and I’m still on it,” Crist added. “As a Republican, on social issues I always felt I was a round peg in a square hole. I just didn’t fit. But I tried, until I couldn’t do it any more… until I had to say, ‘Enough is enough.’”
Crist is running in the Democratic primary for governor. Before running for Senate and switching parties Crist served as governor of Florida.
Crist has previously expressed regret (albeit not as directly as with Watermark) for signing the petition proposing adding a same-sex marriage ban to the state constitution.
“Would I do it today? No,” Crist told The Miami Herald in 2013. “I think the best way to judge where my heart is, is to look at the deeds that I have done, whether as attorney general, governor — restoration of rights, civil rights cases, things of that nature, that I think show a compassionate heart and hopefully someone who cares and knows who the boss is — and the boss is the people of Florida.”
