In December, Troy, Mich. mayor Janice Daniels made news after it was revealed that she had posted homophobic remarks on her personal Facebook page before she was elected.  It looks like some things never change.

Shortly after marriage equality passed in New York, she posted, “I think I am going to throw away my I Love New York carrying bag now that queers can get married there.”

Daniels then issued a half-apology for using the word “queer.”  She told a Detroit radio station, “While I do believe marriage should be between one man and one woman, it was inappropriate to use that language in describing a group of people.  It’s a dictionary word, it’s used in a TV show and in other contexts, but for me to have said it, it was a poke in the eye. It was inappropriate and I do apologize. It was meant to be a joke, just a funny, just a poke, a silly thing.”

In an attempt to make amends once again, Daniels met with the Troy High School Gay Straight Alliance.  According to the Troy Patch, during the Jan. 9 meeting:

In the recording, someone is heard saying Daniels would be asked to “discuss the issue at hand that got us here in the first place,” referring to her anti-gay comment on Facebook.

“If I do, I’m not sure that any of you will be satisfied,” Daniels is heard saying on the recording. “I will bring in psychiatrists, who will tell you that the homosexual lifestyle is dangerous.”

That might be a difficult task, considering that The American Psychiatric Association (APA) removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders in 1973 and the World Health Organization removed homosexuality list of diseases in 1990.  There is also no medical evidence to suggest that homosexuality is any more “dangerous” than heterosexuality.

Dr. Jack Drescher, a psychiatrist based in New York City and member of the APA’s DSM-5 Workgroup on Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders told MLive.com, “We have two parallel culture tracks going on.  We have a strongly anti-scientific, religiously-based cultural belief that is based on ancient texts that believes homosexuality is immoral. Certain people are entitled to their religious beliefs, but they aren’t scientific beliefs at all. It’s unfortunate when people try to masquerade their religious beliefs in guise of science.”