Time for a Slog poll.

Good. Megan, this deserves your props but you aren't really giving them here.

Really sick and tired of celebrities and politicians saying hateful sh*t and then issuing an apology when people call them out on it. How about keeping your big fat mouth shut? Or stand by what you said in the first place, like the hateful piece of sh*t you are.

@1 You are so right. Poll added!

@2 I'm not giving props because I'm still trying to decide if this *does* deserve my props. I am glad he apologized and the apology sounds sincere. But I'm also still pretty pissed at him and am still quite shocked that he was able to write such a column in the first place. I believe he will learn from it, but that was part of my problem with the column in the first place--he should've done that learning before writing about it. He said himself, it was something he didn't completely understand. He should've tried understanding before opening his mouth (or blog).

Testosterone poisoning does terrible things to a human brain.

@ 3, you're the reason people dig in rather than apologize. You're a bigger part of the problem because of that.

@ 4, I'm sure he's the first person in the history of history to go off without fully understanding the situation, right? That makes it okay to stay pissed. It just feels good.

@6

It probably does feel good to her. It's almost like she took it personally for some reason. She's so emotional, hysterical even.

@7, that's a case of it being funny because it's not true, isn't it?

"I cannot defend the views I expressed." Then he doesn't defend them, explains the arguments against him as he understands them and asks if he's getting it, and says he will try to educate himself on the subject further. If the everyone, or even just a majority of people, had this kind of attitude when it was demonstrated to them that a viewpoint they espoused was illogical, inaccurate, and offensive, and did go on to evolve from that education, the world would be a different, and far better place. No one has to accept any apology if they don't want to, but if there's criteria to be met when one should do so, apologies that can be held up as examples of sincerity, I believe this would qualify.

I emailed Rollins via his website, and he emailed me back. It seemed personal from him, definitely not a generic boilerplate. At first, he was defensive (and my email was angry, so fair enough), but after some back and forth, he talked about listening and learning from the people writing him, especially the children of people who had committed suicide.

Slog has rationalized suicide in the past, taking suicide letters at face value. So it's not in a position to critize.

@3, you are promoting political correctness. I'd rather hear/read what people are thinking, rather than what they think you want to hear. Further, this isn't the standard 'I'm sorry if I offended anyone' bullshit apology. I appreciate that he is taking the feedback and re-thinking what he said.

He's expressing that he learned something and is pursuing more education on the matter. That is BETTER than any apology.

Good people learn from their mistakes, good people are not afraid to make mistakes, good people admit when they're wrong and seek to correct themselves.

I read every word he wrote and I was pissed. I now accept his apology.

It is more than I imagined that douche bag was capable of. I will have to re-think my opinion of him as being a giant douche. Maybe just a regular-sized douche.

Now that's an apology I can get behind. I can't help but note the stark contrast against Macklemore's blithering non-apology a while back. He should take some lessons from this.

Rollins takes responsibility, acknowledges his mistakes, and resolves to learn more and understand why what he said was a mistake. In this world of celebrity non-apologies and responsibility-dodging, that's worthy of some respect, I think.

I would go with a "Yes, I forgive him, as this apology sounds sincere, but I still think he's a nitwit."

Yes I believe he is sincere in his apology. Also I can understand where he was coming from. There are a lot of emotions associated with depression and grief. The message "Just Say No To Suicide" perhaps could have been enunciated a little more artfully. It is important to view those who have succumbed not simply as failures, even if they did "blow it" in the end, because we can't afford to judge people simply on how they died. Also not trying to put words in Rollins's mouth, but speak to a larger point of view that I think society may in general struggle with.

I, too was shocked and very sadly put off of Henry when I read his first column.

But these two apologies tell me he is the man I have respected, both for his music and his musings, for decades. Yes, I'm surprised he was so out of touch with how depression and suicide are now, thankfully, being viewed. But he demonstrated not only his capacity but his eagerness to learn. His commitment to being a good human being remains.

I don't always agree with him. Now I can respect him without hesitation again.