Nicholas Sparks Talks His First Gay Characters and the 20th Anniversary of ‘The Notebook’ - WSJ

Contents:

• NICHOLAS SPARKS APOLOGIZ FOR ANTI-GAY COMMENTS 2013 EMAILS
• NICHOLAS SPARKS TALKS HIS FIRST GAY CHARACTERS AND THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF ‘THE NOTEBOOK’
• NICHOLAS SPARKS SAYS HE'S AN 'UNEQUIVOL SUPPORTER' OF GAY RIGHTS AMID ANTI-LGBT ACCATNS

NICHOLAS SPARKS APOLOGIZ FOR ANTI-GAY COMMENTS 2013 EMAILS

Nicholas Sparks, the prolific thor of romance novels, is facg renewed allegatns that he discrimated agast gay stunts at his Christian school North Carola.

Benjam’s su alleged that Sparks banned an LGBT club at the school, and flted Benjam for pursug an “agenda that striv to make homosexualy open and accepted.

Is Nicholas Sparks Gay? Nicholas Sparks is not gay.

NICHOLAS SPARKS TALKS HIS FIRST GAY CHARACTERS AND THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF ‘THE NOTEBOOK’

Richard Shotwell/Invisn, via Associated PrsJune 17, 2019The wrer Nicholas Sparks, whose strg of bt-sellg novels-turned-films clus “The Notebook, ” apologized Monday for ments he ma 2013 that appeared to exprs hostily toward homosexualy and to oppose the creatn of a club for gay stunts at a prep school he found North ments were emails published last week by The Daily Beast and released to the public rerd as part of a lawsu filed by Sl Hillel Benjam, the former headmaster of the Epiphany School of Global Studi New Bern, N. Sparks is chairman, opposed his efforts to spotlight s lack of racial diversy and to support gay and transgenr emails published last week appear to illtrate those tensns.

Benjam one email for “what some perceive as an agenda that striv to make homosexualy open and accepted. Benjam that he has Alzheimer’s disease, his lawyer Sparks apologized for the anti-gay ntent of his emails a statement on Twter on Monday.

”“I am an unequivol supporter of gay marriage, gay adoptn and equal employment rights and would never want to disurage any young person or adult om embracg who they are, ” he emails’ ntent portrayed a school grapplg wh other qutns of one email, Mr.

NICHOLAS SPARKS SAYS HE'S AN 'UNEQUIVOL SUPPORTER' OF GAY RIGHTS AMID ANTI-LGBT ACCATNS

”But the possibily of a club for gay stunts appeared to be a particular problem for the school’s board. ”He also laid the blame for the ntroversy over a proposed gay stunt club at Mr.

Sparks said that nyg gay stunts a club would not amount to discrimatn and add that he hoped to change the nondiscrimatn policy “back to what was before. ”“Remember, we’ve had gay stunts before, many of them, ” Mr.

Sparks said Monday that his ments about gay stunts had been misnsted. Benjam to keep his support for them quiet and that he was not opposed to a gay stunt club. It’s no surprise, then, that his words have once aga begun to spread like wildfire over the past few weeks—though this time, they didn’t appear a romance novel, but a homophobic email thread datg back to 2013, which rurfaced jt time for Pri, how did we get to this pot the five years sce?