Oklahoma regents vice chair to resign after anti-gay comment

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The vice chairman of the University of Oklahoma Board of Regents who likened gay people to pedophiles during a public affairs TV appearance announced today he would resign following an uproar over his remarks.

After a two-hour closed-door meeting of the board, Vice Chairman Kirk Humphries said he does not want to be a distraction and announced plans to step down before the start of the spring semester in 2018. Humphries said the board asked him to step down during the private meeting.

"I told [board Chairman)]Clay Bennett on Saturday that if this was the will of the regents, I was happy to do that," Humphries said. The board's meeting was called to discuss "any board member[s] as it may pertain to board leadership positions."

Humphries publicly apologized for his comments Tuesday. He said comments he made on the show that aired Dec. 10 went "off the rails" and that he regrets hurting people.

The LGBTQ advocacy group Freedom Oklahoma had called for Humphries to resign. Director Troy Stevenson, who had joined Humphries on Tuesday and didn't renew his call for a resignation then, said Humphreys resignation "was the most appropriate response."

"It was the outcome we were hopeful for," said Stevenson, who had said he opposed Humphries becoming chairman of the board of regents. Stevenson said he respects Humphries and believes his previous apology was genuine.

The president of the OU Student Government Association, J.D. Baker, said resigning was the right thing for Humphreys to do.