N.H. Republican Pays for Antigay Tirade

A conservative New Hampshire Republican radio host and newspaper columnist apologized for hurling antigay slurs at the state Democratic Party chairman on Friday, but the contrite statement arrived too late to save his jobs in local media.

According to the Associated Press, Doug Lambert called Raymond Buckley, the gay chair of the Democratic Party, offensive names on Friday while a webcam streamed to the Internet.

The state Republican Party and executive director of New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition condemned the remarks from Lambert.

Lambert later described his actions and apologized on his blog, GraniteGrok.

"Reacting to the fact that today is his birthday, and that a national gay rights group would be on hand to celebrate it -- and the role he played in getting gay marriage passed in NH -- I made a play to the camera that was watched and reported on by an online media outlet," he wrote.

New Hampshire legalized same-sex marriage in June. The new law takes effect January 1.

On Monday, Lambert reported on GraniteGrok that he no longer had his job as the Thursday columnist at the Laconia Daily Sun and that his radio program, Meet the New Press, was dumped by Nassau Broadcasting.